Hungarian and Italian pastas
When pasta comes to mind, we tend to think of Italian cuisine, but eating pasta has great traditions in Hungary as well. It is very interesting that the traditions of the two nations are very different.
The most important difference is that in Hungary pasta with egg became widespread due to traditions while in the most part of Europe -including Italy-, pasta made without egg called durum pasta is the more popular kind. This has both climate and economical reasons, but the end result is surprising: in Western Europe, egg pasta hardly reaches 10 percent of all pasta-turnover, while in Hungary this percentage is reversed since 80 percent of Hungarian consumers choose egg pasta.
Hungarian pasta with a lot of eggs
Hungarian pasta made with eggs is of excellent quality: Hungarian flour is already outstanding, the soft flour serving as its basis and grown in this country is used for the improvement of other kinds of flour in other parts of Europe. Egg white further improves the protein structure of flour, while egg yolk provides golden yellow color. Egg adds further valuable nutrients to pasta - vitamins, lecithin, iron and other mineral substances. "Several-egg" pastas are different in quality: the more eggs dry pasta contains, the better are its cooking features - it needs less cooking time, it stays flexible, and it does not adhere even with less fat on it.
Italians and durum wheat
Pasta made of durum wheat is usually made without eggs, but its water absorbence is excellent due to its flexible gluten content. The weight and volume of good quality dry pasta grows twice as big during cooking. The proportion of protein and starch changes according to the type of wheat, but it can be altered by mixing different types of flour. The flour of durum wheat is used mainly for the preparation of spaghetti, macaroni and other kinds of pasta formed into a shape, since hard pasta is well shapeable with machines. The less starch the flour contains, the less water is needed, since starch absorbs water. Durum pasta is made of durum wheat native in Mediterranean regions. Many people like it because it retains its shape during cooking. Although it is produced mainly without eggs, some egg or egg product is sometimes added to products with special shape and quality - but in small proportions.