The Carrasco family have been making pasta in Uruguay for generations. Italian cooking is at the heart of Uruguayan culture, every home is adept at making gnocchi and fresh pasta- all with other influences from Spain, France and even the UK & Germany. All of this makes for unique, punchy flavours which were brought to the UK in the 60's by (Great) Grandma Carrasco.
Mark's interest in pasta started a several years ago when 'fresh' filled pasta started appearing in supermarkets. These disappointingly bland, rubbery lumps of pasta were nothing like the tasty ravioli or tortellini he was brought up on- and so started the obsession with pasta! A good comparison would be to compare cheap sliced white bread with an artisan baked loaf- once you taste the difference it is hard to go back. Making pasta began with producing it for family, then family friends, then friends of friends...
Last year Mark cooked pasta on Market Kitchen for Matt Tebutt and Penny Smith. Also on the show was Dave Isgrove founder of Moseley Farmers Market who suggested he should open a pasta stall, cutting a very long story short- with the help of the rest of the family Carrasco Pasta was born. Fresh handmade pasta using the best local produce, pasta doesn't get much better than this!
