Dec. 1, 1864.] THE TECHNOLOGIST. 



FRENCH MACARONI. 211 



Events have since then justified completely this assertion. Carrying 

 out on a large scale, by means of a numerous staff and two steam 

 machines, the manufacture of Algerian paste, Messrs. Bertrand and Co., 

 after obtaining the first-class silver medal at the Paris Exposition of 

 1855, had the boldness to present themselves in 1858 at the national 

 gathering in Turin — that is to say, in the very centre of Italian industry. 

 There remained nothing now but to brave the competition of an esta- 

 blished home trade of several centuries, having an European renown. 

 The most decisive success, however, crowned this bold attempt. The 

 jury of Turin declared that the Algerian pastes equalled the best pro- 

 ducts of the kind known, and awarded to the house of Bertrand the 

 unique silver medal. 



From that day the foreign market has been open to the purest ali- 

 mentary pastes of France. Called on in 1861 to furnish valuable infor- 

 mation on this branch of industry to the Commission of the Legislative 

 body, who were discussing the project for the law on cereals, these 

 manufacturers prepared themselves to support worthily at the London 

 Exhibition the celebrity the Algerian pastes had acquired at Turin, 

 a fame which had been further established by the gold medal at the 

 great Agricultural meeting held in 1860 at Paris. 



In order to bring into general use the employment of Algerian hard 

 wheat for the manufacture of alimentary paste, Messrs. Bertrand dissemi- 

 nated in France and in England a detailed notice on the culture of this 

 grain and its different qualities ; and they added to these interesting 

 documents information upon the mode of manufacture employed by 

 their house. 



The prize medal awarded them at the close of the Exhibition of 1862 

 gave assurance that the Algerian pastes were superior to all the other 

 pastes known or sold. 



The International Exhibition of Bayonne has again brought to 

 light the superiority of these products. The specimens shown were 

 made of wheat from Constantine. In the number of the articles exhi- 

 hibited remarkable above all for its cheapness, was a special product, 

 cream paste, made from the refuse paste, principally macaroni, without 

 having recourse to fresh kneading. 



In the manufacture of macaroni there are usually considerable 

 quantities of refuse and broken pieces. These, are generally remixed 

 in the trough by all the manufacturers, and occasion the double 

 inconvenience of changing the products with which they are mixed, and 

 of causing a fermentation, which makes the paste sour. 



In reducing this refuse of macaroni into large and small grains, by 

 a particular system of manufacture, Messrs. Bertrand preserve the sanw 

 nutritive elements as those of the first-class pastes, selling them under 

 the name of cream paste at a price 25 per cent, below the former. 



From its cheapness, the cream paste can be advantageously used as 

 food by the lower classes, and for hospitals and schools. 



