May it Please the Palate: The Greeks invented pasta

By Nick Roumel You recall the patriarch of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" boasting that all words--and indeed all thing--derived from the Greeks. He was, of course, correct. Take pasta. Italian? WRONG! Marco Polo brought it from China? HA. Pasta is Greek. From the online etymological dictionary: the Italian word "pasta" comes from the much older Greek word "pasta," meaning "''barley porridge,'' probably originally ''a salted mess of food.''" (I guess the Greeks got tired of eating so much of it?) But that's not all. The word "macaroni" is derived from the Greek word makaria (pronounced ma-ka-REE-ah), similarly meaning "food made from barley," essentially the staff of life in Greece for over two thousand years. Barley dishes were used in many rituals, including the wake held after a funeral. From that tradition, we not only have the word "makaronia"--an all-purpose Greek word for pasta --but to this day, the traditional meal after a funeral service is called the "makaria." [Source: www.greekgourmand.com.] Recipes for Greek pasta, in cookbooks or online, vary widely. Some look no different from the basic version: boiled pasta with red sauce and cheese. Others add fried garlic or onion. Some have meat, spiced the Greek way with cinnamon, or nutmeg. Others have browned butter and cheese. My own version of makaronia is unique. I believe it is something I created over the years, originally from a dish my Aunt Mary would serve when I was a child, and refined through the wisdom of Basile, a friend and Greek restaurateur. Mary would make hers with a type of pasta I'd never seen before that is hard to find--a thick hollow spaghetti (in Italian, bucatini). Mary would serve it with a Greek-spiced red sauce and plenty of cheese. I couldn't get enough. All I can remember about Basile's version is that he would remove his pasta a couple minutes before it was done, rinse it, and return it to the pot to finish boiling. He explained this would reduce starchiness. Rinsing pasta is generally frowned upon, because starch helps sauce adhere to the pasta; but since Basile showed me, I've always done it that way. However, the more I think about it, I believe he did that in his restaurant to better "hold" the pasta before it was ordered. Besides, in this case, I'm eventually going to sauté that cooked pasta in browned butter. So it won't hurt to do it in the way of the wise old Greek. After browning the pasta, toss it with a little olive oil, salt, pepper, and cheese. Greeks use a hard, whey-based sheep's milk cheese called mizithra, which I believe tastes like chalk, so I don't use it. Instead, I'll use kefalotyri, which has more interesting flavor, and mix it with feta and perhaps another cheese. (Like any pasta and cheese, you can experiment with any blend.) I also like to add a dash of nutmeg and some buttered breadcrumbs. This is ultimate Greek comfort food, inexpensive, easy to make, and delicious enough to make you feel guilty. Ingredients 1 lb. pkg. Penne pasta 1/2 to one full stick butter olive oil 1 small onion kefalotyri cheese (substitute parmesan or romano) grated or crumbled feta perhaps some kasseri or manchego for complexity salt, pepper, nutmeg bread crumbs (panko or from dried Greek or Italian bread) chopped Italian parsley Directions (1) Ignore how much butter I've suggested above. (2) Cook the pasta in salted water. Add a couple drops of oil so it doesn't stick. Stir in the first minute. Remove from water when it is a minute short of al dente, rinse, and return to the boiling water until just tender. Drain and hold in the pasta pot. (3) Finely dice onion and sauté in olive oil. Add most of the butter. Add the pasta and cook over medium heat, stirring, until it gets a nice brown crust. Turn off heat, season with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg. Return to the pasta pot to hold. (4) Place the remaining butter in the sauté pan and brown the bread crumbs. Toss the finished bread crumbs and a few squirts of olive oil with the pasta sitting in the pot. (5) Serve the pasta in shallow bowls or dishes and top with plenty of grated cheese and chopped parsley for color. This will serve four. I like to serve this with roasted seasonal vegetables. These days, it's cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, caramelized in the oven with olive oil and salt. Nick Roumel is a principal with Nacht, Roumel, Salvatore, Blanchard, and Walker PC. He also has many years of varied restaurant and catering experience, has taught Greek cooking classes, and writes a food/restaurant column for "Current" magazine in Ann Arbor. Published: Thu, Dec 13, 2012