Restaurant: Terún
City: Palo Alto, CA

One of the coworkers at lunch ordered a pasta dish, the Gnocchi.

Homemade purple gnocchi, butter, sage, parmigiano, and truffle oil sauce. I tried a gnocco, and immediately tasted purple potato, which is a variation of sweet potato (common in Asia).

Gnocchi (singular gnocco) are various thick, soft pastas that may be made from semolina, ordinary wheat flour, flour, egg, cheese, potato, breadcrumbs, and or similar ingredients. The word gnocchi may derive from the Italian word nocchio, meaning a knot in wood, or from nocca (meaning knuckle). It has been a traditional Italian pasta type of probable Middle Eastern origin since Roman times. It was introduced by the Roman legions during the expansion of the empire into the countries of the European continent. In the past 2,000 years, each country developed its own specific type of small dumpling, with the ancient gnocchi as their common ancestor. In Roman times, gnocchi were made from a semolina porridge-like dough mixed with eggs, and are still found in similar forms today, particularly the oven-baked gnocchi alla romana and Sardinia’s malloreddus (although these do not contain eggs). The use of potato is a relatively recent innovation, occurring after the introduction of the potato to Europe in the 16th century. Potato gnocchi are particularly popular in Abruzzo, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Veneto, Ciociaria and other provinces of Latium. As with other mashed potato dishes they are best prepared with floury potatoes to keep a light texture. (Wikipedia)