Spaghetti
Created | Updated Apr 13, 2002
From spaghetti hoops on toast hastily thrown together by a student and microwaved so that only the edges are hotter than the sun, to the finest carbonara prepared by the same student's Italian flatmate, spaghetti more than any other foodstuff is what holds civilisation together.
Just think how quickly anarchy would have set in if we were forced to eat tomato-based sauce straight off the plate rather than spread deliciously over noodles.
And think of the wars that this humble pasta has caused. Surely the Roundheads and Cavaliers could have agreed to coexist in peace respecting the others' right to choose spaghetti over tagliatelli and vice versa.
Was it perhaps with a view to keeping the peace that the farmers of Umbria, Italy cut down their beloved spaghetti trees during the ragu riots of the 1930s; or did they merely want to prevent their hallowed crop from becoming the focus of some of the bloodiest fighting in history?
So the next time you're tucking in to a plate of this pasta delight - at home, in a restaurant, or lovingly hand-rolled by an Italian grandmother, pause and reflect on its long and frantic history.
Buon appetito.
Just think how quickly anarchy would have set in if we were forced to eat tomato-based sauce straight off the plate rather than spread deliciously over noodles.
And think of the wars that this humble pasta has caused. Surely the Roundheads and Cavaliers could have agreed to coexist in peace respecting the others' right to choose spaghetti over tagliatelli and vice versa.
Was it perhaps with a view to keeping the peace that the farmers of Umbria, Italy cut down their beloved spaghetti trees during the ragu riots of the 1930s; or did they merely want to prevent their hallowed crop from becoming the focus of some of the bloodiest fighting in history?
So the next time you're tucking in to a plate of this pasta delight - at home, in a restaurant, or lovingly hand-rolled by an Italian grandmother, pause and reflect on its long and frantic history.
Buon appetito.
