A tragic oversight, indeed. For it is widely believed that these humble farmers, with one visionary act, became the mother and father of modern pasta. The locals lampooned poor Alfonso when he plowed his family fields under to sow the very first spaghetti vine. But soon, genius flourished and he became the patriarch of what is now known as the very first Pasta Harvest.

Alfonso’s early success growing spaghetti stemmed from his search for the perfect accompaniment to his wife Marsala’s meatballs and red sauce dish. With this discovery, Alfonso’s pasta was in demand the world over. His spaghetti was rushed from farm to table just as fast as the mule-drawn carts could carry them. Naturally curious, Alfonso began experimenting with hybridization and various grafting and cross-pollination techniques. This ingenious and persistent noodling soon led to other distinct varieties of pasta. Like Farfalle... Penne, now grown almost exclusively in Bologna, Italy...and the delightful but often mispronounced, Con Conchi... or is it Conchi-gily, or...well you know, the shell pasta.

Today, nearly every pasta variety grown throughout the world can trace its origins back to that tiny farm in Linguina, Italy—and back to the very earliest pasta harvests. Harvests are still celebrated today at pasta farms on nearly every continent and in every corner of the world. So the next time you enjoy a heaping dish of Spaghetti, Fettuccini Alfredo, or that shell pasta tip your hat to the pasta-man in the sky and his dear wife who helped create, harvest and perfect the technique for cooking pasta, which is appropriately now referred to as 'Al-Dente'.