For generations, the Fabbri have used Florentine terms for their pasta shapes, which in other pasta factories take on more classic names: “pater rigati” and “ave marie” for ditali and ditalini, “grandine” for corallini, etc. These terms are even defined in the Contemporary Florentine Vocabulary of the prestigious Accademia della Crusca. These (very) Florentine names are listed here.
We would like to especially thank the Accademia della Crusca and all the editorial staff of the Vocabulario del Fiorentino Contemporaneo (Contemporary Florentine Vocabulary), which kindly allowed us to quote these lexicographic sheets.
Ave Marie, Pater Nostri and Semesanto
Pater Rigati (Pastificio Fabbri)
“Fra la pasta c’è: paternostri, avemarie e semesanto; sono tre tipi di pasta…l’avemarie són piccoline, ’ paternostri sono un po’ più grande e il semesanto sono que’ chicchini” (In Tuscan dialect, “Among the pasta shapes we have: paternostri, avemarie and semesanto; three types of pasta… avemarie are small, paternostri are a little bigger and semesanto are those tiny ones”).
T. Poggi Salani, N. Binazzi et al., Vocabolario del fiorentino contemporaneo, Accademia della Crusca (Contemporary Florentine Dictionary: Crusca Academy): http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/scaffali-digitali/vocabolario-fiorentino
Avemarie and paternostri are named directly from Roman Catholic tradition, referring to the famous prayer of the Rosary. This nickname is mainly used in Tuscany, while in other parts of Italy they’re more likely called ditali and ditalini.
It was common practice in Italian families to recite prayers to estimate cooking times. Some even argue that the difference in size between Ave Marie and Pater Noster pasta can be attributed to the Rosary. The Rosary is a set of beads on a string, each of which corresponds to a prayer: the larger beads invite the faithful to pronounce the “Our Father” (Pater Noster) prayer, while the smaller beads correspond to the invocation of the “Hail Mary” (Ave Maria).
Ave Marie (Pastificio Fabbri)
Semesanto pasta, another type of soup pasta whose name also comes from the religious world, is a pasta in the form of small grains (“chicchini”) often called “peperini” in other pasta factories. It is the smallest pasta shape produced at Pastificio Fabbri.
Semesanto (Pastificio Fabbri)
Grandine Soda e Grandine Bucata
Grandine Soda (Pastificio Fabbri)
Grandine Bucata (Pastificio Fabbri)
“La grandinina. L’è… de’ pallini, piccini piccini… La prima pastina che si dà a’ bambini” (In Tuscan dialect, “Grandinina. It is … tiny tiny balls. The first pasta that you feed children”).
T. Poggi Salani, N. Binazzi et al., Vocabolario del fiorentino contemporaneo, Accademia della Crusca (Contemporary Florentine Dictionary: Crusca Academy): http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/scaffali-digitali/vocabolario-fiorentino
As the name suggests, this type of soup pasta refers to the atmospheric phenomenon that sometimes devastates crops (grandina means hail in English). For this reason, we also find this pasta with the nametempestina(tempesta means storm in English). In Tuscany, this shape is often called grandinina:
“…la c’è senza buco e co i’ buco. Pe i’ brodo” (In Tuscan dialect, “Grandinina. It is … tiny tiny balls. The first pasta that you feed children”).
T. Poggi Salani, N. Binazzi et al., Vocabolario del fiorentino contemporaneo, Accademia della Crusca (Contemporary Florentine Dictionary: Crusca Academy): http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/scaffali-digitali/vocabolario-fiorentino
The word soda (meaning firm in English) is added to grandine because it is “senz’i’ buco… / Tutta piena” (without a hole, all full) and the relative hardness of the dough increases the cooking time compared to its hollow version.
Also called barbina in Tuscany, this is a very thin kind of tagliatelle gathered into nest-shaped bundles.
“La minestra di capellini l’è la barbina. L’è quella minestra fatta con quegli spaghettini sottili sottili sottili. I capellini” (In Tuscan Dialect: “The first course with cappellini is barbina, that dish made with those thin thin thin spaghettini. Capellini.”).
T. Poggi Salani, N. Binazzi et al., Vocabolario del fiorentino contemporaneo, Accademia della Crusca (Contemporary Florentine Dictionary: Crusca Academy): http://www.accademiadellacrusca.it/it/scaffali-digitali/vocabolario-fiorentino