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• According to an extensive article on the History of Pasta from the The Atlantic, “the first clear Western reference to boiled noodles is in the Jerusalem Talmud of the fifth century A.D., written in Aramaic. Although, no one disputes that the Chinese have made pasta from many more kinds of flour than Europeans have, since at least 1100 B.C.” Of course, spaghetti enjoys such strong ties to Italy that some exported films from the ’60s were even called Spaghetti Westerns. Spaghetti has evolved into many things, such as SpaghettiO’s, as well as other incarnations …
• Spaghetti can be tricky to get from plate to mouth, so now there’s an invention (which seems to work like an electric toothbrush for spaghetti) to help with twirling the noodles on your fork. But isn’t the real trick getting the noodles to stay on?
• Everyone loves spaghetti. Even … cats? A random picture of a cat eating spaghetti was shown to cover up a bleeped segment on the show Mike and Juliet during a discussion on the dangers of binge drinking. And it’s amazing.
• One of the first instances of television being in on an April Fool’s Joke might be in 1957, when the BBC convinced viewers that spaghetti grew on trees …
• If you’ve ever sung “On Top of Spaghetti” (or had it stuck in your head like I do right now), you can thank songwriter Tom Glazer, who wrote what I can definitely say is the most tragically beautiful song made about noodles.
• Perhaps indulge in your pasta on one of Pablo Reinoso’s amazing spaghetti benches.
• For more noodles in the every day, admire your local Spaghetti Junction highway (hopefully not while you’re sitting on it in traffic). It might look something like this.
• What’s a Dietribe without mention of an eating contest? The record for consuming spaghetti amounted to 13.5 lbs of the stuff in 10 minutes, on September 1, 2008, courtesy of Bob Shoudt’s stomach at the Skyline Chili Spaghetti Challenge.
What are some of your favorite ways to prepare pasta? I’m a fan of the whole wheat or spinach varieties myself. Anybody tried spaghetti squash?
Hungry for more? Venture into the Dietribes archive.
‘Dietribes’ appears every other Wednesday. Food photos taken by Johanna Beyenbach. You might remember that name from our post about her colorful diet.
Comments (13)
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Mmmm my dad used to buy fresh spaghetti squash right from the farmer’s market, steam it up in a pot, and serve it dripping with melted butter, and fresh ground salt and pepper. It was De-lish!
As for spaghetti… well, I cannot for the life of me understand it when people pay gobs of money for a pasta dish in a restaurant. Excuse me, but as a former longtime student/low wage earner/welfare child, pasta will always be what you eat when you are broke.
And what you feed the kids when you are too damn tired to think straight – bless you, Mr. Kraft.
BTW – I once heard of bachelors who decorated their Christmas tree with empty KD boxes and Kokanee beer cans – the tree was a lovely melange of blue, orange, and silver.
posted by Mare on 10-29-2008 at 1:58 am
Spaghetti squash ain’t bad, but I like plain old spaghetti with tomato sauce. My secret ingredient in the sauce is now your secret ingredient- chicken bullion. A couple crushed up bullion cubes in the sauce gives it a meaty kick.
posted by Zach on 10-29-2008 at 6:50 am
What? No mention of Pastafarians and the Flying Spaghetti Monster? Arghhh.
posted by Jacqueline on 10-29-2008 at 7:44 am
Everyone does *not* like spaghetti. I can’t stand it. And I’m half Italian. It’s funny, actually, because a friend and I were having a discussion about spaghetti recently. I think it has to do with the round shape. It sounds weird, but it reminds me of worms, and I don’t want to eat worms. I much prefer fettuccine or penne or fusilli. And don’t tell me they’re all the same. They’re all made of the same ingredients, but their texture and taste is different.
posted by Amy D on 10-29-2008 at 7:53 am
Ah…spaghetti. I will never be successful at low carbs because of pasta and spaghetti in particular.
I actually broke up with a boyfriend in my early twenties because he preferred his mother’s spaghetti to mine. Hers was a meatless sauce, and mine is made thick as chili (with a combination of hamburger and sweet and hot sausage).
I cook sauce in huge batches, freeze it and we eat spaghetti at least once a week.
posted by Karen on 10-29-2008 at 7:59 am
@ KAREN: your sauce just made my mouth water! And I´m sure my fiancé would absolutely LOVE IT. Please, please tell me more!!
posted by GTT on 10-29-2008 at 8:48 am
I started eating spaghetti squash when I was trying the low carb thing and I still absolutely love it!
My favorite way to eat spaghetti (squash or pasta) is tossed with olive oil, crushed red pepper, lots of garlic and parmesan cheese. I just have to limit it to nights when I’m going to be alone :)
The kids, of course, prefer spaghetti and meatballs. I finally converted when I discovered that I didn’t have to cook the meatballs first.
posted by Brans on 10-29-2008 at 8:58 am
Mmmm… love spaghetti squash. Tried it for the first time this year. Like Mare said… butter, salt, and pepper. But I’m not really crazy about pasta. Once every year or two is enough!
posted by Vickey on 10-29-2008 at 11:17 am
My cat actually does like spaghetti. She likes to eat it raw. If I drop some on the floor she is there to eat it. I think she remembers the sound of it hitting the ground because she doesn’t have to be in the room when it’s dropped to pounce on it seconds later.
posted by SM on 10-29-2008 at 11:36 am
I agree with Jacqueline! Where’s the mention of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?!
posted by Hypatia on 10-29-2008 at 12:01 pm
I just made stuffed shells the other night: 1lb. cooked hamburger mixed with 16 oz. cottage cheese, 1 egg, 1 cup shredded mozzarella, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan, 1 tbsp. Italian seasoning. Chill mixture while large shell-shaped noodles are boiling. When noodles are drained and rinsed, stuff with mixture, then place in baking dish with 1/2 jar spaghetti sauce lining the bottom. Pour the rest of the sauce over the shells, pile on more mozzarella, then bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. So good and very easy, plus it tastes even better the next day!
Honestly though, my favorite pasta dish is plain noodles (preferably tri-color spiral) sprinkled with Parmesan cheese, then dipped in ranch dressing while still warm. It’s weird, I know, but it’s my ultimate comfort food!
posted by beth on 10-29-2008 at 12:18 pm
Anyone who doesn’t like proper spaghetti carbonara, and thinks it shouldn’t be ordered in restaurants should be shot into space.
posted by ian on 10-29-2008 at 1:38 pm
Spaghetti squash is awesome – my family used to grow it in our garden. Yum!
posted by Logan on 11-4-2008 at 10:08 pm