BASTA PASTA?

This is a stealth shot. I don't know what it is about supermarkets but they go all funny if they see a camera. They come steaming at you waving their arms as if to ward off a vampire. If you ask, they get a weird expression on their faces and say, "No." I must look like a supermarket spy but if so, I would not have a camera requiring two hands and a nose. I would have a little palm sized spy camera.

This picture shows very posh pasta. You can see the prices, over three euros. The cheapest pasta you can buy costs 40 cents for 500 grams, normal pasta costs 90 cents for the same amount. Prices are government controlled until you get to the luxury stuff.

This pasta carries the magic word "Maremma." It is a large area next to the sea where native cattle roam free and are rounded up by cowboys on horses. Only plants native to the area grow there. The beaches are normal and do not have row upon row of beach chairs and umbrellas. There is even an area where birds are protected from hunters, a very rare thing in Italy. A nature reserve, in order words. It has an aura of naturalness and health. There is a famous Roman spa there, Saturnia.

Tourism is very big. The food products showing Maremma origins are supposed to be better. Even I reach for eggs from the Maremma knowing full well that they are from battery hens. There is so much food claiming Maremma origins that part of it must be an industrial estate.

Back to pasta. Italians like it plain without heavy sauces. We have learned, for instance, to drop wild mustard greens into boiling spaghetti a few minutes before the pasta is done, drain it, toss it in oil and there you are, delicious. Spaghetti with only oil and garlic is a very big favourite although people are beginning to add quite a bit of chilli flakes to it.

I don't know about the whole of Italy but locally, people prefer dried pasta to fresh, probably because it can be more al dente. The variety of shapes is endless, all designed for different sauces.

We used to buy the big name brands which are available all over the world, but then we discovered a brand called Mennucci which is mysteriously better. It is almost alive in the mouth. I don't want to talk about it any longer because am getting hungry when I've just only had lunch.