MACARO'NI (originally lumps of paste and cheese squeezed up into balls, from It. maecare, to bruise or crush), a peculiar manufacture of wheat, which for a long time was peculiar to Italy, and, in fact, almost to Genoa; it is DOW, however, made all over Italy, and at Marseilles and other places in the south of France. Strictly speaking, the name macaroni applies only to wheaten paste in the form of pipes, varying in, diameter from an ordinary quill up to those now made of the diameter of an inch; but there is no real difference between it and the fine thread-like vermicelli, and the infinite variety of curious and elegant little forms which, under the name of Italian pastes, are used for soups.
Only certain kinds of wheat are applicable to this manufacture, and these are the hard sorts, which contain a large percentage of gluten. At present, the Italian manu facturers prefer the wheats of Odessa and Taganrog; but they also employ those of their own country grown in Sicily and in Apulia. The wheat is first ground into a coarse meal, from which the bran is removed—in that state it is called seinola (see also SEMO LINA); during the grinding, it is necessary to employ both heat and humidity, to insure a good sernola. The setnola is worked up into it dough with water; and for macaroni
and vermicelli it is forced through gauges, with or without mandrels, as in wire and pipedrawing; or for pastes, it is rolled out into very thin sheets, from which are stamped out the various forms of stars, rings, etc.
The manufacture of this material is of great importance to Italy, where it forms a large article of home consumption, and is exported to all parts of the world. In Genoa alone nearly 170,000 quintals of wheat are annually consumed in this manu facture. The finest qualities of macaroni are those which are whitest in color, and do not burst or break up in boiling; it should swell considerably, and become quite soft; but if it does not retain its form when boiled, it has not been made of the best wheat. Some makers flavor and color it with saffron and turmeric, to suit cer tain taste>, but this is liin'ted to very few. The use of macaroni and its varieties is rapidly increasing in Great Britain, where it is employed in soups, in puddings, and for making the favorite dish of macaroni and cheese.