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Spaghetti is a typical Italian dish comprised of long, thin, round pasta. It is frequently served in a tomato-based sauce, which may also contain olive oil, seasonings, including herbs (especially oregano and basil), and vegetables (for example green peppers, onions and mushrooms). It may also be topped with any of several hard cheeses, such as Pecorino Romano, Parmesan or Asiago. It may also be served with meatballs, or may contain meat in the sauce.
Most spaghetti sold and consumed is commercially prepared and therefore becomes hardened upon exposure to the environment. Spaghetti is cooked by boiling the pasta in water until it softens. The term describing the consistency or texture of properly cooked spaghetti is al dente which is translated from the Italian as "to the tooth" which means it is soft, but with texture.[1]
To have a perfect "spaghetti al dente", spaghetti should be derived only from Durumwheat semolina, even though spaghetti produced with other kinds of flour can be found outside Italy.
Spaghetti or pasta should not be mushy when properly cooked, and should not fall apart when combined with sauces.
The word spaghetti is the plural of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning "string," or "twine." Therefore literally, the word "spaghetti" means "little strings." It is, however, normal to treat it as an uncountable noun in English, and say "this spaghetti is nice" rather than "these spaghetti are nice." Similarly, to speak of an individual strand, we would say "there's a piece of spaghetti on the floor" rather than "there's a spaghetto on the floor."
Eating spaghetti with a fork and a spoon is perfectly polite, being the traditional Neapolitan habit. However, many other Italians consider the proper way to eat it to be with just a fork, or with the help of the edge of the knife at the very most, like any other dish.
Legend has it that Marco Polo brought the recipe for spaghetti back from China; however there is evidence that pasta has been made in Italy at least since the 4th century BC.
The term spaghetti is also sometimes used to refer to a genre of low budget Western-themed motion pictures produced by a European film company which were often filmed in Spain and financed in Italy as in Spaghetti Western. American actor Clint Eastwood became renown for his career-launching role in Italian director Sergio Leone's first part of his trilogy Fistful of Dollars.
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Last updated: 10-13-2005 15:05:17
