The first thing that hits you when you walk into the pasta factory is the aroma.
It's sweet and nutty because of all these kind of freshly ground wheat berries.
And honestly, it's a bit like the smell of freshly cooked pasta.
It kind of makes you hungry.
That's our colleague Margarita Stankati.
Recently, she toured La Molusana, one of the biggest pasta makers in Italy.
Margarita watched as curls of pasta rained down, like golden ribbons from a conveyor belt.
It was pasta made the Italian way.
What happens is that the dough is essentially extruded through these bronze dyes which are sort of perforated discs and depending on which type you use that gives the pasta its distinctive shape.
And this process you know the high quality flour, the spring water,
the bronze dyes, the slow drying process is what makes the pasta special.
It's what makes pasta sauce cling better to it and what gives it bite.
It basically helps ensure that it stays al dente.
And why were you there at this factory?
So the reason I went to La Molizana factory was to speak to its CEO, Giuseppe Ferro.
And he wanted to talk to me because he is worried.
Giuseppe Ferro is worried
because Italian pasta makers like La Molizana are now at risk of losing a major export market,
the U.S.
The Commerce Department announced these whopping tariffs on Italian pasta makers, including his own.