Zafarelli Penne Rigati Pasta No 18 500g
Zafarelli Elicoidali Pasta No 57 500g
Zafarelli Bucatini Pasta No 6 500g
Zafarelli Spaghetti Spaghettini Pasta No 3 500g
Zafarelli Fusilli Pasta No 17 500g
"It was a million-to-one shot, Doc …"
Note: Screenshot added as WW Thumbnails are not showing.
I never really pay attention to pasta brands.
San Remo vs Zafarelli vs Barilla vs ?
Which brand reigns supreme? Can an experienced hand enlighten me?
San Remo is really the unicorn brand - nicest (IMHO) AND cheapest AND made in Australia.
Most of the time I use Remano pasta it's the cheapest and great tasting as well.
I'm pretty sure San Remo own Zafarelli and both made in Australia. Zafarelli likes to make people think it's Italian.
San Remo does indeed own Zafarelli, but the Zafarelli subsidiary seems to have different production facilities and a different head office, so the end-product may well be different.
San Remo actually owns:
Fantastic Snacks (noodles, crackers and sauces)
Zafarelli (faux Italian pasta)
Suimin Noodles (the taste of the Orient)
http://www.abr.business.gov.au/AbnHistory/View/59007543544
It's not often you get one company that can deliver the taste of Italy and the taste of "the Orient". They're the Marco Polo of noodles.
Almost everyone in our (half-Italian) family prefers egg-based pasta, find it so much richer and more satisfying (but obviously not vegan-friendly).
I can't tell the difference unless it's fresh pasta
The first time I made fresh tagliatelle, I dried the leftovers. When it came time to use it up, there wasn't enough, so I mixed it with home-brand dried pasta. I literally couldn't tell the difference, they were identical in taste and texture.
The differences in brands of dried pasta are really inconsequential. Hell, even home-made dried pasta ends up tasting the same. Any subtleties you may get between fresh pastas disappear once it's been dried and rehydrated.
When I have leftover fresh pasta, I freeze it now instead. It preserves the "fresh" texture and taste.
Barilla for me whatever the price. :)
Is this made in Italy? I hardly believe any Italian back home would eat this brand.
Most Italians (when their Nonna isn't making fresh pasta) just buy Barilla or home-brand dried pasta. Presumably the home-brands in Italy are better than the home-brands here.
Other big brands are De Cecco, Voiello and Garofalo.
Zafarelli, despite the Italian flags and Italian language writing all over it, is an Australian brand with its head office in Wetherill Park, Sydney.
Not in my experience and I'm Italian.
The working class Italians who came in the 50s buy whatever is on special or go to Aldi now. It all tastes the same. The sauce is the key, fresh is best.
Their grown up children buy Barilla, they are spaghetti snobs now.
I was going off retail statistics from the Italian market.
Barilla is the biggest brand (in terms of retail availability and stocking), followed by "supermarket brands".
@marlor:
Barilla is just an Italian version of San Remo here. Mass produced, people buy it there as it's cheap not cos it's the best.
@PVA:
Well, yes. No dried pasta is really "best".
The question was: "What do Italians eat?". The answer is "Barilla or cheap supermarket dried pasta".
That doesn't mean everyone in Italy is a gourmand. Most people just want cheap, no fuss food.
Zaferreli used to normally be 99cents at woolies then they removed it and added their own brand. The Zaferreli came back at double the price a year later. Used to buy it all the time at 99c.
Garofalo it’s expensive but it’s the best. I used to eat that in Italy as well.
that actually does look like Neymar's hairstyle
I get Barilla - it's made in Northern Italy (in Parma) and it is acknowledged to be safe, of acceptable quality and conveniently priced pasta.
San Remo (& Zafarelli?) should be good (plus it's Australian, so I can only assume it's made mostly of Oz wheat?).
I consider Voiello (they brag "100% Italian wheat"!) or egg-pasta as "premium".
Note: it is "normal practice" for the industry to mix grains from different countries - this is done to "dilute" some pesticides (used mainly in cold climates to grow wheat) to "safe for human consumption"-levels (while instead Mediterranean, semi-arid or arid need next to no pesticides to grow wheat).
So, with that said, the "Country of origin" (of the wheat) is important b/c of the pesticides utilised in the process - Namely, in Canada they use "a little too much glyphosate" (Canadians use it 3 times - before seeding, during & after, so Italians noticed & whinged!).
More reading:
(Italian) https://it.blastingnews.com/salute/2017/10/report-da-dove-vi…
http://www.foodcomplianceinternational.com/blog/2017/9/7/ita…
https://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/glyphosate_en
CONCLUSION: if at least 60% of the wheat used to make your pasta is from Italy, Australia, Arizona (or other non-freezing location), it should be good (and no - I'm not worried about Glyphosate as long as the EU's or Australia's conclusions haven't proven anything).
Is this any better than the $1 homebrand Australian durum pasta?
The italians I know buy homebrand pasta, but say the italian tinned tomatoes are better.
Barilla master race