Pasta is not only Fun to Eat……..It’s Fun to Discuss
*Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing macaroni to the United States. He fell in love with a certain dish he sampled in Naples while serving as the U.S. Minister to France from 1785 to 1789. He ordered crates of “maccheroni,” along with a pasta making machine to be sent back to the States.
*The first American pasta factory was opened in Brooklyn, New York, in 1848 by a frenchman named Antoine Zerega.
*The Chinese are on record as having eaten pasta as early as 5,000 B. C.
*There are more than 600 pasta shapes produced world wide.
*Miss Manners says, a fork is the only utensil that may be used to eat spaghetti while anyone is looking!
*The word “Pasta” comes from the Italian word for paste, meaning a combination of flour and water. It includes the many forms of spaghetti, macaroni and egg noodles.
*One cup of cooked spaghetti provides about 200 calories, 40 grams of carbohydrates, less than one gram of total fat, no cholesterol and only one gram of sodium (when cooked without salt).
*Comsumers enjoy pasta for dinner more than 40 times a year (approximately once a week).
*Christopher Columbus, one of Italy’s most famous pasta lovers, was born in October, which is now National Pasta Month.
*Cooked “al dente” literally means “to the tooth”, which is how to test pasta to see if it is properly cooked. The pasta should be a bit firm, offering some resistance to the tooth, but tender.
*”Meatballs” and spaghetti is an American invention. Italians only ate meat a few times a month in their home land. When they came to America where meat was so plentiful they incorporated into their cooking.
Pasta is one of my husband, Tim’s, favorite meals. I think I just might make him a nice dish of spaghetti and meatballs….yummmm that sounds so good right now.
Try a pasta recipe yourself. Make it your own by adding your favorite flavors and ingredients to the dish and let me know what you have come up with.
Until next time, enjoy.
