What is the difference between Macaroni and Pasta? | The Times of India (2024)

Talk about Italian cuisine and the first thing that comes to your mind is Pizza. However, there is much more to this cuisine than just Pizza. The authentic Italian cuisine is known to be much more diverse with each region having its own ingredients, local specialities, and traditional recipes just like India. Pasta is that delicacy of Italian cuisine which is popular across all regions. Depending on the region, the shape and size of pasta changes, and so does the taste and flavour.

It’s a generic term used for leavened dough made of wheat flour and is a common food of Italian cuisine. The dough is made of wheat flour, egg and water. Used as a staple food since ages, pasta was made with hands before the 18th century using different techniques that gave way to over 600 shapes of pasta with 1300 names.

Macaroni is a type of pasta and is shaped elbow, and it’s the sole reason it’s called elbow macaroni. It’s dry pasta and you will be surprised to know macaroni was not even considered as pasta in the early ’80s.

As stated earlier, there are several types of pasta that you can easily find in the market. On the other hand, macaroni only has one shape and size.

The pasta is made using hand techniques and machines as well because of their varied shapes. However, macaroni is only made using the machine as it’s not possible to shape them using your hands.

When the shelf life is compared, macaroni tops the list as macaroni is dried and removes the moisture content. However, the pasta has a short life as it’s made using different ingredients which makes it moist.