NPR radio culinary show yesterday the food guru said that pasta in Italian means "before" and this explains why pasta is usually a first dish before the more scimpier main meal arrives.
Does pasta mean before? Grazze (sp?)

I believe it is "pasto" that means before. That's what the "antipasto" is served first.

Correction: "pasto" means "meal." "Pasta" does not mean before. Ask NPR for a refund of your annual donation.

That is the first time I have heard of that. Anti-pasta means before, with pasta serving as the filler in-between the anti-pasta (appetizer) and the primi (first course). Literally translated, pasta means "paste" but my Italian friends said it is certainly more substantial than paste! I would be interested to hear what others say about this too.....

Pasta does not, never has and never will mean "before".

Pasta can mean a number of food-related things, but within the context of a meal it is either pasta in brodo (e.g., soup with tortellini) or pasta asciutta (= "dry" pasta, e.g., spaghetti carbonara), also called primo piatto.

Sometimes pasta can mean the whole meal, but I'm not entirely sure when and how it is used in that sense.

<b>Anti</b>pasto means &quot;before the pasta&quot; or &quot;before the meal&quot;.

The main course (or secondo piatto) is not necessarily skimpier, but in Italy a contorno (side dish, e.g. potatoes, vegetable, salad) has to be ordered separately.

Pasta means paste, what you get when you combine flour and water (and sometimes egg,too). Then it is made into the nice shapes (sphaghetti, penne, raiatore, etc.) that you are used to.

Oops, I meant radiatore. The French word &quot;pate&quot; with no accent on the &quot;e&quot; means the same thing.

Hi, pasta can also mean dough such as pie dough etc.

Nope, &quot;antipasto&quot; does not mean &quot;before the pasta.&quot; The word &quot;pasto&quot; means meal in English, therefore &quot;antipasto&quot; means exactly what it is: &quot;before the meal&quot; little dishes, hors d'oeurves if you will, served before the pasto, or main dish.

Apropos &quot;...pasta means paste...&quot;

Does anyone (except old Geezer me) remember how pasta was labelled in the US back in the 1950's? &quot;Alimentary Paste&quot;. This of course, was back in the days when Italian cuisine was still considered 'exotic' outside of the major metropolitan areas of the US.

&quot;Alimentary Paste&quot; sounded so gawdawful unappetizing that my Mother wouldn't put the stuff on the table. I am so glad that we eventually escaped the culinary rut that American cookery was in in the 50's. Pasta! Pizza! Quiche! All that fancy food that ultimately became American staple eating.

Fritzrl

I didn't hear the show, but I wonder whether the person said something like &quot;In Italy, pasta means something before the main course, so it's a small portion&quot; (correct) rather than saying that the word &quot;pasta&quot; means &quot;before&quot; (incorrect).

By the way, I've usually seen &quot;pasta asciutta&quot; contrasted not with pasta in brodo, but with &quot;pasta fresca.&quot; So spaghetti and macaroni, which are sold dry, are pasta asciutta regardless of how they're served, while things like ravioli, tortellini, and even tagliatelle, when sold fresh and not dried, are pasta fresca regardless of how they're served. But maybe the usage varies by region or something.

Fritzrl, speaking of alimentary paste, the pasta museum in Rome is called the &quot;Museo Nazionale delle Paste Alimentari.&quot; I admit, it does bring to mind elementary school health class and diagrams of the alimentary canal.

I never said the word pasta before I was an adult. Spaghetti was the only word used. My Italian friends would say noodles and noodles with gravy.

Here in Spain &quot;pasta&quot; also means money (kind of slang, but very common)

When I buy imported Chinese dried noodles (ie, a form of pasta) in a Chinese shop, the English definition given on the nutrition label is often &quot;alimentary paste.&quot; Same for some imported Japanese soba noodles.