The origins of lasagna

Diplomats dispute origins

Lasagna stands out as the Italian comfort food number one all over the world, for a really long time. Some people claim ‘Lasagna’ comes from the Greek word ‘lasagnum’ meaning dish or bowl. The Romans adopted this vessel and developed a dish carrying this name that spread all over the Roman Empire, also to the British Isles.

It may seem ridiculous, but in 2007 English and Italian diplomats disputed the origin of Lasagna. An article published in The Daily Telegraph sparked this exchange. The obviously British author stated that Lasagna is an English invention because a cookbook for King Richard II published a similar recipe in 1390 AD.

The Italian embassy in London strictly denied this. Italian historians produced records from 1316 AD, mentioning a Lasagna producer called Maria Borgogno.

Whatever the origins, Lasagna today is not only Garfield’s favourite dish but cherished all over the world. The article cited before mentioned also that Lasagna replaced Chicken Tikka Massala as the UK’s preferred comfort food.

Honestly, I believe the honour of inventing Lasagna belongs to the Italians. Some people say Marco Polo brought the idea of pasta from China, but I don’t believe this. For me, there is no doubt that dry pasta, as we know it, originated in Sicily around 1200 AD. The origin of the word pasta dates back to ancient Greece. Considering that the Greeks colonized Sicily like many other nations because of its strategic position in the middle of the Mediterranean, I cannot imagine that Chinese input was needed. 

The Arabs introduced the population of Sicily to the technique of drying pasta. They improved and developed this technique because Sicily’s fertile volcanic soil produces the best durum wheat known for pasta in abundance. In the 1600’s a press was invented to shape pasta. Manufacturing plants were founded all over Italy - people liked their pasta to look perfect. Over time, Italians took their pasta everywhere in search for a better life. In 1848, Antoine Zerega established the first pasta factory in Brooklyn, New York.