Ruote and Rotelline

Ruote are wheels of pasta. A complex, arguably naff shape that was only possible with the advancement of the pasta industry’s mechanisation, it was itself inspired by mechanics. A number of pasta shapes have taken their form from the industries which shaped Italy in the early 20th century, and were much lauded by the Fascists. Eliche ‘(screws’, much like fusilli), frese (‘end-mills’), fusilli (‘spindles’), gomiti (‘crank-shafts’), lancette (‘clock hands’), radiatori (‘radiators’), spole (‘spools’), trivelli (‘drills’), took their names from various machines. Ruote owe their name and form to the automobile industry of the north, and their production to the pasta industry of the south.