Ravioli are a type of stuffed pasta which has spread all over the world: they are a part of Italian gastronomy but just as much a part of Chinese, Mongolian, Japanese cuisine and many other countries. However, clearly ravioli sunk their roots into Italian culture - to be precise in Gavi in the province of Alessandria - in the Middle Ages. Here lived a family known as "Raviolo", who apparently invented the eponymous filled pasta.