probably one of the earliest forms of pasta, is listed with other forms of the same sort in pasta shapes. It consists of fairly thin flat sheets of pasta, typically interleaved with a savoury mixture and baked in the oven (al forno).
Some believe that its remote ancestor was the classical Greek laganon; this was a flat cake, not pasta as we know it now, but capable of developing in that direction. In classical Rome laganon became lagamum and this this was cut into strips and became known as lagana (plural). Cicero (1st century ad) was known to have been particularly fond of lagani. So was the Roman poet Horace, of the same century. He cited them as an example of simple peasant's food while boasting of his simple way of life. ‘Then I go home to a dish of leeks, chickpeas and lagani,’ said he (Satires 1. 6).
At this stage, it would be unwise to assume that they had become a product used like modern lasagne. More generally, as Perry (1981) has pointed out, it is an error to suppose that ancestors in classical times of modern forms of pasta were used then in the ways now familiar. It seems likely that they were usually treated as ‘extenders’ of savoury dishes, pieces of fried dough which could be added to dishes in the same sort of way as dumplings in recent times.
So, Horace's simple dish would have been a vegetable stew or pottage, and it is most likely that the lagani added to it were small squares or strips of fried dough.
However, something which could be called lasagne in the modern sense had appeared in Italy by the 13th century, since Marco Polo, recounting his travels in the Orient, said that he ate in Fanfur ‘lasagne’ made with flour of the breadfruit, implying clearly that he was already familiar with lasagne made of ordinary flour.
Since medieval times, lasagne have been a popular feature in the range of pasta products. Recipes have changed over the centuries, but the advantages of a pasta which comes in sheet form, for certain dishes which cannot otherwise be made, have been a constant in the kitchen. Lasagne verdi are coloured green with spinach.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Perry, Charles (1981), ‘The Oldest Mediterranean Noodle’, PPC 9.
