Pasta Factory Tour with Allied Spouses Club

My girlfriend G has been posting some really fun pictures lately on Facebook, and I couldn't help but to be a little jealous. I must say, the lame weather Naples has been having over the past few months has turned me into somewhat of a hermit. That and I've been taking a chill pill from going out and exploring because I always manage to spend money when I walk out my front door.

G and a group of girls with the Allied Spouses Club (ASC) recently went to a Silk factory, and a Chocolate Factory for suuuuuuuuper cheap. There are so many tours that I have been wanting to do, but the price of the tours has been preventing me from signing up. Not saying that the cost of the tour is going to break the bank, but being weeks out from having a newborn baby, I've been pinching pennies.

Back to the title of this blog... PASTA FACTORY TOUR. Oooohhhh yessssss! For just 25 euros (20 if you are an ASC member) a big ole tour bus picked us ladies (guys are welcomed too!) up from the front parking lot of JFC this past Tuesday and took us out to Gragnano. Gragnano is an area out right past Pompeii. We were dropped off in this cutesy town and walked right into a store that has pasta from floor to ceiling in packages ready to be sold. We were greeted by a very sweet young woman who spoke impeccable English. She told us about their products and some facts about them.

Some facts that stick out in my mind are:

• Red Pasta gets it's color from Tomatoes
• Green Pasta, Spinach
• Black Pasta is colored from Squid Ink (Interesting, don't know if I want to try it more or less now)
• Pasta in the shape of Pepperccini are flavored by Pepperccini and are Hot/Spicy
• Their Lemon flavored pasta uses Sorrento Lemons- so you know it's legit!



Photo Credit- Kimberly R.

After some basic info on their products we were walked to their banquet room, which had old machinery to weigh and racks to dry pasta from the glory days of pasta making. It was really cool to see these antique products and methods before we wined and dined. A delicious anti-pasta dish, Buffalo mozzarella followed by a Caccavella alla Sorrentina along with their brand of wine. To finish the meal we were given a fabulous slice of Tiramisu.

Photo Credit- Kimberly R.

The food was divine, and after lunch we were taken into their factory to see the process of making the pasta we just ate. Decked out in lab coats and hair nets we witnessed the steps of how to make Uh-Maze-Zing pasta. Starting from the mill, where the very fine grains are added to water, sent to the press to make shapes, to seeing the pasta after it has been cut. We were able to sample fresh, hot off the press, still warm pieces. The texture of the pasta was rough, which is a good thing! Rough pasta allows the sauce it is cooked with to grip onto it.

After enough pasta is pressed, cut and collected it is rolled on racks into a room that dries out the soft pasta. The longer the pasta takes to dry, the more "Blonde" the pasta looks. More pale than yellow. This helps keep the integrity of the flavor. From the drying room the pasta is weighed and packed into bags, then sent through to get sealed and a sticker for display.

If the pasta is long and skinny, like spaghetti, it is hand weighed as to not break the pieces in the machine which could poke a hole in the bag.

The process looked really simple, but it was with the facts and knowledge about the product that increased my appreciation for this local product.

The bus ride back was a quiet one, as we were all full and in food comas. The really cool part about taking a tour with ASC is the variety of different languages spoken. I was intrigued hearing people speaking Spanish, Italian, French and more.

How do you get involved with the Allied Spouse Club and go about taking tours with them? Well first off, the tours are NOT advertised on Facebook. The NATO base has strict guidelines to protect the spouses from predators, and not publically listing when and where a group of spouses are going to be is one guideline we can't be too upset about. Their Facebook page is available here.

From there you can get in contact with a member to go about becoming a member yourself. I have not become a member YET, and until I do, I just pay an additional fee to be a part of the tours.

The name of the store/factory that we visited is La Fabbrica della Pasta di Gragnano. Their website lists the recipe for the Caccavella alla Sorrentina that we had for lunch, and that link at the beginning of the blog. If you're a Facebook enthusiast, here is their Facebook Page. Their pastas are decently priced as are their ceramic and pasta sets! Their address, phone number and coordinates are found here!

Check them out, they are very nice people with some great locally made pasta.