> How did pasta get so popular if they had to import the wheat? It didn’t. The population increased and the country didn’t have the wheat-growing regions it wo

> How did pasta get so popular if they had to import the wheat? It didn’t. The population increased and the country didn’t have the wheat-growing regions it would have needed to match. And pasta is not the only wheat sink, bread and other doughs (e.g. pizza) are generally wheat based as well.