Twenty-four participants from Chile, Colombia, Peru and the United States attended the Pasta Production and Technology Short Course April 14-16 at the Northern Crops Institute.
“Our pasta course is one of the oldest courses that we offer here,” said John Crabtree, institute assistant director. “It’s a natural since Minnesota, Montana, North and South Dakota, the four states that we represent, produce 75-80 percent of U.S. durum. Durum is the key ingredient in excellent pasta. The traditional pasta companies have typically participated in these courses. Now, we are seeing other food companies that either offer pasta products or are looking at developing new pasta products.”
U.S. Wheat Associates sponsored six participants from Chile, Colombia and Peru. “Typically in South America, pasta companies have used wheat other than durum for pasta products. However, several companies are now beginning to use more durum for some of their specialty products,” said Crabtree.
Lecture topics included durum varieties, quality evaluation, durum milling, semolina quality, wheat quality tests, functional and alternative pasta ingredients, and commercial pasta production, among others. The class also toured Philadelphia Macaroni Co. in Grand Forks, N.D.
Course faculty and technicians were Gabriele Cannata, De Mari Pasta Dies USA; Michael Ehr, Buhler Inc.; Bruno Giberti, Axor America Inc.; Radwan Ibrahim, Dakota Growers Pasta Co.; Thunyaporn Jeradechachai, NCI crop quality specialist; Frank Manthey, NDSU professor of plant sciences; Rilie Morgan, NCI processing specialist; Brian Sorenson, NCI director; Stan Stancyk, NDSU Department of Plant Sciences; Mehmet Tulbek, NCI technical director; and Mark Vermylen, A. Zerega's Sons.
A second pasta short course, Pasta: Raw Materials and Processing Technology, is planned for July 20-24.
April 16, 2009