Lasagna: Difference between revisions
Content deleted Content added
m →Variants: typo |
←Replaced content with 'lasagna sucks' Tag: blanking |
||
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
lasagna sucks |
|||
{{otheruses4|the pasta dish|the song by "Weird Al" Yankovic|Lasagna (song)|the physician|Louis Lasagna}} |
|||
[[Image:Lasagna.png|thumb|right|Lasagna, fresh from the oven.]] |
|||
'''Lasagna''' (singular, {{IPA-it|laˈzaɲa}}; plural '''lasagne''' {{IPA|[laˈzaɲe]}}) is both a form of [[pasta]] in sheets (sometimes rippled, though seldom so in Northern [[Italy]]) and also a dish, sometimes named ''lasagne al forno'' (meaning "oven-cooked lasagne") made with alternate layers of pasta, [[cheese]], and often [[ragù]] (a [[meat]] [[sauce]]) or [[tomato sauce]]. The dish is always spelled ''lasagne'' in Italy. |
|||
The word ''lasagna'', which originally applied to a cooking pot, now simply describes the food itself.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.foodreference.com/html/flasagna.html | title="Lasagna: Food Facts & Trivia" | publisher=Foodreference.com | accessdate = 2007-05-04}}</ref> |
|||
==Variants== |
|||
Some recipes call for more than one cheese, most often [[ricotta cheese|ricotta]] and [[mozzarella cheese|mozzarella]]. Mozzarella is made in the south of Italy, so the use of these two cheeses is typical of lasagne made in Naples or further south. |
|||
[[Image:Lasagna.jpg|thumb|left|"Lasagne verdi" (green lasagne); made with spinach and cheese.]] |
|||
Lasagne alla Bolognese uses only [[Parmigiano Reggiano]], [[Bolognese sauce]] and nutmeg flavored [[béchamel sauce]] (besciamella). Classic Bologna lasagne should be made with ''Lasagne verdi'' (green lasagne) which is [[egg (food)|egg]] pasta with added [[spinach]], although in other towns of Emilia-Romagna, the lasagne need not be green. As with the term 'lasagne', the ''verdi'' variety can refer to the dish or the pasta. A vegetarian version of the traditional Bologna lasagne or “Lasagne alla bolognese" is sometimes found in adjacent in Tuscany - not traditionally a pasta region - and other regions. It substitutes a simple tomato and basil sauce for the Bolognese sauce, arranged with layers of noodles, nutmeg flavored [[béchamel sauce]] and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. |
|||
Especially outside Italy, there are many variants, from [[artichoke]] spinach lasagna to [[spicy]] [[chipotle]] lasagna to [[vegetarian]] and [[seafood]] versions. The dish lends itself to creative use of ingredients by home cooks as well as chefs. |
|||
Today the term "Lasagne" is often chef speak for layering and baking, so you may find a Potato/Scallop or a Frittata/Shrimp "Lasagne" where there is no pasta in the dish at all |
|||
In eastern Europe a similar dish called [[Łazanki]] is made. |
|||
[[Image:Lasagna NIH.jpg|thumb|Rippled sheets of pasta are common in [[North America]], but not in Northern [[Italy]].]] |
|||
Rippled sheets are typically packaged pasta made of durum or hard wheat which repels sauces - the ripples are designed to hold the sauce better. Emilia-Romagna egg pasta, which is made with soft wheat, drinks up sauce and does not need the help of rippling. |
|||
==Origin== |
|||
Although the dish is generally believed to have originated in [[Italy]], the word "lasagna" comes from the [[Greek language|Greek]] ''λάσανα'' (''lasana'') or ''λάσανον'' (''lasanon'') meaning "trivet or stand for a pot", "chamber pot"<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2361998 ''Lasana'', Liddell and Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon", at Perseus]</ref><ref> |
|||
{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.salon.com/april97/food/cookbook970402.html |
|||
|title=A Lighthearted Look at How Foods Got Their Names |
|||
|accessdate=2007-09-30 |
|||
|last=Muhlke |
|||
|first=Christine |
|||
|date=1997-04-02 |
|||
|work=Cookbook Shelf: Book Review |
|||
|publisher=[[Salon.com]] |
|||
}}</ref><ref> |
|||
{{cite web |
|||
|url=http://www.britannica.com/dictionary?va=Lasagna |title=lasagna |accessdate=2007-09-30 |work=Merriam-Webster's Online Dictionary |publisher= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] Online }}</ref>. The Romans borrowed the word as "lasanum", in Latin, meaning "cooking pot". The Italians used the word to refer to the dish in which lasagna is made. It wasn't long before the name of the food took on the name of the serving dish. |
|||
Another theory suggests that lasagna might come from Greek ''λάγανον'' (''laganon''), a flat sheet of pasta dough cut into strips.<ref>[http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2361489 ''Laganon'', Liddell and Scott, "A Greek-English Lexicon", at Perseus]</ref><ref>"Food in the Ancient World from A to Z", Andrew Dalby, Routledge, 2003</ref><ref>"Everyone Eats: Understanding Food and Culture", Eugene Newton Anderson, NYU Press, 2005</ref><ref>[http://www.pasta.go.it/origin.htm ''The Real Italian Pasta'']</ref> |
|||
The recipe was featured in the first cookbook ever written in England, leading to an urban legend that the dish originated in the British Isles.<ref name="Lasagna British">{{cite web |
|||
| url=http://urbanlegends.about.com/b/a/008887.htm |
|||
| title="Stop the Presses, Lasagna is British!" |
|||
| last=Emory |
|||
| first=David |
|||
| publisher=[[About.com]] |
|||
| date=[[July 15]] [[2003]] |
|||
| accessdate=2007-04-23}} |
|||
</ref> The claim is dubious, in light of the much earlier [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] use of "lasanum".<ref name="Lasagna British"/> |
|||
==Popular culture== |
|||
*In the comic strip ''[[Garfield]]'', microwaved lasagna is said to be the favorite food of [[Garfield (character)|Garfield]], an orange tabby cat who enjoys eating, but especially loves lasagna. |
|||
*In the television series ''[[Friends]]'', lasagna is one of the foods favored by character [[Joey Tribbiani]]. |
|||
*In the animated television series ''[[Daria]]'', Daria Morgendorffer's family is seen eating lasagna for dinner in nearly every episode. |
|||
==References== |
|||
{{Reflist}} |
|||
{{wikiquote|Lasagna}} |
|||
{{Commonscat|Lasagna|Lasagna}} |
|||
{{cookbook}} |
|||
[[Category:Pasta]] |
|||
[[Category:Cheese dishes]] |
|||
[[Category:Italian cuisine]] |
|||
[[Category:Greek loanwords]] |
|||
[[Category:Italian loanwords]] |
|||
[[ar:لازانيا]] |
|||
[[ca:Lasanya]] |
|||
[[cs:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[da:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[de:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[es:Lasaña]] |
|||
[[eo:Lasanjoj]] |
|||
[[fr:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[ko:라사냐]] |
|||
[[id:Lasagna]] |
|||
[[it:Lasagne al forno]] |
|||
[[he:לזניה]] |
|||
[[lt:Lazanija]] |
|||
[[mk:Лазањи]] |
|||
[[nl:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[ja:ラザニア]] |
|||
[[no:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[pl:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[pt:Lasanha]] |
|||
[[ru:Лазанья]] |
|||
[[sk:Lazane]] |
|||
[[fi:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[sv:Lasagne]] |
|||
[[tr:Lazanya]] |
|||
[[uk:Лазанья]] |
|||
[[bat-smg:Lazanėjė]] |
|||
[[zh:千層麵]] |
|||
Revision as of 20:02, 4 August 2009
lasagna sucks