I need some help from any of you who are cooks and foodies, please. Growing up in Connecticut in the 1950's and 1960's, our mom cooked spaghetti for dinner fairly often. It was the thicker, the "normal" variety. Somewhere along the line, perhaps in only the last 10 years, I came to really love "thin spaghetti." I have the sense that thin spaghetti is a relatively new variety. I don't think the thin stuff was around when I was a kid. The other day we were out of the thin stuff and had to eat the regular, and I was really disappointed. Can't believe that I didn't enjoy the thick stuff as much. Does anyone have any idea when thin spaghetti arrived in the consciousness of American family cooks? Thanks for any information. The thin spaghetti is on the left and the regular on the right, if you are curious.
I have no idea when thin spaghetti became available but it has been around for a long time. And a notch down is angel hair, which I personally don't like at all. Thin spaghetti is a bit easier to twill with a fork (please don't use a fork and spoon to twill spaghetti). My personal preference is the usual profile as it tends to be a bit firmer in texture. And almost everyone (including me) tends to add too much pasta sauce to the pasta.
ReplyDeleteI think you mean Capellini, Ken. I'm sure Uncle guiseppi would have it
ReplyDeleteOops - Typo - Twirl not Twill.
ReplyDeleteKen, you have a very refined palete! Ann says in the 1980's there started to be a trend for American foodies to demand ingredients available in Italy. This became known as "California cuisine" or "new American" cuisine. So people wanted the actual ingredients found in Italy vs. what was being produced here. The thinner pasta was always available in Italy, but now is popular here. Capellini is called angel hair pasta here, not my favorite but often available in scampi dishes. Mangia!
ReplyDeleteI have Angel Hair, Spaghetti and Fettuccine. It depends what I am using with it. Shrimp Scampi gets Angel Hair, Fettuccine Alfredo, Meatballs, Sausage & red sauce with Spaghetti.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you all, for your information. My boxes from two different manufacturers do say "Thin Spaghetti". I love the comment about Ann saying that "in the 1980's American foodies were demanding ingredients available in Italy!" That make a lot of sense to me! My crackpot theory sounds os it it is true!
ReplyDeleteI prefer thin spaghetti and I also like angel hair pasta for a few light dishes.
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