Pasta Gentile

Saying Gragnano is like saying pasta, artisanal pasta, bronze cut pasta, a real art with a history of over five hundred years. And it is a story that attracts. If we only think that even today some of the historical pasta factories keep intact traditions of the past, those that have made Gragnano pasta one of the most popular products in the world. Gentile pasta factory, run by the Zampino family since 1948 is one of the places where pasta is still dried according to the Cirillo method.

The choice of excellent raw material for the creation of a superior product is the basis of the work that Pastificio Gentile carries out daily.

The research that for years has pushed the Zampino family to undertake short trips to Southern Italy, to know, try and use the most valuable varieties of durum wheat, is incessant. That is why the choice is made for wheat varieties that guarantee the production of pasta with a unique flavor.

Many years ago, an important partnership was established during one of these trips, with the company "Selezione Casillo", which are suppliers of the semolina used for all types of pasta. Currently, the wheat comes from Puglia, a land devoted to cereal cultivation, which is fully traceable and milled on site.

The "Cirillo Method" is a drying process conceived by the engineer of the same name from Torre Annunziata. It is based on the recreation of the phenomenon of natural drying, which exploited the heat of the sun and the strength of the wind, within the pasta factories.

In Gragnano there is still what was once known as the "pasta road", nowadays Via Roma, where the pasta was laid out in the sun and the days passed patiently for the drying process to be complete.

Observing this process, Cirillo designed cells inside wich braziers (now replaced by large radiators) heated the air, while powerful ventilators distributed heat.

The pasta factory Gentile, founded in 1876, is one of the historic artisan factories that have brought the worldwide fame to the city of Gragnano and its pasta. Today, in the era of advanced technologies, Gentile still keep the methods of artisanal production, attention to every single detail, from the selection of raw materials and to the control of the production phases.

To the Gragnanesi of the sixteenth century how they could make the most of what nature was giving them: mountains from which pure water flowed and wind that came directly from the sea, bringing heat and humidity.

Throughout the centuries, thanks to the wheat that came from Puglia, which was ground in the large water mills built along the road to Castello in the Lattari mountains such immense and uncontaminated, whose water was used to prepare tons of dough. The air, on the other hand, turned out to be humid and perfect for slow and delicate drying of pasta, hung in the streets and piazzas, which became famous such as Via Roma in the heart of the city.

It is here that the Zampino family works every day to honor the history of Gragnano and of those who have dedicated their lives to make it one of the most famous small cities in the world by virtue of the excellence of the Italian products.