Did you know that noodles are actually ancient food that was eaten by the royalties? Well, the first record of wheat noodles was in Northern China around the year AD 100.

While rulers were the first to enjoy them, the common people quickly caught on and until today, we still can’t get enough of these oodles of noodles! Used in the cuisine of most Asian countries, western countries such as Europe and the Americas have their own version of the noodle in the form of pasta.

Basically made from unleavened dough derived from various types of ingredients, such as rice, millet, wheat, mung bean, potato or buckwheat - noodles are extremely versatile and very practical.

A bowl of noodles would give you energy to last through the day, and thus the staple of many diets. They store well, do not perish easily, are easily to prepare and can be eaten hot or cold.

Today, the noodle is so versatile it is used by the world’s top chefs as well as people are who learning to cook for the first time. The food is so adaptable that it can be used in a variety of ways:

• Basic noodles are cooked in water or broth, drained and then mixed with other sauces or foods. E.g. Italian pasta with marinara sauce.

• Chilled noodles are noodles served cold in the form a salad. E.g. Thai glass noodle salad yam woon sen.

• Fried noodles are stir fried with various meats, seafood or vegetables. E.g. Lo mein noodles or mee goreng.

• Noodle soup is cooked and then served in broth. E.g. Laksa or ramen noodles.

Let’ start with a western twist to noodles, with this basic recipe for making pasta noodles at home. You’ll need a food processor or a hand-mixer. For this basic recipe, you can use the following ingredients: two cups of unbleached all-purpose flour plus a little extra, three large eggs, one teaspoon of water, one teaspoon of olive oil and one teaspoon of salt.

If you are using a food processor, place all ingredients into the machine and process until the mixture holds together in a ball-form.

Put the ball from the processor or the bowl onto a lightly floured surface and knead for about seven minutes. Use extra flour to keep the mixture from sticking to the surface. Make sure the finished texture is smooth and elastic. Divide the dough into four pieces and cover with plastic wrap.

Next, you will begin to hand roll the dough to make individual pasta pieces. Take a piece of dough and roll with a large rolling pin until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Fold and reroll to the same thickness; repeat nine or ten times. Add flour as necessary to prevent sticking. Finally, roll out into a thin rectangle (estimation: 1/16 of an inch or so). Hang to dry and cut as desired.

Now you too can be part of ancient culinary tradition!

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