# Where's it from? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 23, 2001, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654 "2001-08-23T03:07:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MalachiConstant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@MalachiConstant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MalachiConstant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654/1 "2001-08-23T03:07:17Z")
Pasta that is. I did a search of the world’s foremost knowledge store (the Straight Dope archives) and came up with zilch. Searching google (a great source of information, but hardly the source of truth), I found many sites including these that seem to point to the either the Etruscans, or the Arabs, or possibly China. The point is they don’t agree. They give conflicting dates and no hard facts! [http://www.pasta.co.uk/total\_pasta/history/](http://www.pasta.co.uk/total_pasta/history/) [http://members.tripod.com/FrancoRossi/english/history.htm](http://members.tripod.com/FrancoRossi/english/history.htm) [http://www.professionalpasta.it/dir\_9/1\_whoinv.htm](http://www.professionalpasta.it/dir_9/1_whoinv.htm) So how about it, anybody know where Pasta was first invented? ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654/2 "2001-08-23T03:36:35Z")
According to me in [What’s the deal with Ramen noodles?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mramen.html), they come from China. ---
**Author:** ![MalachiConstant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@MalachiConstant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MalachiConstant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654/3 "2001-08-23T04:02:51Z")
Thanks JillGat, I guess I should have searched more. Nevertheless, I remain unfulfilled. You state that the Chinese have been eating noodles for over 2000 years, while one of the cites in the OP says the Etruscans have been slurping spaghetti since 1200 BC (Ok, Lasagna, but I like the verb). Yet another of the cites states the chinese have been eating lo mein or some other product for more than 3,000 years. Is there any definitive proof out there for any of the dates? Cave paintings in marinara? Garlic bread remnants around ancient campfires? Jade colanders in King Tut’s tomb? ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654/4 "2001-08-23T04:28:38Z")
Whoever it was they were using their noodles. ---
**Author:** ![MalachiConstant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58956e/32.png) [@MalachiConstant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MalachiConstant)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654/5 "2001-08-23T04:35:34Z")
Ouch! ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654/6 "2001-08-23T04:41:37Z")
Ever heard of simultaneous discovery? If you have a grain, about all you can do is bake, fry or boil it. Noodles is a natural. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2001, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-it-from/77654/7 "2001-08-23T05:12:14Z")
FWIW, the [Epicurious Dictionary](http://www.epicurious.com/run/fooddictionary/browse?entry_id=9474) says “archaeological documentation now points to the fact that noodles probably originated in central Asia, possibly dating back to at least 1000 b.c.” It seems that there is general agreement on the date, but maybe no one culture can claim fame as the sole inventor of pasta.