PASTA
Thomas Jefferson brought a pasta making machine back with him in 1789, when he returned to America after serving as ambassador to France. It was not until 1848 that pasta was first produced commercially in the U.S., and not until the late 19th century that it became popular.
At least 10 years before Marco Polo's trip to China, Romans were eating ravioli, lasagna and macaroni, and there are references to fettuccine from even earlier than that.
According to the National Pasta Association, Americans consume about 20 pounds of pasta per person each year. Italians eat more than 3 times that amount.
There are more than 500 different pasta shapes. Translating their names into English does not exactly make them sound appetizing: worms, spindles, hats, butterflies, twins, tubes, thimbles, little boys, little ears, quill pens, strings, ribbons etc.
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