Arts

The birth of noodles has caused a boom in human’s culture especially in the form of arts. Arts consist of myth, legend, literature, paintings, film, graphic design, folktales, proverbs, poems, etc and these mediums of arts are largely present in the cultural history of many countries. Many folktales, beliefs and stories has arose, each debating over the origin of noodle.

In Europe, pasta has inspired many artistic culture and these involved from the noblest gods, kings, royalty to priest and magicians.

Legend

(i) Long time ago, there was a sailor whose name was “Spaghetti”. On one of his trip, he encountered a Chinese maiden preparing a strange dish of boiled strands of dough. From then on, he divulges this secret of noodle making to the West and that was how noodles got introduced into the West.

(ii) Legend has it that the Greek God of Fire, Vulcan made string of dough (the first spaghetti) from a device he invented by himself.

Myth

In the mythic land, known to the Italians as il paese di Cuccagna, and in medieval Europe as Cockaigne, there was a very strange mountain.

The Italian version of the myth was first described by Boccaccio (Decameron, VIII, 3, Calandrino, a fool’s tale).

In this heavenly place of food, which he calls Bengodi, a cauldron sits on top of a Parmigiano-cheese mountain and continuously spews forth large balls of maccheroni and ravioli that roll down the mountain’s side, land in a rich fowl broth, and are free for consumption.

Song

In England, from about 1750 to 1850, “macaroni” referred to a foppish Englishman who is affected Italian style by overdressing, wearing a preposterous wig, sticking a feather in his hat and perhaps eating foreign foods.

“Yankee Doodle" is a well-known American song, often sung patriotically today.

“Yankee Doodle went to town, A-Riding on a pony; He stuck a feather in his hat, And called it macaroni. Yankee Doodle, keep it up, Yankee Doodle dandy; Mind the music and the step, And with the girls be handy! “

Artistic Culture-Chinese

"Hand-pulled noodles", or La Mian, is unique to China. The noodles specialist will stretch the dough before letting it rest. After which, he will hold the paste on both hands, and gently toss it up and down several times before letting down the middle of the long paste. Then, the dough is repeatedly stretched, folded together and twisted into a spiral. He repeats the stretching, shaking and twisting many times until he feels the paste is firm enough. Then, on a work board he starts pulling the paste with his arms stretched. He folds the thick string of paste into two, pulling again. This he repeats many times over and the strings of paste become longer, more numerous, thinner and thinner, turning finally into very fine noodles. The whole process of making "hand-pulled noodles" is done with such magical dexterity that to watch an experienced cook at it is like enjoying a juggler's show.

Story

The origin of udon in Japan rests with Kobo Daishi. Kobo Daishi, a Buddhist priest, travelled to China around the beginning of the 9th century to study Buddhism. When he returned, he brought back the delicious knowledge of udon with soup to his farmer neighbours in Japan.

Legend has it that Sanuki udon was first brought to the region from China in the ninth century by the famed monk Kukai. Although known and loved for years by some udon eaters in all parts of Japan, it was only last year that Sanuki udon really caught on in Tokyo and its environs. In 2003 the craze spread to Osaka, and today the product is enjoying a nationwide boom.