Pioneer Macaroni Man Peter Rossi, and the Rossi Macaroni Factory
Pasta Institute of Technology History Series Occasional Paper 3
Leonard J. DeFrancisci May 25, 2020 As a young man, Peter Rossi Sr. cut his teeth in the macaroni industry while working as a specialist in grain milling and macaroni manufacturing with the Italian Government. 1 In 1876, he put his experiences to good use and opened a macaroni factory in his hometown near Torino. 2 Two years later, he immigrated to the United States and settled in the mining town of Braidwood, Illinois, but soon moved to Chicago to work as a pastaio for a macaroni factory. 3 Shortly afterwards, he moved back to Braidwood and opened a tin shop and hardware store. 4 In 1886, he pursued his calling as a macaroni man, and opened the Peter Rossi Macaroni factory on Fourth Street, east of Division, becoming one of the first commercial producers of pasta in the region outside of Chicago. 5 With steady growth, the company needed to expand, so Rossi acquired the Broadbent Hotel on First Street in 1898, and converted it into a pasta factory. 6 Initially, a blind horse traveling in a circle around a capstan powered the production equipment, but steam and gas eventually provided the “horse power” as these technologies came on line. 7 With the introduction of modern equipment, the company made 5,000,000 pounds of pasta per year by the late 1950s. 8 The location of the factory near the Alton Depot train station provided advantages in receiving raw materials, and shipping final goods to customers, mostly in the North Central and Mississippi Valley States. 9 With an eye towards making quality products, Rossi used his experiences from Italy to make pasta from semolina, one of the first to do so in the United States. 10 Pasta Institute of Technology publishes occasional papers in the history series to preserve information and educate people on the history of pasta and the pasta industry. Pasta Institute of Technology also publishes a technical series to help people make better pasta. Photograph: Webster S. & S. Post Card Co., Braidwood, Illinois circa 1905. Modesto Joseph Donna, The Braidwood Story (Braidwood, Illinois, Braidwood History Bureau, 1957), 127. Ibid. 3 Ibid., 127–28. 4 Ibid., 128. 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid. 7 Ibid., 260. 8 Ibid., 261. 9 Ibid. 10 Ibid. Note – semolina is made from durum wheat and is typically used for making high quality dry pasta. 1 2
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