On Top of Spaghetti, all Covered with Cheese…

Today is National Spaghetti Day! Did you know that in the year 2000, 1.3 million pounds of spaghetti were sold in American grocery stores? If all of those packages were lined up, they would circle the Earth nine times!

The first historical reference to boiled noodles (found in the Jerusalem Talmud) suggests that the Arabs invented the dish thousands of years ago. What’s remarkable about this record is that it actually refers to dried noodles purchased from a vendor, which means that pasta has been sold in stores since at least the 5th century!

Today we associate pasta with the Italians, who have revolutionized the dish and invented a wide variety of pasta shapes. These include farfalle, conchiglie, rotini, penne, tortellini, and, of course, spaghetti. Spaghetti is the most common round-rod type of pasta and in Italian, “spaghetti” means “little lines.” Spaghetti is traditionally served with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese, but you can also add meat, garlic, oil, and pepper for extra flavor.

To celebrate National Spaghetti Day, make spaghetti and meatballs for dinner or order your favorite Italian restaurant. Enjoy!

Five Fun Facts about Spaghetti:

1. The word, Spaghetti is the plural form of an Italian word spaghetto, meaning “thin string” or “twine.”
2. Pasta existed for thousands of years before anyone ever thought to put tomato sauce on it.
3. You can fry your leftover spaghetti noodles.
4. The average person in Italy eats more than 51 pounds of pasta every year.
5. According to Miss Manners (a.k.a. Judith Martin), a fork is the only utensil that may be used to eat spaghetti while anyone is looking.

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