Vermicelli (English pronunciation: /ˌvɜrmɨˈtʃɛli/, Italian: [veɾmiˈtʃɛlːi], lit., "little worms") is a type of pasta that is round in section and somewhat thinner than
spaghetti.
Vermicelloni (/ˌvɜrmɨtʃɛˈloʊni/ "thick vermicelli") is less common,[
citation needed] and about the same size as
fedelini (also hard to find).[
citation needed] Both are thinner than
spaghettini ("thin spaghetti").
In 14th-century Italy, extra-fine spaghetti had varying local names. Master Barnaba da Reatinis from Reggio Emilia notes that Tuscan
vermicelli are called
orati in Bologne,
minutelli in Venice,
fermentini in Reggio and
pancardelle in Mantua."
The first mention of a vermicelli recipe is in the book
De arte Coquinaria per vermicelli e maccaroni siciliani (
The Art of Cooking Sicilian Macaroni and Vermicelli), compiled by the famous Maestro Martino da Como, unequalled in his field at the time and perhaps the first "celebrity chef," who was the chef at the Roman palazzo of the papal chamberlain ("camerlengo"), the Patriarch of Aquileia. In Martino's
Libro de arte coquinaria, there are several recipes for vermicelli, which can last two or three years (
doi o tre anni) when dried in the sun.
In South Asia, the vermicelli used is different from what is used in Italy. Here, it is made from semolina, unlike the Italian, which is made from durum wheat. In Asia it is known variously as
seviyan in Urdu and Hindi,
shemai in Bengali,
sev in Gujarati,
shavige in Kannada,
sevalu or
semiya in Telugu, and
semiya in Tamil and malayalam. The noodles are used in a number of dishes including a variation of
kheer, a sweet dessert similar to rice pudding. Vermicelli is used in many parts of India to make a popular dish called
upma. To prepare it, one boils the dry oil-roasted vermicelli with a choice of vegetables.
In East Asia, the term rice vermicelli is often used to describe the thin rice noodles (米粉) popular in China, also known as
bee hoon in Hokkien, mai fun in Cantonese, kyar-zun in Burmese, and
bún in Vietnamese. The term vermicelli may also refer to vermicelli made from mung bean, which is translucent when cooked, and can be differentiated from rice vermicelli, which turns whitish when cooked. Mung bean vermicelli is commonly used in Chinese cuisine. Conversely, 面线 (Hokkien: mee sua, Cantonese: min seen, Mandarin Chinese: mian xian) is vermicelli that is made of wheat instead of rice. While superficially similar to
bee hoon it has a very different texture and different culinary uses as well.
Source:
Wikipedia 
