Specialty spirals from the birthplace of dried pasta

Just outside Naples and the Amalfi coast, Gragnano is reputed as the birthplace of dried pasta. There, a consortium of small producers, the Cooperativa di Pasta Gragnano, produces the region's most traditional cuts, strictly adhering the artisan production techniques of yesteryear. Using only bronze dies and slow-drying tecnniques, the Cooperativa crafts pasta of unbelievably rough texture and palate-bursting flavor. Today, they are at the forefront of a local effort to preserve the artisan traditions behind the legendary Gragnano name. Says Cooperativa president, Antonio Marchetti, in the Washington Post, "Real pasta can be forgotten if we are not careful."