The pasta-making tradition in Torre Annunziata has ancient origins: everything began in the mid-sixteenth century, when D'Alagno family sold the Torre Annunziata feud to the Count of Sarno, Muzio Tuttavilla. The Count, after noting that the city of Naples was lacking of mills (there were only those of Castellammare di Stabia, Gragnano, Scafati and a few others along the Amalfi Coast), decided to create some of them in Torre Annunziata. Further, because this town is nearer to Naples, it would have been easy to transport and offer the flour to the Neapolitans at an advantageous price. The initiative had great success and was facilitated by a number of water works, such as the Count of Sarno channel, which were realized just to feed the mills.
Around 1850, with the availability of durum wheat semolina, the first pasta factories were born, obviously equipped with very simple machinery. They soon realized that the mild climate of this area, the lack of cold air, the sea in front and Vesuvius behind which functioned as a thermal regulator, made the outdoor drying process particularly easy (which took place on traditional bamboo canes placed along the streets and in the courts).
After nearly a century could be counted more than 120 among mills and pasta factories: Torre Annunziata pasta or better "Naples pasta" was known throughout the world precisely in those years and this success was interrupted by large industrial groups that came onto the market with most competitive products from the economic point of view even if qualitatively different.
The small Torre Annunziata handicraft organizations were not able to adapt themselves to the times and had some trouble, unemployment rose and the social situation became very tense, so that the few remaining pasta factories moved to quieter areas.
Today, and for several years, resists in Torre Annunziata just one factory depositary of the great tradition of the Torre Annunziata white art: the pasta factory Setaro, which has managed to survive thanks to a family run system and a select clientele of "connoisseurs".
Setaro pasta factory still produces the Pasta with handicraft systems, respecting nature and tradition. There are many components that make the taste and quality of the pasta produced unique: the selected durum wheat semolina, pure water, ancient bronze dies, the very slow process of pasta drying (from 24 to 120 hours depending on the shape) and at low temperature, the "special" climate in Torre Annunziata and not last the knowledge of the white art passed down for three generations; it has been since 1939 in fact that Setaro family devotes his life to this activity.
