Pasta different names depending upon the town and region. Common forms of pasta include long and short shapes, tubes, flat shapes or sheets, miniature shapes for soup, those meant to be filled or stuffed, and specialty or decorative shapes. As a category in Italian cuisine, both fresh and dried pastas are classically used in one of three kinds of prepared dishes: as "pasta asciutta" (or "pastasciutta"), cooked pasta is plated and served with a complementary side sauce or condiment; a second classification of pasta dishes is "pasta in brodo", in which the pasta is part of a soup-type dish. A third
Alkaline pasta Alkaline pasta Alkaline pasta, or alkaline noodles, is a variation of standard Chinese or Italian noodles in which a much higher than usual quantity of an alkaline component is part of the fabrication process. This is usually achieved by the introduction of sodium carbonate (NaCO or sodium salt of carbonic acid) into the primary ingredients. In parts of China in which alkaline wheat noodles are common, traditional ones are made with alkaline water from wells. More commonly a mixture of sodium carbonate, which is also an anti-caking agent, and potassium carbonate is added directly. This mixture is what the Chinese