Ravioli

Ravioli are stuffed pasta, usually square, from northern Italy, served with tomato sauce, ragù, pesto or cream. They are eaten across much of the world and are among the best-known Italian dishes abroad.

History

The earliest documented reference is a French church document from 1228, which describes pieces of dough with meat and turnip eaten during Lent. In the fourteenth century ravioli appear in the letters of Francesco Datini, a merchant from Prato, and in a mid-century Venetian manuscript with green herbs and fresh cheese. Bartolomeo Scappi served them in Rome in 1549, during a papal conclave.

Over the centuries both shape and filling changed. The first ones were rounder, while square ravioli now predominate. They are made by laying a sheet of dough, spacing the filling, covering it with a second sheet and cutting with a serrated wheel. Modern fillings include ricotta, spinach, meat and, in vegetarian versions, tofu. Canned ravioli, popularised after the First World War, spread them through Europe and the United States.

Outside Italy they became especially popular in Argentina and Uruguay, where Lucio V. Mansilla documents their consumption from 1880. In France they belong to the cooking of Nice and the Dauphiné, and in St. Louis, Missouri, fried breaded ravioli emerged.

Culture

In Argentina and Uruguay ravioli are part of the Sunday family lunch, known as the raviolada del domingo, and were once offered to neighbours who helped build a house. In Italy they vary by region: in Rome and Lazio they contain ricotta, spinach and nutmeg; in Sardinia, ricotta and grated lemon peel; in Campania they are usually round and without parsley. Costa Rica has a local version with shredded beef, breaded and served in sodas and cantinas. Today they are a familiar dish both at home and in restaurants worldwide.

Trivia