Comments on: Why Doesn’t Spaghetti Break in Half?

By: Justino

Justino — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 06:30:47 +0000

I have to say, to Acro47 up there, that just because your family does this, doesn’t mean it’s the accepted normal practice. If spaghetti were meant to be in half, they’d just make shorter pieces…

As far as your statement that waiting for the pasta to soften would result in uneven cooking…it’s just not the case. We’re talking maybe 10 seconds tops for the pasta to become soft enough for you to push the rest under the water.

And, finally, there are so many different types of pasta sauces out there…who are you to say which is the correct way to make it? If you like your family’s style of pasta sauce, that’s good, but that doesn’t mean that all the other ones are incorrect. Additionally, the whole idea of cuisine isn’t just to adhere to some antique recipe–I admit that it is nice to have that sort of consistency–but to improve and create and make dishes that people enjoy eating.

There is no “wrong” way to cook, serve, or eat your spaghetti. And even if something isn’t strictly the Italian way, who cares? Sheesh. Just eat.

By: Acro47

Acro47 — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:09:26 +0000

I don’t know what “real Italians” you are talking to, but my family is 100% Italian, from both parents back at least 6 generations, and we absolutely break our spaghetti in half before putting it in the boiling water. As for putting the uncooked spaghetti vertically into boiling water…what a ridiculous idea! It means the two ends of the spaghetti would be done at different times depending on what time they hit the water. Americans have a strange idea of what “real Italians” do. In my life I’ve probably eaten in approximately 40 “Italian” restaurants, from Maine to Florida, Wash. DC to LA, including some of the best in NY and Philadelphia, and I haven’t yet found one that cooked the sauce in the simple yet rich way my family does — both in America & in southern Italy. Americans think it involves a lot of spices & flavors… in reality, it’s tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes!

By: Feliciano

Feliciano — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 22:03:59 +0000

I always cook mine whole
~ve….

By: Pastaforbrains

Pastaforbrains — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 21:40:06 +0000

Everyone knows the only real way to break the spags in half is to get out the skilsaw with a diamond blade, and run the seminola down the blade. You get perfect, 50/50 spaghetti. Just be careful with those countertops!

By: Kevin D.

Kevin D. — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 18:12:43 +0000

One better thing to do, if you’re not a purist and cook the spaghetti whole, than breaking the pasta is to hold it horizontally, grasping the noodles in the middle with both hands, and gently twisting the spaghetti over the pot. No flying semolina shrapnel to worry about with this technique, everything lands in the pot.

By: Thandi

Thandi — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 03:26:00 +0000

Mbr,
I’ve got to try that sometime.
:)

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:23:00 +0000

I heard it is bad luck to break the pasta before cooking, and also to cut it after cutting. It should be cooked and eaten whole. Maybe some romantic types like to do the “Lady & the Tramp” thing? I don’t know why they can’t make it in shorter lengths. Anyone with children knows it needs to be in small pieces before being eaten, and that it is much easier to cut when dry.

By: me

me — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 07:22:00 +0000

There’s no need to break spaghetti. It’s easier to eat when it’s longer. Like someone else said, you stick it in the pot and as the submerged part gets soft the rest will fall in, I’m impatient and push it in as it softens.

By: mbr

mbr — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:33:00 +0000

My mother started breaking the spaghetti only after finding my older sibs hanging the full length noodles from the light fixture above the dining room table.

By: joesmo

joesmo — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 01:48:00 +0000

yaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrh