A.

According to Sara Hauman and Jordan MacKay in their book Pasta Every Day, the word pasta simply translates to “paste” in Italian. That makes sense since paste is what you get if you crush dried grains, nuts, seeds, or beans and mix them with water. The Romans, for example, did not eat pasta as we know it today; they ate cakes or fritters of pressed paste. Pasta as a noodle was actually invented thousands of years ago by the Chinese. But, no, Marco Polo did not bring it from Asia to Italy.