Dis donc, c'est vrai que Marco Polo aurait ramené les pâtes d'Orient, ou c'est juste une légende ?
History

Evidence of Etruscans making pasta dates back to 400 BCE. The first concrete information on pasta products in Italy dates to the 13th or 14th centuries. In the 1st century AD writings of Horace, lagana (sg.: laganum) were fine sheets of fried dough and were an everyday foodstuff. Writing in the 2nd century, Athenaeus of Naucratis provides a recipe for lagana which he attributes to the 1st century Chrysippus of Tyana: sheets of dough made of wheat flour and the juice of crushed lettuce, then flavored with spices and deep-fried in oil. An early 5th century cookbook describes a dish called lagana that consisted of layers of dough with meat stuffing, an ancestor of modern-day lasagna. However, the method of cooking these sheets of dough does not correspond to the modern definition of either a fresh or dry pasta product, which only had similar basic ingredients and perhaps the shape.

Historians have noted several lexical milestones relevant to pasta, none of which changes these basic characteristics. For example, the works of the 2nd century AD Greek physician Galen mention itrion, homogeneous compounds made of flour and water. The Jerusalem Talmud records that itrium, a kind of boiled dough, was common in Palestine from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD. A dictionary compiled by the 9th century Arab physician and lexicographer Isho bar Ali defines itriyya, the Arabic cognate, as string-like shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking. The geographical text of Muhammad al-Idrisi, compiled for the Norman King of Sicily Roger II in 1154 mentions itriyya manufactured and exported from Norman Sicily:

West of Termini there is a delightful settlement called Trabia. Its ever-flowing streams propel a number of mills. Here there are huge buildings in the countryside where they make vast quantities of itriyya which is exported everywhere: to Calabria, to Muslim and Christian countries. Very many shiploads are sent.

One form of itriyya with a long history is lagana, which in Latin refers to thin sheets of dough, and gave rise to the Italian lasagna.

In North Africa, a food similar to pasta, known as couscous, has been eaten for centuries. However, it lacks the distinguishing malleable nature of pasta, couscous being more akin to droplets of dough. At first, dry pasta was a luxury item in Italy because of high labor costs; durum wheat semolina had to be kneaded for a long time.

There is a legend of Marco Polo importing pasta from China which originated with the Macaroni Journal, published by an association of food industries with the goal of promoting pasta in the United States. Rustichello da Pisa writes in his Travels that Marco Polo described a food similar to lagana. The way pasta reached Europe is unknown, however there are many theories, Jeffrey Steingarten asserts that Moors introduced pasta in the Emirate of Sicily in the ninth century, mentioning also that traces of pasta have been found in ancient Greece and that Jane Grigson believed the Marco Polo story to have originated in the 1920s or 1930s in an advertisement for a Canadian spaghetti company.

Food historians estimate that the dish probably took hold in Italy as a result of extensive Mediterranean trading in the Middle Ages. From the 13th century, references to pasta dishes—macaroni, ravioli, gnocchi, vermicelli—crop up with increasing frequency across the Italian peninsula. In the 14th-century writer Boccaccio's collection of earthy tales, The Decameron, he recounts a mouthwatering fantasy concerning a mountain of Parmesan cheese down which pasta chefs roll macaroni and ravioli to gluttons waiting below.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, dried pasta became popular for its easy storage. This allowed people to store pasta on ships when exploring the New World. A century later, pasta was present around the globe during the voyages of discovery.

Although tomatoes were introduced to Italy in the 16th century and incorporated in Italian cuisine in the 17th century, description of the first Italian tomato sauces dates from the late 18th century: the first written record of pasta with tomato sauce can be found in the 1790 cookbook L'Apicio Moderno by Roman chef Francesco Leonardi. Before tomato sauce was introduced, pasta was eaten dry with the fingers; the liquid sauce demanded the use of a fork.
Le mythe des pâtes

Il existe une légende selon laquelle Marco Polo aurait importé les pâtes de Chine ; cependant, il s'agit en réalité d'une idée reçue populaire, née dans le *Macaroni Journal*, une publication d'une association de l'industrie alimentaire dans le but de promouvoir la consommation de pâtes aux États-Unis. Marco Polo décrit dans son livre un aliment semblable à la « lasagne », mais il utilise un terme avec lequel il était déjà familier. Les pâtes avaient déjà été inventées en Italie bien avant les voyages de Marco Polo en Asie. Selon la newsletter de la National Macaroni Manufacturers Association et le journaliste culinaire Jeffrey Steingarten, le blé dur a été introduit par les Arabes de Libye, pendant leur domination en Sicile à la fin du IXe siècle, précédant ainsi les voyages de Marco Polo d'environ quatre siècles. Steingarten a également mentionné que Jane Grigson pensait que l'histoire de Marco Polo avait débuté dans les années 1920 ou 30 dans une publicité pour une entreprise canadienne de spaghettis.
### Query ###
Dis donc, c'est vrai que Marco Polo aurait ramené les pâtes d'Orient, ou c'est juste une légende ?

### Main Text ###
History

Evidence of Etruscans making pasta dates back to 400 BCE. The first concrete information on pasta products in Italy dates to the 13th or 14th centuries. In the 1st century AD writings of Horace, lagana (sg.: laganum) were fine sheets of fried dough and were an everyday foodstuff. Writing in the 2nd century, Athenaeus of Naucratis provides a recipe for lagana which he attributes to the 1st century Chrysippus of Tyana: sheets of dough made of wheat flour and the juice of crushed lettuce, then flavored with spices and deep-fried in oil. An early 5th century cookbook describes a dish called lagana that consisted of layers of dough with meat stuffing, an ancestor of modern-day lasagna. However, the method of cooking these sheets of dough does not correspond to the modern definition of either a fresh or dry pasta product, which only had similar basic ingredients and perhaps the shape.

Historians have noted several lexical milestones relevant to pasta, none of which changes these basic characteristics. For example, the works of the 2nd century AD Greek physician Galen mention itrion, homogeneous compounds made of flour and water. The Jerusalem Talmud records that itrium, a kind of boiled dough, was common in Palestine from the 3rd to 5th centuries AD. A dictionary compiled by the 9th century Arab physician and lexicographer Isho bar Ali defines itriyya, the Arabic cognate, as string-like shapes made of semolina and dried before cooking. The geographical text of Muhammad al-Idrisi, compiled for the Norman King of Sicily Roger II in 1154 mentions itriyya manufactured and exported from Norman Sicily:

West of Termini there is a delightful settlement called Trabia. Its ever-flowing streams propel a number of mills. Here there are huge buildings in the countryside where they make vast quantities of itriyya which is exported everywhere: to Calabria, to Muslim and Christian countries. Very many shiploads are sent.

One form of itriyya with a long history is lagana, which in Latin refers to thin sheets of dough, and gave rise to the Italian lasagna.

In North Africa, a food similar to pasta, known as couscous, has been eaten for centuries. However, it lacks the distinguishing malleable nature of pasta, couscous being more akin to droplets of dough. At first, dry pasta was a luxury item in Italy because of high labor costs; durum wheat semolina had to be kneaded for a long time.

There is a legend of Marco Polo importing pasta from China which originated with the Macaroni Journal, published by an association of food industries with the goal of promoting pasta in the United States. Rustichello da Pisa writes in his Travels that Marco Polo described a food similar to lagana. The way pasta reached Europe is unknown, however there are many theories, Jeffrey Steingarten asserts that Moors introduced pasta in the Emirate of Sicily in the ninth century, mentioning also that traces of pasta have been found in ancient Greece and that Jane Grigson believed the Marco Polo story to have originated in the 1920s or 1930s in an advertisement for a Canadian spaghetti company.

Food historians estimate that the dish probably took hold in Italy as a result of extensive Mediterranean trading in the Middle Ages. From the 13th century, references to pasta dishes—macaroni, ravioli, gnocchi, vermicelli—crop up with increasing frequency across the Italian peninsula. In the 14th-century writer Boccaccio's collection of earthy tales, The Decameron, he recounts a mouthwatering fantasy concerning a mountain of Parmesan cheese down which pasta chefs roll macaroni and ravioli to gluttons waiting below.

In the 14th and 15th centuries, dried pasta became popular for its easy storage. This allowed people to store pasta on ships when exploring the New World. A century later, pasta was present around the globe during the voyages of discovery.

Although tomatoes were introduced to Italy in the 16th century and incorporated in Italian cuisine in the 17th century, description of the first Italian tomato sauces dates from the late 18th century: the first written record of pasta with tomato sauce can be found in the 1790 cookbook L'Apicio Moderno by Roman chef Francesco Leonardi. Before tomato sauce was introduced, pasta was eaten dry with the fingers; the liquid sauce demanded the use of a fork.

### Supplementary Text ###
Le mythe des pâtes

Il existe une légende selon laquelle Marco Polo aurait importé les pâtes de Chine ; cependant, il s'agit en réalité d'une idée reçue populaire, née dans le *Macaroni Journal*, une publication d'une association de l'industrie alimentaire dans le but de promouvoir la consommation de pâtes aux États-Unis. Marco Polo décrit dans son livre un aliment semblable à la « lasagne », mais il utilise un terme avec lequel il était déjà familier. Les pâtes avaient déjà été inventées en Italie bien avant les voyages de Marco Polo en Asie. Selon la newsletter de la National Macaroni Manufacturers Association et le journaliste culinaire Jeffrey Steingarten, le blé dur a été introduit par les Arabes de Libye, pendant leur domination en Sicile à la fin du IXe siècle, précédant ainsi les voyages de Marco Polo d'environ quatre siècles. Steingarten a également mentionné que Jane Grigson pensait que l'histoire de Marco Polo avait débuté dans les années 1920 ou 30 dans une publicité pour une entreprise canadienne de spaghettis.

### Draft ###

Query: "Dis donc, c'est vrai que Marco Polo aurait ramené les pâtes d'Orient, ou c'est juste une légende ?"

→ Translation: "Hey, is it true Marco Polo brought pasta from the Orient, or is it just a legend?"

**Initial assessment**: Information retrieval + debunking task. French casual tone suggests general audience knowledge level.

### 1. Direct Answer

**Nope. Légende.** ● High confidence.

Marco Polo didn't bring pasta back from China. ∴ Pasta predates his Asian travels by centuries.

### 2. Evidence Chain

**Historical timeline analysis:**

Ancient evidence:
- Etruscan pasta (lagana) ≈ 400 BCE ●
- Greek lagana (thin fried dough) 1st century CE ●  
- Roman lagana → lasagna ancestor ●

**Geographic distribution check:**
Arab influence Sicily 9th century → pasta ingredients pre-Marco Polo ●
Marco Polo Asia travels: ~1271-1295 ◐
∴ 400+ year gap pasta existence vs. his return

**Linguistic evidence:**
Marco Polo's writings: used familiar Italian terms for pasta-like foods
→ He recognized pasta as already known, not introducing novelty

### 3. Origin Theory

Most likely path: **Mediterranean trade networks** ●

Arab domination Sicily (827-1091 CE) → durum wheat cultivation → pasta production
Medieval Italian ports → pasta spread through commercial networks
≠ Single individual discovery/import

### 4. Modern Myth Creation

**20th century advertising origin** ◐:

National Macaroni Manufacturers Association promotional materials
→ Created pasta-Marco Polo narrative for commercial purposes
→ 1920s-1930s US pasta industry marketing campaigns

**Key insight !**: Myth tailored for American market - pasta needs cultural legitimacy boost.

### 5. Counter-evidence to Polo Theory

**Physical constraints check:**
- 13th century transportation: dried pasta light, durable
- Mediterranean climate: pasta preservation feasible
- Italian ports: direct trade routes to Levant/Arab world

**Logical verification:**
IF Marco Polo brought pasta FROM China
THEN why no other Chinese food technologies transferred back?
Chinese agriculture/cuisine remained isolated until later contact

**Conclusion ∴:**
Pasta origins: Mediterranean/Arab influence, centuries before Marco Polo
Marco Polo myth: 20th century advertising creation, not historical fact

**Final assessment:** ● Confirmed legend - commercial fabrication with plausible historical veneer.

### Answer###
La légende selon laquelle Marco Polo aurait apporté les pâtes d'Orient est effectivement une création moderne et non un fait historique. Cette histoire trouve son origine dans le Macaroni Journal, une publication d'une association de l'industrie alimentaire créée dans le but de promouvoir la consommation de pâtes aux États-Unis.

Marco Polo a effectivement décrit dans ses écrits un aliment similaire à la lasagne, mais il utilisait un terme avec lequel il était déjà familier. Il ne s'agissait pas pour lui d'une découverte exotique, mais d'un aliment qu'il connaissait déjà. Les pâtes avaient été inventées en Italie bien avant les voyages de Marco Polo en Asie.

Les historiens estiment que le plat a probablement pris racine en Italie à cause des échanges commerciaux méditerranéens extensifs au Moyen Âge. Des références à des plats de pâtes - macaroni, ravioli, gnocchi, vermicelles - apparaissent avec une fréquence croissante à travers la péninsule italienne dès le XIIIe siècle.

La théorie la plus probable est que les Arabes de Libye ont introduit le blé dur en Sicile à la fin du IXe siècle, pendant leur domination sur l'île, soit environ quatre siècles avant les voyages de Marco Polo. Cette introduction du blé dur a été fondamentale pour le développement des pâtes italiennes.

L'histoire de Marco Polo et les pâtes semble donc être une création publicitaire des années 1920 ou 1930 pour une entreprise canadienne de spaghettis, plutôt qu'un fait historique réel.