THOUGHTFUL THURSDAYS: PASTA!

Here's a thought: Spaghetti is the best pasta. I don't think I realized this until the other night. Back in the day, I used to eat spaghetti all the time. Recently though, it's been more about the linguine or even fettucini. Then my girlfriend came along. She doesn't like Italian food much (which is beyond insane. I told her yesterday that's like not liking The Beatles... oh good pun. Yesterday, Beatles. Nice. Not intentional, but I'll take credit). After two years, I've at least convinced her to eat Italian food at home. That's fine by me. For a Jew, I can make some damn good Italian food. But get this, she doesn't like spaghetti! Macaroni, penne, rigatoni, great. But not spaghettums (that's my pet name for spaghetti). The thicker the better. Usually, she'll compromise and settle for linguine.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore. Last week, I got some spaghetti. And shit, I may never go back.

My dad always used to go crazy whenever I told him I didn't like a certain shape of pasta. "It's all the same. Same ingredients. Same!" I hope this isn't a widespread belief. Because a bowl of penne and a bowl of spaghetti are two very different experiences. That's like saying a pureed hamburger and a real hamburger are the same thing. Texture matters! With tubular pasta (not tubular like Ninja Turtle tubular but in the shape of a tube) the sauce can creep in, making it explode in your mouth like a jelly donut! If the pasta's ruffled, the olive oil will seep in the cracks to forge a unique bond with your palette. It all matters.

Back to the spaghetti dilemma...I understand where Jen's coming from with not liking thin pasta. Angel hair never did it for me. Not enough to sink your teeth in to. But spaghetti is both thick and thin. It's not very wide, but it has mass. Linguini's flat, spaghetti's round. That's why it makes such a good pair for the meatball. Long and round messing around with fat and round. Perfection.

Even beyond taste, spaghetti packs a mean punch. Remember that scene in Ratatouille where the critic tastes a bite of the rat's ratatouille and is zapped back to his childhood. That's spaghetti with me. Twirling it up with my fork and plopping it in my mouth, covering my cheeks in sauce all along the way! Jen also cuts her pasta into small pieces. She must not know how to twirl it up in the spoon!!! I'll have to teach her how to do that tonight when I make some spaghetti and meatballs. It adds to the whole experience. Once it's all twirled up, it's thick. This will change her whole outlook. Yes definitely.

Before I go, let's try something. Spaghetti and meatballs Say it aloud. It has a Macaroni and Cheese type ring to it. The ear just loves the way it sounds. Tagliatelle and meatballs? Not so much.

For all you spaghetti haters out there, think of your youth, before you knew of any pasta shape other than macaroni or spaghetti. Don't you miss the simpler times? I sure do. From now on, spaghetti only!