Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-05-12
AMERICAN MACARON1
By Frederic u HaSkin

can macoroni industry are a great i'm
provement over European methods.
Realizing this, a few progressive Euro
pean manufacturers have installed
American machinery and are operating
large up-to-date factories. Probably
most of the industry is carried on in
Italy, however, in a very crude manner.
Manly Italian families make their own
supply and hang it out in the yard or
on the roof to dry, while the children
and the family pets romp about, over
and among it. Contrast this crude sys-
tenn with that in a modern American
factory.
There most of the work is done by
machinery. The raw material is re-
ceived in bulk and mixed with water
in huge watts by an ingenious mechan-
ism. There is also mechanical knead-
Ing apparatus, with teeth to turn and
keep the dough in place. The knead
ing process lasts from fifteen to fifty
minutes. according to the quality of the
wheat and the fineness of the macaroni
to be produced. The dough is next
placed in mechanical presses in the
bottoms of which are holes through
which it is forced in tubes, strings or
shreds, according to the form desired.
Short lengths and fancy shapes are pro-
duced in horizontal presses, with
knife working automatically to cut
them as required. Experienced Italians
are frequently employed to superintend
these operations. Macaroni is cut off
as it comes from the presses in any.
length desired. There are two methods
of drying, one by hanging on racks
and the other by spreading out on
trays The drying and curing takes
week or more, great care being used to
prevent the product from warping and
cracking. Before packing the defective
pieces are thrown away or sold at a
lower price.
The ideal wheat for making macaroni
is durum, sometimes called macaroni
wheat. A number of varieties of this
wheat were introduced into the United
States in 1900 by the department of
agriculture. They came principally
from southern Russia and other coun-
tries bordering on the Mediterranean
sea- They were brought to this coun-
try to fill a demand for hardy,
drought-resisting spring cereal that
could be- grown in the dry regions of
the west.
Last year about $1,000 bushels of the
grain were produced in America, the
crop covering from three to four mill
lion acres. The durums are much
harder and the average yield per acre
is higher than that of other varieties
OF wheat. The farmers received about
eighty or ninety cents bushel for
their crop. Ten million bushels were
exported in 1907 to the Mediterranean
region. the very home of the durums,
because the American crop Is most
desirable and Is needed by foreign
macaroni makers.
Macaroni is a generic name used to
cover a hundred varieties and forms
of editible paste. Some of the most
common are vermicelli, which is cut
into thin strips, spaghetti, 9~1 noodles,
which may be in chunks or other
forms. In Europe the possibilities of
macaroni as an article of food are
thoroughly understood, and edible
paste is served as stellette, escargots,
stars, rings, twists, shells, flowers,
chains, lozenges, and scores of other
forms. Noodles have lately appeared
in a new form, in so-called Alphabet
soup"
The origin of macaroni is clouded in
mystery. 1t Is popularity believed that
this delectable and palatable dish was
originally a product of italian cook
cry, but some historians claim that II
was introduced into Italy by the early
Greek colonists while others insist that
similar dish formed a staple article
of diet among the Chinese and jap
anese in the earliest times.
According to tradition there lived in
italy in the year 1920, during the reign
of King Frederick of Suabia, a savant
named Chico, who was reputed to be
a sorcerer. Having lost fortune and
friends, he conceived the idea or
selfishly comforting a lasting benefit
upon mankind by inventing something
good to eat. After he had carried on
experiments for many years, one iowa
nella, wife of the helper to the kings
cook, stole his secret by peering
through his window. She claimed an
angel had revealed a dish to her in
dream, and she prepared it for the king
by combining meat, cheese, tomatoes
and garlic with tubes made from flour,
salt and eggs. The king gave her one
hundred pieces of gold and called the
dish macaroni, after the word "maca-
rus" meaning "dlvine dish"
Jovanella grew rich selling her ILL
gottel recipe to the mobiles, merchants
and peasants of Naples. After a time
Chico. having perfected his dish, left
his retreat to spread the news through
out the land. The first thing he noticed
was a familiar smell which he found
proceeded from pot of macaroni. The
housewife told him how the angel had
revealed the secret to Jovanella. Chico,
convinced, of the Woman's treachery,
destroyed his apparatus and left home,
never to return. Some said the devil
carried him off. The legend concludes
by saying that Jovanella repented on
her deathbed and confessed her fault.
Thus tardy Justice was done to Chico.
Copyright 1909, by Frederic ]. Haskin,)
May American under the title of "A