Eden Foods has championed whole grain pasta for over 50 years. In the early 1970s, we began working with Detroit’s Schmidt Noodle Company, a local pasta maker since 1923. After experimenting and learning how to mill whole grain flour that makes good pasta, Schmidt Noodle made smooth, whole grain EDEN Pasta for natural food stores in the Midwest. In 1982, at the request of Schmidt Noodle, Eden Foods assumed responsibility for the pasta factory and renamed it Eden Organic Pasta Company (EOPC).
EOPC has the distinction of becoming North America’s first third-party certified organic food processing facility in 1989.
Old World Methods
EOPC is a functioning museum. It uses methods that have been abandoned for quicker, less expensive ways. Visitors to the factory see antique machines, traditional drying rooms, and whole grain organic flours becoming delicious pasta that make people feel good. Brass dies, roller laminated noodles, slow inside out drying, and traditional knowledge are distinctive features there.
In 1993, the goal to exclusively use EDEN organic flour for EOPC pasta production was realized. The whole grain is from North American organic growers, except for quinoa that is from small farms at high altitude in the Andes Mountains. All of the whole grain flour for EDEN Pasta is milled at Eden Foods. The semolina and patent durum flour are milled at a certified organic flour mill in North Dakota that Eden Foods carried into and through organic certification.
Artisan Expertise
Dedicated staff at the small EOPC have dutifully carried forward old world Schmidt Noodle methods. That includes monitoring the grain and ingredient growing and handling details, and the after-harvest processes they go through to ensure the purity Eden Foods’ customers search for.
Each step in making EDEN Pasta contributes to smooth texture and exceptional taste. It begins with a discerning selection of organic grain. The flour milling must result in the highest level of the grain’s vitality remaining with the flour. Organic vegetables – carrot, beet, and spinach – are added to some varieties for color and taste.
EDEN Pasta batches begin with flour and water kneaded into a dough. For EDEN Spirals, Elbows, Alphabets, Gemelli (twists), Ditalini, Rigatoni (tubes), and Spaghetti the dough is pressed through vintage brass dies and cut to length. For EDEN Ribbon Noodles, the dough goes through a lamination process. It is rolled out into sheets that are folded over onto themselves eight times, each time being rolled out again. Laminated rolled-out sheets are then trimmed and cut to length. After shaping, the pasta is steam dried, slowly reducing moisture from the inside out. The pasta is then air-dried on screen trays. The 10 foot long strands of spaghetti are hung on drying racks before being cut to length.
The drying process takes 27 to 48 hours, depending upon the pasta cut and local weather conditions. When perfectly dry, the pasta is packaged in recycled paperboard, recyclable boxes.
Ancient Fast Food
Pasta was a very early fast food, quick and easy to make.
EDEN Pasta made of organic whole grain offers slow to metabolize, long sustaining complex carbohydrates, protein, healthy fiber, and an excellent mix of vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients that make it exceptionally good food for you.
With EDEN Pasta in the pantry, it’s a snap to prepare delicious, satisfying, wholesome meals. Serve with EDEN Spaghetti Sauce or Pizza Pasta Sauce. For quick pasta primavera or salad, add vegetables, EDEN Beans, a drizzle of EDEN Olive Oil, and favorite seasonings for a satisfying, delicious meal. However you prepare it, meals are ready in very short order.
Ten varieties of EDEN Pasta are 100% whole grain. One is a 60% whole grain blend, and one is sifted organic durum wheat semolina flour. The EDEN Pasta Tote is a thoughtful, rewarding gift with eight organic EDEN foods — three Pastas, Spaghetti Sauce, Pizza Pasta Sauce, Crushed Tomatoes, Cannellini Beans, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, and an EDEN Recipe booklet.
EDEN Pasta has no eggs, oil, or salt added. No chemical additives. They are Non-GMO verified. For more EOPC information, contact Eden Foods. For dozens of free pasta recipes visit edenfoods.com/recipes.
A Principled Natural Food Company
What principles? Commonsensical, straightforward and forthright methods in manufacturing, professionalism, interpersonal relationships, and communications stem from macrobiotic principles that have guided Eden Foods since its 1968 beginning. Appreciation of these principles has deepened over the past 54 years. These timeless principles are used to test our judgment and evaluate processes.
Translating macrobiotic principles into dietary guidance always points to a fundamental need of pure whole grain being the fulcrum of one’s balanced diet. That done, most everything else will take care of itself at all levels; personal, mental, physical, emotional, societal, economic, political, spiritual, environmental, and interpersonal. In the long run, improved judgment results.
A transition from commercial food to a healthy diet based around whole grain is no simple task, but it is a basic necessity to accomplish freedom, harmony, and to nourish intuition. The transition requires focused persistence. Considerable experience and knowledge about food, its uses, and benefits are available to help those aspiring to make change.