March is chock-full of momentous occasions. We have the ides of March, St. Patrick’s Day, the first day of Spring, Easter (this year), Roger Daltrey and Tammy Faye Bakker’s birthdays, and – most important – it’s National Noodle Month! The Chinese are on record as making noodles as early as 3000 B.C., and it is said Marco Polo introduced the Italians to noodles, or pasta, upon his return from the Far East. That was in the 13th century A.D., so the Chinese had quite a head start in making mein (the collective word for Chinese noodles). Italians may have taken the art of pasta-making to great lengths (and shapes — farfalle, fusilli, orzo, and rotelli, for example), but noodles are present in the cuisine of just about every culture — think German spaetzle, Jewish kreplach, Greek pastitsio, Spanish fideo, and Indian hakka noodles.
While noodles are in the pasta family, not all pasta can be considered noodles. Noodles (from the German word nudel) generally contain eggs. By US federal law, a noodle must contain 5.5 percent egg solids by weight to earn the noodle name.
The ultimate convenience food, packaged ramen noodles — those staples of college students and people too lazy to boil water and throw in some salt and spaghetti — were introduced in the US in 1970 by the Japanese company Nissin Foods. The success of Top Ramen prompted giant US companies like Lipton and Campbell’s to toss their noodles in the ring, but Nissin still dominates the Ramen market here in the states and around the world. And it’s quite a market. In one recent year, people spent about ten billion dollars on those packets of dried noodles, powdered spices and dehydrated broth.
Despite the recent anti-carb craze, noodles and pasta are not the cause of all obesity. On the contrary, they’re good for you.
The “noodle in a cup” type of processed foods may not qualify, but noodles, along with other types of pasta, are among the highest rated comfort foods. You feel just like a kid again when you’re slurping those long, slippery noodles from a bowl of piping hot chicken soup. When they whip up into your nose or across your cheek, you might as well be sitting in bed in your pajamas, your mother standing by with crackers or toast points. It made being sick almost fun.
Despite the recent anti-carb craze, noodles and pasta are not the cause of all obesity. On the contrary, they’re good for you. They’re a complex carbohydrate — the body’s main source of fuel — which is why athletes often “carbo-load” with a big bowl of noodles or pasta before an event. A serving of cooked noodles contains just one gram of fat, only 106 calories, merely five milligrams of sodium and important nutrients like B-vitamins, iron and protein. Of course, a serving is one half-cup, which is pretty skimpy for most people.
Bake them in a casserole, float them in soup, or top them with sauce or gravy. Noodle around with noodles — they’re the feel-good food.
This article appears in Mar 2-8, 2005.
