The Bottom Line: Quick facts about noodles!
The Full Story:
- A noodle is a type of food with a thin and elongated shape made from unleavened dough that is usually cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking. The word derives from the German Nudel (noodle) and may be related to the Latin word nodus (knot).
- The oldest known noodles were found in China at the Qijia culture Lajia site in Qinghai, Shandong province. The 4,000-year-old noodles appear to have been made from foxtail millet and broomcorn millet.
- It would cost you only about $140 a year if you ate ramen for every meal.
- By federal law, a noodle must contain 5.5% egg solids to be called a noodle.
- The first American pasta factory was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1848, by Frenchman Antoine Zerega. Mr. Zerega managed the entire operation with just one horse in his basement to power the machinery. To dry his spaghetti, he placed strands of the pasta on the roof to dry in the sunshine.
- During the 1880s, macaroni, which was traditionally considered a "blue-collar" down-home meal, was transformed into the more upscale "pasta." As more and more people began to have fun with it and romanticize it throughout the '60s and '70s, its image began to change along with its name.