So contrary to what a lot of people think, it's actually not all that different from regular pasta. It's still made with wheat and has the same kind of tangy texture. The reason it's black is actually that the dough from which the pasta was made, was mixed with the ink from squid or cuttlefish.
Not all cuttlefish or squid produce this ink, but the ones that do, typically use it as a tool for evasion.
~Helga