Vermicelli (Italian: [vermiˈtʃɛlli], lit. “little worms”) is a traditional type of pasta round in section similar to spaghetti.[1]ermicelli diameter between 2.08 and 2.14 millimetres (0.082 and 0.084 in) with little variation between different producers.[2][3]
Spaghetti diameter between 1.92 and 2.00 millimetres (0.076 and 0.079 in)[4]
Vermicellini (/ˌvɜrmɨtʃɛˈlini/ “thin vermicelli”) diameter between 1.75 and 1.80 millimetres (0.069 and 0.071 in)[5]
Fidelini diameter between 1.37 and 1.47 millimetres (0.054 and 0.058 in)[6]
Capellini (or “capelli d’angelo”—angel’s hair) diameter between 0.8 and 0.9 millimetres (0.031 and 0.035 in)[7][8]In English, the Italian loanword “vermicelli” is used to indicate different sorts of long pasta shapes from different parts of the world but mostly from South or East Asia.
In India and other countries of the Indian Subcontinent, vermicelli is known by various local names such as, seviyan or semiyan in Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi, shemai in Bengali, sev in Gujarati, shavige in Kannada, sevalu or semiya in Telugu, and semiya in Tamil and Malayalam. The noodles are used in a number of dishes including a variation of kheer, a sweet dessert similar to rice pudding. Vermicelli are also used in many parts of India to make a popular dish called upma. To prepare it, dry oil-roasted vermicelli are boiled with a choice of vegetables.
Central Asian Kesme and Persian reshteh also resembles vermicelli. Fālūde or faloodeh is a Persian frozen dessert made with thin vermicelli noodles frozen with corn starch, rose water, lime juice, and often ground pistachios.
In East Asia, the term rice vermicelli is often used to describe the thin rice noodles (米粉) popular in China, also known as bee hoon in Hokkien Chinese, mai fun in Cantonese Chinese, วุ้นเส้น (Wûns̄ên) in Thai, ကြာဆံ (kya zan) in Burmese, and bún in Vietnamese. The term vermicelli may also refer to vermicelli made from mung bean, which is translucent when cooked, whereas rice vermicelli turns whitish when cooked. Mung bean vermicelli is commonly used in Chinese cuisine. In contrast, misua (Chinese: 面线; pinyin: mian xian; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: mī-sòaⁿ) is vermicelli that is made of wheat instead of rice. While superficially similar to bee hoon it has a very different texture and different culinary uses as well.In 14th-century Italy, long pasta shapes had varying local names. Barnabas de Reatinis of Reggio notes in his Compendium de naturis et proprietatibus alimentorum (1338) that the Tuscan vermicelli are called orati in Bologna, minutelli in Venice, fermentini in Reggio, and pancardelle in Mantua.[11]
The first mention of a vermicelli recipe is in the book De arte Coquinaria per vermicelli e maccaroni siciliani (The Art of Cooking Sicilian Macaroni and Vermicelli), compiled by the famous Maestro Martino da Como, unequalled in his field at the time and perhaps the first “celebrity chef,” who was the chef at the Roman palazzo of the papal chamberlain (“camerlengo”), the Patriarch of Aquileia. In Martino’s Libro de arte coquinaria, there are several recipes for vermicelli, which can last two or three years (doi o tre anni) when dried in the sun.[12]