The History Archives
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In 8th century Sicily, Arab traders introduced a revolutionary food that would change Italian cuisine forever: dried pasta. Known as “itrya,” these thin strips of dried dough were documented in a fascinating text from 1139 by Arab geographer Abu Abdullah Mohammed al Edrisi, who was writing for Sicily’s King Roger II.
While China had been making noodles for thousands of years, it was this Arab-Sicilian connection that birthed what we now know as pasta. The Arabs brought crucial knowledge about drying techniques that allowed pasta to be stored and transported, making it a valuable trade commodity.
The transformation into modern spaghetti took centuries of Italian refinement. When tomatoes arrived from the New World after 1492, they added a new dimension to pasta dishes. By the 1800s, Naples had become the center of pasta production, developing new manufacturing techniques that would help spread this beloved food worldwide.
That old story about Marco Polo bringing pasta from China? Pure fiction, promoted by a 1938 movie. The Arabs had already introduced pasta to Sicily long before Polo’s 13th-century travels.
Sources: Al Edrisi’s Geography (1139), Encyclopedia Britannica, Serventi and Sabban’s “Pasta: The Story of a Universal Food”
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Categories: Arab World, European Union, History, Islamic history, Italy