On 6/23/2015 7:26 AM, Cindy Hamilton wrote:
> On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 9:00:31 PM UTC-4, La Mirada wrote:
>> On 6/22/2015 5:45 PM, Roy wrote:
>>> On Monday, June 22, 2015 at 5:18:32 PM UTC-6, wrote:
>>>> When I was at WVU grocery stores had a whole aisle on 1 side of pasta, there must have been a lot of Italians living there.
>>>
>>> Lots of people eat pasta...it isn't a racial food...its a world food.
>>> ===
>>>
>> Ditto that!
>>
>> And it originated in China.
>
> It originated independently elsewhere, too. The Marco Polo thing is
> a myth.
>
> Cindy Hamilton
>
Seems you're correct:

http://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-...tory-of-pasta/

A common belief about pasta is that it was brought to Italy from China
by Marco Polo during the 13th century. In his book, “The Travels of
Marco Polo,” there is a passage that briefly mentions his introduction
to a plant that produced flour (possibly a “breadfruit tree”). The
Chinese used this plant to create a meal similar to barley flour. The
barley-like meal Polo mentioned was used to make several pasta-like
dishes, including one described as “lagana” (lasagna). Since Polo’s
original text no longer exists, the book relies heavily on retellings by
various authors and experts. This, combined with the fact that pasta was
already gaining popularity in other areas of Italy during the 13th
century, makes it very unlikely that Marco Polo was the first to
introduce pasta to Italy.

Noodles existed in Asia long before Polo’s trip to China. Archaeologists
believe that central Asia is most likely the first area to have produced
noodles thousands of years ago. From Asia, it traveled westward. The way
it reached Europe is unclear, though there are many theories—some
believe that nomadic Arabs are responsible for bringing early forms of
pasta westward.


But I submit it still had Asian origins.