Vermicelli
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Vermicelli (Italian: [vermiˈtʃɛlli], lit. "little worms") is a traditional type of pasta round in section similar to spaghetti. In Italy vermicelli is slightly thicker than spaghetti but in the United States it is instead slightly thinner.
As defined in Italy:
In the United States, the National Pasta Association (which has no links with its Italian counterpart, the Unione Industriali Pastai Italiani) lists vermicelli as a thinner type of spaghetti.
The Code of Federal Regulations of the United States of America (Title 21, paragraph 16.2) defines "spaghetti" and "vermicelli" by diameter:
In 14th-century Italy, long pasta shapes had varying local names. Barnabas de Reatinis of Reggio notes in his Compendium de naturis et proprietatibus alimentorum (1338) that the Tuscan vermicelli are called orati in Bologna, minutelli in Venice, fermentini in Reggio, and pancardelle in Mantua.
The first mention of a vermicelli recipe is in the book De arte Coquinaria per vermicelli e maccaroni siciliani (The Art of Cooking Sicilian Macaroni and Vermicelli), compiled by the famous Maestro Martino da Como, unequalled in his field at the time and perhaps the first "celebrity chef," who was the chef at the Roman palazzo of the papal chamberlain ("camerlengo"), the Patriarch of Aquileia. In Martino's Libro de arte coquinaria, there are several recipes for vermicelli, which can last two or three years (doi o tre anni) when dried in the sun.
In English, the Italian loanword "vermicelli" is used to indicate different sorts of long pasta shapes from different parts of the world but mostly from South or East Asia.
In India and other countries of the Indian Subcontinent, vermicelli is known by various local names such as, seviyan in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, vaLavaT/ shevaya in Marathi shemai in Bengali, sev in Gujarati, shavige in Kannada, sevalu or semiya in Telugu, and semiya in Tamil and Malayalam. The noodles are used in a number of dishes including a variation of kheer, a sweet dessert similar to rice pudding. Vermicelli are also used in many parts of India to make a popular dish called upma. To prepare it, dry oil-roasted vermicelli are boiled with a choice of vegetables.
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