Learn more about the artisanal pasta that is part of Pistoia Box by Radici Italiane.
We are located near an old railway station on the Porrettana, which once connected Pistoia directly with Bologna. A key route to connect northern and central Italy, it was built a few years after national unification. A little further downstream, we spot the sign of a historic pasta factory, Pastificio Chelucci, which has been producing artisanal pasta for more than a century.
Welcoming us is owner Giuseppe, who is keen to tell us how the idea for this particular pasta we chose for Box Pistoia came about. The Pastificio commissioned the elementary schools of Pistoia to develop a theme associated with the pasta. The children’s proposals were then analyzed, and they chose the character of Pinocchio as the protagonist of the new pasta format.
Pinocchio was born from the pen of Carlo Collodi, a native of the village of the same name a few kilometers from Pistoia. Various pasta shapes were then made, such as the talking cricket’s hat, the whale and the famous long nose, coining the cute slogan printed on the packaging, “Don’t tell lies, eat them!”
The pasta factory still uses bronze dies, which give the characteristic “roughness” to the pasta: thus you enjoy each bite just as if it were the first taste.
Giuseppe reminds us that the pasta tradition has always been important in Pistoia. In the city there are still important factories producing the dies, which are sold all over the world. In addition, until after World War II, there were many pasta factories in the city and they were all artisanal.
Pastificio Chelucci remains one of the few in Italy to dry pasta at temperatures never exceeding 38°. The result is a pasta with a consistent taste, rooted in tradition and, in the case of the pasta dedicated to Pinocchio, to honour Italian literature.
- Click here to buy this product in the Pistoia box
- Click here to buy this product creating your own custom box
- Click here to discover where and how this product is made