Pasta Detailed Description

The Original ‘Original’ Flavored or Named Food, July 1983

Traditional Pasta since 1923

In the early 1970s, encouraging people to eat whole grain, making that convenient as possible became an Eden Foods focus. A working relationship with the Schmidt Noodle Company, founded in Detroit in 1923, was established. After Eden Foods’ experimentation, learning how to mill whole grain flour that made good pasta, Schmidt Noodle began to make deliciously smooth, whole grain organic spaghetti. Organic whole grain Eden Pasta became available to Midwest natural food stores and co-ops in 1977. In 1982, at the request of its owner, Eden Foods bought the pasta factory and renamed it the Eden Organic Pasta Factory (EOPC). In 1989, it earned the distinction of becoming North America’s first third-party certified organic food processing facility.

Lost Methods Maintained

The people at this small factory have carried traditional methods forward with dutiful handling and processing techniques that long ago disappeared from commercial pasta making. Eden Foods often refers to EOPC as a functioning museum. Seeing how it is done, visitors still consider the pasta handmade, even though there are traditional machines being used. Recently, Eden Foods completed a refurbishing of the Pewabic Pottery decorated 1923 factory that will allow it at least another 50 years.

Eden Foods has maintained this traditional pasta making using EOPC’s original, antique Italian equipment, brass dies, laminated rolled dough, slow inside-out steam drying, and traditional know-how. In 1993, the goal of exclusively using organic flour at EOPC was achieved. All grain for flour is from North American organic families, with the exception of high-altitude Andes Mountain, small plot organic quinoa.

Whole Grain Nurtures Best

Whole grain provides a broad range of nutrients in the proportions people need for good health. It is central in a healthy person’s diet. Whole grain balances and purifies. It has three main components, endosperm, bran, and germ. Refined white flour denies us necessary nutrients. White flour was encouraged for its long shelf life, and to allow large scale centralization and monopolization of essential food. Whole grain provides protein, complex carbs, fiber, B vitamins, vitamin E, antioxidant polyphenols, and essential minerals like calcium, iron, selenium, zinc, magnesium, and copper. Whole grain, and pastas made from real whole grain, cause us to burn up to 25 percent more calories per day when compared to refined flour foods. Whole grain is more slowly metabolized. It reduces stress, significantly

Abandonment of Whole Grain

Around 1870, millstones used to mill grain into flour were replaced with metal rollers. Commercial flour mills across Europe and America converted to a new, faster steel roller-mill flour method over a span of about 10 years. This made it extremely easy to isolate various parts of the grain while processing unprecedented huge amounts of grain. Shelf-stable flour was now easy; not healthy, but easy and cheap. Large scale centralization required long shelf life flour. Roller mill white flour was the answer. It provided additional cash flow in selling the bran and germ as animal feed or for oil production. These misguided developments made it impossible for a traditional flour miller to survive.

Stoneground white flour entails sifting out bran and germ through cloth of specific weaves. This produces fine flour that contains very little bran and germ, but still contains the grain’s germ oil that was released during grinding. The oil from the germ gives flour an off-white color and it begins to oxidize soon after milling. Shelf life is therefore relatively short compared to what long distribution channels demand and roller mills can easily deliver.

In roller milling the bran and germs are scraped away from the grain before the grain is ground into flour. The prevents oils/fats from intermingling with carbohydrates and produces a pure white, long shelf flour. Bran and germ removal also removes the parts of the grain that we need to digest the milky white endosperm; nourishing components including fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, polyphenols, and antioxidants. Lack of understanding about what is necessary in a healthy diet allows flour mills to make flour with its vital, essential nourishment removed.

As understanding grows, a return to whole grain flours is happening. Eden Whole Grain Pastas are part of this.

EDEN Whole Grain Flour

Eden pastas are made from five family farm organically whole grains: high Plains golden amber durum wheat, Khorasan wheat (kamut), spelt wheat, buckwheat, and quinoa from the Andes plateau. They are farmed by those committed to creating vital soil, cleansing the environment, and producing the safest, most nutritious and delicious food.

• Golden Amber Durum Wheat – the most sought-after pasta grain in the world, a particularly hard, hard wheat. It is favored for excellent nutrition and its ability to create smooth, firm pasta. We mill and use this as whole grain flour. For a lighter pasta, 40% sifted patent durum wheat flour is blended into the whole grain flour.
• Kamut Wheat (Khorasan)– Triticum turgidum spp. turanicum is one of the oldest cultivated wheats, native to Asia Minor and Egypt. It is related to the ancient grain spelt wheat and a relative of durum wheat. Large gold kernels, called ‘berries,’ are much larger than hybrid modern wheat. Khorasan wheat is allergy friendly. Although it does contain gluten, it is water-soluble gluten making it easier to digest than modern wheat. Research by the International Food Allergy Association (IFAA) says, “For most wheat sensitive people, Khorasan wheat can be an excellent substitute for common wheat.” Dr. Ellen Yoder, President of IFAA and a team of independent scientists and physicians arrived at this conclusion after studying two groups of wheat sensitive people – those with immediate immune system responses and those with delayed immune system response. The delayed immune response group showed a remarkable 70 percent greater sensitivity to common wheat than to Kamut. With the immediate immune response group, those who were severely allergic, they found that 70 percent had no or minor reaction to Kamut. The Kamut Association of America and Europe calls kamut, “the wheat you can eat.” It is a rare non-hybridized wheat that offers the highest protein of any wheat. It makes pasta with exceptionally smooth texture, imparting unique satisfaction.
• Spelt Wheat – Triticum spelta is an ancient relative of modern wheat. Records show its cultivated over 9,000 years ago in the Fertile Crescent area around Iraq, Iran, Jordan, and northern Greece. In Italy, spelt is known as farro, farricello zea, and siligo, in Germany as ‘dinkle’. Spelt was the staple bread wheat of Europe and the Middle East until it was displaced by modern hybrid wheat. In Europe, spelt is still a major food crop, especially in Germany, Switzerland, and the Ardens region of Belgium. This ancient grain has not been tampered with by plant breeders and is not a hybrid. Spelt’s hull stubbornly clings to the grain and is difficult to clean with regular threshing machines. The hull, however, is a great asset that protects the grain from insects and pollutants, while helping to retain nutrients, moisture, and freshness in storage. Spelt requires very little nitrogen in the soil to grow well, and naturally tends to choke out weeds, making it an ideal crop for organic agriculture. The twelfth century healer St. Hildegard von Bingen wrote, “Spelt is the best of grains. It is rich and nourishing and milder than other grains. It produces a strong body and healthy blood for those who eat it and it makes the spirit of man light and cheerful.” She believed that spelt was “…the easiest to digest of all grain.” Studies in Europe have confirmed this, spelt is easier to digest than other grain. A significant quality of spelt is that it is allergy friendly. Although it does contain some gluten, it is different than modern wheat. It is highly water soluble, making it easier to digest for those with sensitivity. Research has found that, as with kamut, spelt can be an excellent substitute for common wheat for those with allergies.
• Buckwheat – Fagopyrum esculentum or F. sagittatum is a gluten free whole grain, and not at all related to wheat. It originated simultaneously around Lake Baikal in Siberia, in the Himalayas, and in Manchuria where it was domesticated and cultivated over 8,000 years ago. It spread throughout Asia and Japan via Buddhist monks. During the Crusades, Saracen traders brought buckwheat from Asia to Europe where it was called Saracen wheat. It remains a staple there, especially in Russia and central Europe. Buckwheat got its name from the Anglo-Saxon words ‘boc’ meaning beech and ‘whoet‘ meaning wheat. The name refers to buckwheat’s brownish-black pyramidal seed that, although smaller, resembles a beechnut from the beech tree. Dutch settlers introduced boecweite to colonial America, planting it in New York State and Pennsylvania. It was once one of America’s most popular breakfast porridges. Buckwheat is versatile, with mild flavor and superb nutrition. Its protein is superior to most cereal grains, providing all amino acids including the essential ones. It is nature’s best source of rutin, a very beneficial and important vitamin C complex flavonoid.
• Quinoa – Chenopodium quinoa is the most ancient American grain, organically grown at over 12,000 feet in the Andes Mountains, preserving native culture there. Quinoa was cultivated 8,000 years ago near the equator in South America and was the staple grain of the Inca, Maya, and other Native Americans for centuries. In Quechua and Aymara languages, Quinoa means ‘Mother Grain‘. Quinoa is also gluten free. For more information on Eden Quinoa click here.

Artisan Skill

Each step in making Eden Pasta helps to create fine texture and flavor. This begins with careful selection of organic grain. All whole grain for Eden pasta is milled at Eden Foods. The organic semolina and patent durum flours are milled at a certified organic mill in North Dakota. Organic seasonings and organic vegetable powders like carrot, annatto, beet, spinach, and Jerusalem artichoke are added to some pasta for variety of nutrition, taste, and color.

EOPC kneads flour and water to develop a dough. For pastas like Eden Spirals, Shells, Elbows, Alphabets, Ditalini, Gemelli, Rigatoni, and Spaghetti, the dough is pushed through vintage brass dies using a traditional screw press and then cut to length. For Eden Ribbon Pasta, dough is rolled out and folded over itself eight times. These laminated sheets are cut to width and length. After shaping, the pastas are steam dried, gradually reducing their moisture, drying them from the inside out. The drying process can take from 27 to 48 hours, depending upon the cut of pasta and seasonal humidity. Each step helps to create pasta of exceptional flavor, texture, and character.

Commercial pasta is made from highly refined, chemically treated flour, processed in minutes through Teflon dies, dried with microwaves or ultra-high heat resulting in a void of nutrients and value.

Eco-Friendly Packaging

Eden pastas are packed in recycled, recyclable paperboard boxes, one of the most environmentally friendly packages available. According to the 100 percent Recycled Paperboard Alliance (RPA100.com), “Fourteen trees are saved for each ton of paperboard converted to 100 percent recycled paperboard. Trees are critical to the sequestration of CO2, a greenhouse gas. For each ton of paperboard converted to 100 percent recycled paperboard, an equal amount of recovered fiber is diverted from municipal landfills. Production of 100 percent recycled paperboard uses 50 percent less energy compare to virgin grades of paperboard, thus significantly reducing the greenhouse gases released into the environment.”

Each Eden Pasta box has an Eden tested recipe on the back, with a photo of it prepared.