Talk:Spaghetti

Marco Polo nonsense

Well, the story as I heard it anyway, is that pasta/noodles already existed in Italy, what Marco Polo and other traders brought was specifically long noodles (AKA spaghetti or lo-mein). Since I'm not sure I could verify that, I'm not putting it in the main article. -- Logotu 19:37, 10 Nov 2003 (UTC)

Well, I cut it out.

An alternative theory to the origins of the name comes from the popular story that Marco Polo returned from China with long string-like pasta. The traditional noodles from China are called La(1) Mian(4)(in Hanyu Pinyin). A direct translation would be 'pull(ed) noodles'. They are made from naturally stretched flour via a pulling and rotating motion by chinese noodle master chefs. As Marco Polo only brought back the ingredients and not the specialised know-how (and that includes a Chinese master chef!), Italian spaghetti was and is now made with 'play-dough' like machines, just like those in modern commercial Chinese noodle factories.

I'd want to see a source saying that Marco Polo did bring the stuff. Sources all over the internet --Mgreenbe 00:43, 1 February 2006 (UTC)

Objection to the quote "A common theory is that Marco Polo brought the noodles back with him from China, but this is not true." and its reference "ref>http://www.ilovepasta.org/factsaboutpasta.html</ref>". No serious scientific, academic, or historical documentation is given by the source for their claim. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.9.10.183 (talk • contribs)

I do not beleive that site is credible, as the fist quote says "macaroni" was a synonym for excellence, and relates that to the line in Yankee Doodle; however, a macaroni was slang for a rich person in 18th century England and America.

I removed "not true" and put "not proved."

RebDrummer61 21:56, 3 May 2007 (UTC)

People have repeated the Marco Polo myth so many times that there is utter disbelief when you tell people the truth: MARCO POLO DID NOT BRING PASTA TO ITALY OR THE WEST. Even a cursory search on Google shows dozens of credible well sourced sites trying to debunk this stupid myth. Some scholars argue that some long pastas go back to ancient Rome, such as laganum. Others believe it came from the Arabs. Some believe that the Chinese did invent it, but it came to the west with the silk and spice trade thousands of years ago. Besides, the Chinese claim they independently invented the wheel, so why can't Italians independently invent pasta, which is just flour and water mixed and boiled? I am providing links below to prove the point which shouldn't need proving anymore:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DEFD91630F934A35751C1A96E948260

http://www.socyberty.com/History/Did-Marco-Polo-Introduce-the-Italians-to-Pasta-From-China.72108

http://www.inmamaskitchen.com/FOOD_IS_ART/pasta/historypasta.html

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/198607/pasta

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=189891

http://www.lifeinitaly.com/food/pasta-history.asp

http://www.powells.com/biblio?isbn=9780231124423

http://www.macleans.ca/culture/lifestyle/article.jsp?content=20080109_143844_1804

http://www.professionalpasta.it/dir_9/1_whoinv.htm

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article577909.ece

Can we put this nonsense to bed now????????????72.78.179.244 (talk) 20:20, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Giant Pic

Jesus fuck those spaghetti pics are huge. mnemonic 10:34, 2004 Jun 27 (UTC)

I've reduced them a little now. The full versions are available by clicking. — Chameleon 13:15, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I was referring to the full versions, actually. Do we really need 2500px-wide images of spaghetti, larger than most max resolutions on 19" monitors? I think a modest 1280x960 or 1024x768 would express the spaghetti-ness of the dish quite sufficiently. mnemonic 20:08, 2004 Jun 27 (UTC)

Ah OK. I've now reduced them to 25% of their original size. They were a bit vomit-inducing before. — Chameleon 21:54, 27 Jun 2004 (UTC)

spaghetti?

I need info about spaghetti for homework someone help me i cant find any thing does anybody know about the percentage of how many people in Illinois or if not possible in the United States someone please respond due friday the 12th and todays the 11th

thanks

Wow, um... Illinois? --Golbez 15:37, Nov 12, 2004 (UTC)

durum wheat!

I just re-edit this page about spaghetti. The original Italian spaghetti (and the only "al dente" qualities) come from durum wheat ! In italy you don't find anything but durum wheat spaghetti, just because other kind of flours make spaghetti consistency very similar to the consistency of a pudding. Common wheat flour is the main ingredient for some kinds of fresh pasta, but spaghetti is not a kind of fresh pasta. The kind of fresh pasta which is similar to spaghetti is fettuccine, a typical Emilia Romagna (northern Italy) pasta.

Disambiguation?

Should there be a disambiguation page? Spaghetti can also mean rubbish code: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spaghetti_code. We should at least mention it.

--David.Mestel 21:29, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

Thank you for your suggestion regarding [[: regarding [[:{{{1}}}]]]]! When you feel an article needs improvement, please feel free to make whatever changes you feel are needed. Wikipedia is a wiki, so anyone can edit almost any article by simply following the Edit this page link at the top. You don't even need to log in! (Although there are some reasons why you might like to…) The Wikipedia community encourages you to be bold. Don't worry too much about making honest mistakes—they're likely to be found and corrected quickly. If you're not sure how editing works, check out how to edit a page, or use the sandbox to try out your editing skills. New contributors are always welcome. Bill 21:59, 11 November 2005 (UTC)

I created a disambig page at Spaghetti (disambiguation) - AKeen 13:26, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

Image removal

I propose that we delete the images on this page as devote pastafarians might be offended that sisters and brothers of The Creator are shown on a public website. --Donar Reiskoffer 08:09, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

I think we should leave it on. Who can predict his noodle-y wisdom? Let us pray. --Mgreenbe 11:41, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

Noodles, pasta, and spaghetti

"While legend has it that Marco Polo brought the recipe for spaghetti back from China, prior evidence showed that pasta has been made in Italy at least since the 4th century BC."

Why is this presented as if contradicting the Marco Polo claim? Pasta is not spaghetti.

"In October 2005, a bowl of noodles 4000 years old was unearthed in a Chinese archaeological site as reported by the BBC.[1]"

And now we have to throw noodles into the mix just in case we haven't fucked with the reader's mind enough. I am thoroughly confused. TrueMirror 17:05, 16 March 2006 (UTC)

Because the Chinese were first to invent noodles does not mean it was their recipe which travelled the world. The Inca people had agriculture. They didn't get a postcard from Mesopotamia, they thought it up themselves. That's the point people miss about culture. Sometimes two or more people invent the same thing, like language or writing or clothes. Sometimes people invent things which get forgotten and have to be reinvented, or rediscovered, like Greek philosophy. Viewing culture as a ladder is simplistic. It's more like a tree, with lots of limbs, some dead, some alive, spreading all over.72.78.179.244 (talk) 20:27, 1 March 2008 (UTC)

Flying Spaghetti Monsterism

People keep adding Flying Spaghetti Monsterism on this page - please note, a link is already on the disambig page - AKeen 17:54, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

Inaccurate OED Reference

A former version of the article had:

 However the Oxford English Dictionary currently still gives the singular
 as spaghetto for English speaking users.

However, the Oxford English Dictionary Online (2nd ed.) says no such thing, as of July 2006, and in fact the word "spaghetto" is only used in the etymology. Thus, I've removed this comment. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.179.194.93 (talk • contribs)

Leonardo

There are two different things here.. spaghetti and OTHER pasta. Spaghetti is specifically the round kind of long noodles, and the ones that were preppared in Italy were squared. The round kind of pasta that is known as spaghetti was invented by Leonardo DaVinci, according to various sources. I shall investigate further and append this and more culinary facts in Leonardo da Vinci and afterwards will insist on this. note: I might be wrong with the names. I am not an english speaker, but I seriously doubt the names should be THAT different --Lacrymology 12:35, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

I just need to know how to make it

All i need to know is how to make spaghetti the real way because all the internet comes up with is how to boil it and how to make the bolonase!!! please can someone tell me how to make it?

I guess spaghetti is controversial

Heh, I have nothing really productive to say here, I just have to mention that since this has been in my watchlist, I've been shocked at how much vandalism there is. Seriously! Usually pages that get vandalized this much are about something controversial and related to current events. Was spaghetti involved in a recent international sex scandal that I just didn't hear about or something? heh.... --Jaysweet 22:46, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

you should try adding Pig or Hot dog to your watchlist. Seems the more common something is the more controversial it is. JohnCub 22:47, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

Vandalism

Well it has just been declared that spaghetti grows on trees in a very well developed paragraph. I am afraid to change it back considering that it can actually be cited out of a BBC April Fool's Joke, which is a published documentary. Redian (Talk) 18:24, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

I have reverted it. Axl 18:24, 1 April 2007 (UTC)

Duck! Cluster incoming!

"In Sicily, the accepted method for determining how well cooked the noodles are, is to throw a cluster against the wall. Once the first cluster sticks, the pasta is ready for consumption" - I'd like to ask someone from Sicily, because... well, this was one of the scare stories told me about the terrors of eating abroad when I first visited England. "No, really, they throw a noodle to the wal and when it sticks tey think it's okay! Can you imagine eating that gooey stuff?" Tridentinus 12:09, 12 June 2007 (UTC)

Little Known Origin

Most people don't know this, but spaghetti actually originated in New York around 1910. It came from the spaghetto. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Hootocol (talk • contribs) 15:00, August 21, 2007 (UTC).

Food Poisoning

Do you know that spaghetti is also a dangerous dish? In some countries such as the Philippines, there have been numerous reports about people getting ill because of eating spaghetti. This is due to using left-over sauce. Perhaps this idea should be included in the article. 124.106.203.252 12:44, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

We need a reliable source for this. And even if this info was properly verified, it doesn't sound like the pasta itself is the culprit, so it probably doesn't belong in this article. -- Satori Son 12:52, 24 September 2007 (UTC)

Yes, there were several cases over the years here in the Philippines that testifies to your facts but you entiltled this as Food Poisoning, didnt you? Because come to think of it in respect with that, there were a other cases of food poisoning that involves shellfish (this is the most frequent reason here...)and the poisoning is the byproduct not necessarily of the ingredients, in this case -- the pasta, but rather by the preparation (cooking) or the other factors ( room temperature, packaging or other ingredients like pork)might be the reason why it even became a threat to anyone's life!Ergo, your claim isnt really necessary!

• • • this comment is not in connection with the article but just a clarification with the previous entry involved.

---FYI---from the Philippines —Preceding unsigned comment added by 125.252.90.6 (talk) 03:01, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

FSMism

"The spoof religion Pastafarianism holds that the universe was created by a Flying Spaghetti Monster."

I object! Pastafariansim is NOT a spoof religion. It's just a real religion as Christianity, Judaisim, the worship of the Invisible Pink Unicorn, Islam, Confusionism, and what not!

Parmesan cheese over tomato topped spaghetti ?

Please delete the first photo in this article. We, Italians, NEVER use parmesan cheese over spaghetti with tomato sauce. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.222.93.129 (talk) 18:51, 22 November 2007 (UTC)

And anyway, not everyone who eats spaghetti is Italian. I eat my spaghetti like that all the time, and so do most the people I know. TwistedRed 23:33, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Any particular reason you decided to put your post in the middle of mine? —Preceding unsigned comment added by TwistedRed (talk • contribs) 22:04, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

TwistedRed (talk) 17:54, 22 November 2007 (UTC) A loyal Pastafarian

Sucking (spaghetti)

See this article on The Straight Dope [2]. I think some reference to this incredibly complex physics debate belongs in this article, but I am hesitant to do this (boldly) because of the controversy it could cause. Consensus anyone? Deltopia (talk) 13:29, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

This would be a natural adjunct to the section on the physics of breaking spaghetti. Wording something like: "The physics behind the phenomenon of sucking _limp_ spaghetti into one's mouth remain controversial, however [3]".Robma (talk) 08:54, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

I would add a little bit more, actually going into how it is controversial. I feel it would be more helpful like that, rather than forcing the reader to go to the ref to understand what about it is controversial. Carl.bunderson (talk) 05:24, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

Origin Section

In 48 hours I'm going to delete large portions of the Origins section since it's almost entirely unsourced.Reinoe (talk) 15:45, 11 February 2008 (UTC)