Museum of Pasta facts for kids

The Museum of Pasta (or Museo della pasta in Italian) is a special museum in Italy. It teaches you all about pasta! You can find it in a place called Corte di Giarola. This is near the towns of Collecchio and Ozzano Taro, in the Province of Parma. This area is famous for making and processing pasta. The museum even shares its building with the Museum of Tomato!

How the Museum Started

In 2001, a group called the "Promoting Committee of Food Museums" was created. Their goal was to set up museums about food. From 2003 to 2004, they worked with many local groups. These included the Province of Parma and towns like Soragna, Langhirano, and Collecchio.

They also worked with businesses and food protection groups. Everyone wanted to create a network of food museums in the Parma area. This led to the idea of opening a museum in Corte di Giarola. This old building was perfect for a museum about food, especially pasta and tomatoes.

When the Museum Opened

The Museum of Pasta is located on the ground floor of the Corte di Giarola building. This building is very old! It was once a place where farmers processed food in the Middle Ages. Later, in the 1900s, it became a factory for canned foods.

The museum officially opened its doors on May 10, 2014. On that day, there was a special meeting. It was all about "Pasta: history, culture, and food." Many important people attended, including a famous food journalist named Davide Paolini.

Exploring the Museum's Exhibits

The Museum of Pasta has six different areas for visitors to explore. Each area teaches you something new about pasta!

From Grain to Flour

The first part of the museum shows how grain is grown. You can see old farming tools and models. Panels and documents explain how people have grown grains over time. This is the first step in making pasta!

Grinding the Grains

Next, you learn how grains are turned into flour. This section has models and even a recreated mill. It shows how grinding techniques have changed throughout history.

Bread and Baked Goods

The third area focuses on bread and other baked products. This helps you understand how flour is used in many different ways.

Making Pasta at Home

The fourth section is all about making pasta at home. You can see a collection of small kitchen tools from the past. These tools were used to prepare homemade pasta. You'll also see many different shapes and sizes of pasta!

Pasta Factories and Machines

The fifth area is very cool! It has a copy of an industrial pasta factory from the early 1800s. You can also see some old machines. This part of the museum shows how pasta is made in large factories today. It also explains how they create over a hundred different types of pasta!

The Culture of Pasta

Finally, the sixth section explores the rich culture of pasta in Italy. You can see panels, old postcards, and advertisements. There are also paintings, stamps, and catalogs. This area shows how important pasta is to Italian life and history.