Ravioli (; : ''raviolo'', ) are a type of

stuffed pasta Filled pasta or stuffed pasta is pasta, usually sealed, surrounding a variety of fillings. Such pasta is especially common in non-tropical regions of Eurasia. Examples of filled pasta include ravioli and tortellini. Preparation The pasta wrapp ...

comprising a filling enveloped in thin pasta dough. Usually served in broth or with a sauce, they originated as a

traditional food Traditional foods are foods and Dish (food), dishes that are passed on through generations or which have been consumed for many generations. Traditional foods and dishes are traditional in nature, and may have a historic precedent in a national ...

Italian cuisine Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...

. Ravioli are commonly square, though other forms are also used, including circular and semi-circular ('' mezzelune''). Ravioli appear in the 14th-century cookbook ''

The Forme of Cury ''The Forme of Cury'' (''The Method of Cooking'', from Old French , 'cookery') is an extensive 14th-century collection of medieval English recipes. Although the original manuscript is lost, the text appears in nine manuscripts, the most famou ...

'' under the name of ''rauioles''.

Etymology

English and French borrowed the word ''ravioli'' from Italian in the 14th century. The ultimate origin of the word is uncertain. It is sometimes connected to the northern Italian word ''rava'', 'turnip', supposing that the filling was made of turnips, but the earliest recipes, even Lenten ones, do not include turnips. Another theory connects it to a kind of cheese (related to modern Italian ''

robiola ''Robiola'' is an Italian cuisine, Italian Types of cheese#Soft cheese, soft-Cheese ripening, ripened cheese of the stracchino family. It is from the Langhe region and made with varying proportions of Dairy cattle, cow's, Goat milk, goat's, and ...

''), but that also appears unlikely.

History

Ravioli are mentioned in the personal letters of

Francesco Datini Francesco di Marco Datini ( – 16 August 1410) was an Italian merchant born in Prato. Datini is notable for having implemented the first partnership system in business in 1383. Biography Datini was one of four children of Marco di Datino and Mo ...

, a merchant of

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

in the 14th century.Davidson '' Oxford Companion to Food'', p. 655. In Venice, the mid-14th-century manuscript ''Libro per cuoco'' offers ravioli of green herbs blanched and minced, mixed with beaten egg and fresh cheese, simmered in broth and seasoned with "sweet and strong spices". In

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, ravioli were already well known when

Bartolomeo Scappi Bartolomeo Scappi ( – 13 April 1577) was a famous Italian Renaissance chef and food writer, best known for his high profile clients, including being the personal chef of Pope Pius IV. Biography Scappi came from Dumenza in Lombardy, Italy, ...

served them with boiled chicken to the papal conclave of 1549.

Overview

Traditionally, ravioli are made at home. The filling varies according to the area where they are prepared. In

and

Latium Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire. Definition Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whic ...

, the filling is made with ricotta cheese,

spinach Spinach (''Spinacia oleracea'') is a leafy green flowering plant native to Central Asia, Central and Western Asia. It is of the order Caryophyllales, family Amaranthaceae, subfamily Chenopodioideae. Its leaves are a common vegetable consumed eit ...

nutmeg Nutmeg is the seed, or the ground spice derived from the seed, of several tree species of the genus '' Myristica''; fragrant nutmeg or true nutmeg ('' M. fragrans'') is a dark-leaved evergreen tree cultivated for two spices derived from its fru ...

and

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit (the peppercorn), which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in diameter ...

. In

Sardinia Sardinia ( ; ; ) is the Mediterranean islands#By area, second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, and one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. It is located west of the Italian Peninsula, north of Tunisia an ...

, ravioli are filled with ricotta and grated

lemon The lemon (''Citrus'' × ''limon'') is a species of small evergreen tree in the ''Citrus'' genus of the flowering plant family Rutaceae. A true lemon is a hybrid of the citron and the bitter orange. Its origins are uncertain, but some ...

rind. Modern ravioli are also mass-produced by machine.

Around the world

In Europe and the United States, fresh-packed ravioli have several weeks of shelf life. Canned ravioli were pioneered by the

Italian Army The Italian Army ( []) is the Army, land force branch of the Italian Armed Forces. The army's history dates back to the Italian unification in the 1850s and 1860s. The army fought in colonial engagements in China and Italo-Turkish War, Libya. It ...

in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and were popularized by

Heinz The Kraft Heinz Foods Company, formerly the H. J. Heinz Company and commonly known as Heinz (), is an American food processing company headquartered at One PPG Place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company was founded by Henry J. Heinz in 1869. ...

and

Buitoni Buitoni () is an Italian food company based in Sansepolcro. It was founded in 1827. They are known for their factory-produced products of pasta and sauces. In 1985, the Buitoni family sold the company to Carlo De Benedetti; in 1988, it was acqu ...

in the UK and Europe, and

Chef Boyardee Chef Boyardee is an American brand of canned pasta products owned by Hometown Food Company. The company was founded by Italian immigrant Ettore Boiardi in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1928. History After leaving his position as head chef at the Plaza ...

in the United States. Canned ravioli may be filled with beef, processed cheese, chicken, or Italian

sausage A sausage is a type of meat product usually made from ground meat—often pork, beef, or poultry—along with salt, spices and other flavourings. Other ingredients, such as grains or breadcrumbs, may be included as fillers or extenders. ...

and served in a tomato, tomato-meat, or tomato-cheese sauce. Toasted ravioli (ravioli that have been breaded and deep-fried) was developed in St. Louis, Missouri, and is a popular appetizer and snack food. Ravioli are commonly encountered in the cooking of

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Côte d'Azur The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...

, and the surrounding regions in the south of France. The contents of these vary greatly, but most idiosyncratic to the region is the use of leftover

daube Daube (, or ) is a French slow-cooked stew, usually of beef, but other meat is sometimes used. The best-known is the , a Provençal stew made with cheaper cuts of beef braised in wine, with vegetables, garlic and herbs, and traditionally coo ...

meat. Miniaturized cheese-filled ravioli, locally called '' raviole du Dauphiné'', are a specialty of the

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

department in the

Rhône-Alpes Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône a ...

region, particularly the commune of

Romans-sur-Isère Romans-sur-Isère (; ; Old Occitan: ''Romans'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Drôme Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Geography Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère (river), Isère, northeast of Valence, ...

, and are frequently served ''au gratin''. Ravioli filled with

halloumi Halloumi or haloumi is a cheese that originated in the Eastern Mediterranean. It is traditionally made from a mixture of goat milk and sheep's milk, and now, due to shortages, it increasingly contains cow's milk or milk from other animals such ...

are a traditional pasta dish of Cypriot cuisine. They are boiled in chicken stock and served with grated halloumi and dried mint on top.

In other cultures

In Turkey, '' manti'', similar to ravioli, is a popular dish. It is stuffed with spiced meat and served with paprika sauce and yoghurt. Similar dishes in China are ''

jiaozi ''Jiaozi'' or Gyoza (; ) are a type of Chinese dumpling. ''Jiaozi'' typically consist of a ground meat or vegetable filling wrapped into a thinly rolled piece of dough, which is then sealed by pressing the edges together. ''Jiaozi'' can be ...

'' or

wonton A wonton ( zh, t=, s=馄饨, p=húntun, j=wan4 tan4, first=t) is a type of Chinese dumpling commonly found across regional styles of Chinese cuisine. It is also spelled wantan or wuntun, a transliteration from Cantonese zh, j=wan4 tan1, ...

. In India, a popular dish called '' gujhia'' is similar to ravioli. However, it is prepared sweet, with a filling of dry fruits, sugar, and a mixture of sweet spices, then

deep-fried Deep frying (also referred to as deep fat frying) is a cooking method in which food is submerged in hot fat, traditionally lard but today most commonly oil, as opposed to the shallow frying used in conventional frying done in a frying pan. N ...

in vegetable oil. Different stuffings are used in different parts of India.

Jewish cuisine Jewish cuisine refers to the worldwide cooking traditions of the Jewish people. During its evolution over the course of many centuries, it has been shaped by Jewish dietary laws (''kashrut''), Jewish festivals and holidays, and traditions cen ...

includes various similar dishes.

Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine is an assortment of Traditional food, cooking traditions that was developed by the Ashkenazi Jews of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, Northwestern Europe, Northwestern and Northern Europe, Northern Europe, ...

features ''

kreplach Kreplach (from ) are small dumplings in Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine filled with ground meat, mashed potatoes or another filling, usually boiled and served in chicken soup, though they may also be served fried. They are similar to other types of du ...

'', which are pockets of meat or other fillings encased in egg-pasta dough and simmered in chicken soup. In the Israeli cities of

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

and

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

, there is a comparable dish called ''calsones'' (pronounced ''caltzones''). These are pockets filled with '' tzfatit'', a locally-made sheep’s milk cheese. This dish originated in Jewish communities in Spain and

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, with migrating Jews bringing it to

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

and then

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where it became a

Shavuot (, from ), or (, in some Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi usage), is a Jewish holidays, Jewish holiday, one of the biblically ordained Three Pilgrimage Festivals. It occurs on the sixth day of the Hebrew month of Sivan; in the 21st century, it may ...

staple. A similar Middle Eastern dish called '' shishbarak'' contains pasta filled with minced beef meat and cooked in hot yogurt. In Argentina, '' sorrentinos'' are large ravioli typically stuffed with meat and cheese and served with a tomato and meat sauce.

References

Bibliography

* Adamson, Melitta Weiss; ed. (2002) ''Regional Cuisines of Medieval Europe: A Book of Essays''. Routledge. . * * * * *

External links

How to make ravioli from scratch (video)

General catalog of double sheet ravioli shapes

Machine-made ravioli (video)
commercial demonstration of machine producing different types of pasta, including ravioli {{Pasta Types of pasta Pasta dishes Italian cuisine