Cookbook talk:Pasta

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I suggest breaking this up into Italian/Euro pastas and Asian pastas (at least within the page). While they are fundamentally similar, they quite different in usage, tastes, and textures. Kellen ^T 01:52, 9 August 2005 (UTC)

I agree that Asian noodles shouldn't be here. I suggest putting the Asian noodles on a page called Noodles, and keeping the pasta page for Italian pasta. The distinction isn't perfect (spaghetti are technically noodles, and ramen are technically a pasta), but that would make it the easiest for people to find what they want. People expect Italian stuff under Pasta and Asian stuff under Noodles, I think. risk 14:05, 11 August 2005 (UTC)

My definitions: Pasta is Italian-style material, no matter what the shape. Noodles are string-like, and may be made of any starchy material. Spaghetti, udon, soba, and ramen all fall into both categories. Elbow macaroni is only pasta. Rice noodles are not pasta. The main Cookbook page should probably list both. AlbertCahalan 02:57, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

I don't really think udon and ramen should fall under pasta (maybe a cultural difference, the Dutch word "pasta" has no connotations of Asian cuisine). I agree with Kellen that the two should be broken up because they are used in very different ways. I'd personally prefer one page for Italian pasta exclusively, since all Italian pasta's have so much in common (the recipe for pasta dough, for instance, is the same for any pasta). I think for the sake of simplicity it would be good to keep the Pasta page for Italian Pasta, with a link at the top of the page to whatever page would hold the Asian pasta's. Although, as I said, my understanding of the word Pasta may not agree with the universal one. risk 14:51, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

My understanding is that the word "pasta" has come to mean the vast category of shaped foods made from flour and water. (Wikipedia agrees; see Pasta.) Noodles are a sub-group of pasta, as are non-noodles like couscous. So, I would like to see one main pasta page, with links to region (Italian, Asian, etc.) I agree that they should be seperated in some way; there are just too many kinds of pasta to keep in one list. Wikipedia splits them up by shape, but it would probably make more sense for a cookbook to split them up by country. --- PurplePieman 21:22, 13 August 2005 (UTC)

I'm beginning to see that using the Pasta page for Italian Pasta exclusively isn't going to work. I suggest moving this page to Italian pasta and starting the main Pasta page afresh. I think the Asian Pasta's can be divided into Chinese Noodles and Japanese Noodles ("Japanese Pasta" doesn't really sound right, I don't think the Asian cuisines have any non-noodle pasta). Those are the only categories of Pasta I can think of. Miscelaneous stuff, like couscous, can just a link on the main Pasta Page. Would a Noodle page with cross references be necessary? Or should that just be a redirect? risk 00:12, 14 August 2005 (UTC)

I'm certainly OK with using this page just for Italian pasta. That might not be perfectly accurate, but it's probably what people expect. While I admit that ramen and udon might be pasta, I sure don't imagine them when someone says pasta. Noodles are definitely not a sub-group of pasta, mainly because of rice noodles. In any case, Noodles and Pasta should be distinct and should link to each other. AlbertCahalan 01:08, 14 August 2005 (UTC)

So, why are rice noodles not pasta? They seem to fit the definition to me. --- PurplePieman 05:41, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

I agree that, technically, many kinds of noodles are pasta. Pasta is a term usually reserved for products with wheat flour as their base (and sometimes potatoes), but not those based on rice, mung beans, etc. So we can't draw a tidy partition that encompasses either all pasta or all noodles. We could simply redirect Cookbook:Pasta and Cookbook:Noodle to to a new page called Cookbook:Pasta and noodles. Having two separate pages would invite unneeded duplication, because of the overlap. Also, where would wonton wrappers and rice-based spring roll wrappers go, otherwise? Geo.^T 06:14, 15 August 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Handmade Pasta/Noodles

There will (probably) be people (like me) who will want to look up such information as pertaining to the making of pasta/noodles as opposed to the prep of ready-made pasta/noodles, and among those people there would be those who do not have or do not desire the use of a pasta-making machine for that purpose.