Pasta exists in a wide variety of qualities, but they all have the basic recipe in common: durum wheat semolina, water and, depending on the type, eggs.
Depending on the variety, spices and vegetable ingredients are also added to the dough:
High quality pasta can be recognized by the ash content of the durum wheat semolina and the egg content.
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The grayer the pasta appears, the higher the ash content.
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The yellower a pasta product is, the higher its egg content.
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A high egg content cannot compensate for a high ash content. The pasta looks dark, dull and has hardly any shine.
Pasta comes in a wide variety of shapes, thicknesses and lengths. The main varieties have their own names, such as Fusili, Tricolore, etc.