Pasta Aisle in Italian Supermarket Goes On Forever

You may recall my post about some of the different pasta names in Italy, and you may have marvelled at the fact that there are reportedly more than 350 different shapes of Italian pasta. But if you’ve ever meandered the aisles of a supermarket in Italy, you might actually think that number was a gross underestimate.

To prove my point, I once shot a video walking the length of the pasta section in a Milan grocery store. I had to move quickly, because I was trying to get to the end before an unsuspecting shopper turned the corner and caught me, and the shelves just kept going. That should give you an idea of the sheer number of pasta options Italians expect when they’re shopping.

I should also point out here that this video was taken in a pretty small market - I visited other (larger) markets, but they were always packed to the gills and I didn’t have an opportunity to get out the video camera in a subtle way. Maybe next time…