- BEIJING (AP) -- And you thought
your leftovers were old.
-
- A 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles has been discovered
at an archaeological site in western China - possible proof for the argument
that China invented pasta before Italy.
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- "These are definitely the earliest noodles ever
found,'' said Lu Houyuan, a researcher with the Institute of Geology in
Beijing who studied the ingredients of the pristinely preserved pasta.
-
- The discovery of the delicate yellow noodles in Minhe
County in the province of Qinghai is reported in this week's edition of
Nature magazine.
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- "Chinese people say Marco Polo brought noodles from
China back to Italy and Italians say they had noodles before that,'' Lu
said. "All this has been based on documentary material, on personal
accounts and menus. But we've been unable to find any actual material "
until now.''
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- The fist-size clump of noodles was found inside an overturned
bowl under 10 feet of sediment from a flood that researchers suspect wiped
out the Qijia Culture of the late Neolithic era.
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- When researchers lifted up the bowl, they discovered
the 20-inch noodles sitting atop an inverted cone of clay that had sealed
the bowl, it said.
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- The noodles were made from a dough of two local varieties
of millet " broomcorn and foxtail millet " rather than the more
common wheat or rice. The dough was pulled into long strands before being
boiled.
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- Rice noodles are popular in southern China while northerners
rely mostly on wheat to make their noodles, dumplings and bread.
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- The excavation site area is located is now populated
mainly by China's Muslim ethnic Hui minority. The region's poorer farmers
reportedly still eat millet noodles, said contributing researcher Ye Maoling,
though he has yet to try them for himself.
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- Lu and Ye say they plan to try making millet noodles
like those found at the archaeological site themselves.
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- http://www.startribune.com/stories/438/5667554.html
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