tom 🕊 Stately Oak   Jones County, NC. Zone 8 28526 ... Posts: 4,588 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 16, 2020 18:37:47 GMT -5 datgirl, gardendmpls, and 1 more like this - Select Post
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Post by tom 🕊 on Apr 16, 2020 18:37:47 GMT -5 It isn't because you can stab yourself when breaking a bundle of spaghetti. It isn't because small pieces can shatter and fly about. It's because spaghetti once came in barrels as crackers once came in cracker barrels. Whole pieces stayed at the top of the barrel; broken pieces settled to the bottom. Those with money bought whole spaghetti. Those with little money bought the broken pieces at the bottom at a discount. Thus, broken spaghetti is associated with poverty and hunger, that is, bad luck. The irony of it is, in my opinion, that broken spaghetti is more useful than whole. During this time of bad luck, I have found that broken spaghetti is a good addition to many soups, so I break the spaghetti in 1 inch pieces, cook it separately, and add it to soups. | | All our problems would be solved if only we would change our ways. | |
desertwoman Stately Oak  Posts: 18,195 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 16, 2020 20:48:00 GMT -5 SpringRain🕊️, Latitude33, and 1 more like this - Select Post
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Post by desertwoman on Apr 16, 2020 20:48:00 GMT -5 Them's not words spoken in the Italian families I know  tom 🕊 , (I'm pretty much full blooded Italian)It's simple. We don't break spaghetti because it's suppose to be eaten twirled around a fork! There is an art to it and there is pride in ones' skill to do that (without a spoon to help) Break it in half and you can't twirl effectively. Cut it into bite sized pieces, to eat, and Italians will practically faint if they see a non Italian cut up their spaghetti to eat it, or break it in pieces to cook it. (though quietly and with tolerance!)Spaghetti isn't used in soups and such. Spaghetti is spaghetti- meant to be eaten long. There are so many fine pastas to put in soups, or if you would rather jab your pasta with a fork: penne, farfalle, conchiglie (shells), fusilli, and so many more! | | Northern New Mexico 7000' desert plateauZone 7a (formerly Zone 5, then 6a, 6b)Posting since 2005 | |
| tom 🕊 Stately Oak Jones County, NC. Zone 8 28526 ... Posts: 4,588 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 16, 2020 21:52:49 GMT -5 ahntjudy likes this - Select Post
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Post by tom 🕊 on Apr 16, 2020 21:52:49 GMT -5 Apr 16, 2020 20:48:00 GMT -5 desertwoman said:Them's not words spoken in the Italian families I knowI have been trying to puzzle out the reason for the Italian attitude toward broken spaghetti ever since ahntjudy said, "the Italian part of me was saying, "Why is he breaking his spaghetti?"" Families have selective memories. And then, I had an Italian uncle who liked to tell stories of actual events, so about 68 year ago I heard from him things that would not now be told. | | All our problems would be solved if only we would change our ways. | |
meatburner Established   Posts: 315 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 16, 2020 22:17:31 GMT -5 desertwoman likes this - Select Post
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Post by meatburner on Apr 16, 2020 22:17:31 GMT -5 I am not Italian but I never break spaghetti. Just doesn't make any sense to do that. JMHO | | Zone SW Missouri 6bNo...your other left. | |
binnylou Stately Oak  🎄 Posts: 13,761 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 16, 2020 22:29:24 GMT -5 desertwoman likes this - Select Post
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Post by binnylou on Apr 16, 2020 22:29:24 GMT -5 I am not Italian...I be half Swede. I don’t break the spaghetti. It twirls so much nicer when the strand is long. | | Gardening like I'm gonna live forever, right here in central Iowa. Posting since 2008. 👩🌾 | |
pepperhead212🕊️ Stately Oak  Posts: 9,036 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 0:25:50 GMT -5 - Select Post
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Post by pepperhead212🕊️ on Apr 17, 2020 0:25:50 GMT -5 I almost never use spaghetti - only the pasta types like spirals or shells, that trap the sauce. I wish that they made rice noodles like that - I have no choice, with that kind! | | Dave in 7a/7b Woodbury, NJ | |
Mumsey Stately Oak  East Central Iowa, Zone 4-5 Posts: 20,714 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 3:11:31 GMT -5 lilolpeapicker likes this - Select Post
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Post by Mumsey on Apr 17, 2020 3:11:31 GMT -5 I do break it in half, mainly so I don't have to fiddle around at the stove waiting for it to ease into the pot! Fits the pot better when broken in half. We don't "twirl". The kids thought it was great fun to "slurp" it one strand at a time though! | | Chase your dreams. Your dreams won't chase you. | |
datgirl Stately Oak  Posts: 6,119 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 6:41:27 GMT -5 - Select Post
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Post by datgirl on Apr 17, 2020 6:41:27 GMT -5 I'm not Italian , so is it ok that I break my spaghetti to fit into the pot? | |
| binnylou Stately Oak 🎄 Posts: 13,761 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 7:09:17 GMT -5 datgirl likes this - Select Post
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Post by binnylou on Apr 17, 2020 7:09:17 GMT -5 Time to get a bigger pot? | | Gardening like I'm gonna live forever, right here in central Iowa. Posting since 2008. 👩🌾 | |
| tom 🕊 Stately Oak Jones County, NC. Zone 8 28526 ... Posts: 4,588 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 7:45:22 GMT -5 - Select Post
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Post by tom 🕊 on Apr 17, 2020 7:45:22 GMT -5 Many internet sites explore the broken pasta offense.medium.com/@cgarofani/butta-la-pasta-why-shouldn-t-you-break-pasta-to-cook-it-175876c5de50-- a defense of the twirling theoryronjamesitaliankitchen.blogspot.com/2015/10/please-dont-break-pasta.html“Every Time You Break The Pasta An Italian Cook Cries.”For some unfathomable reason, American cooks love to take a handful of innocent, inoffensive spaghetti and viciously snap it in half before throwing it into a pot of boiling water. Apparently they don't realize that under such torture spaghetti emits a high-pitched scream that can only be heard by Italians. | | All our problems would be solved if only we would change our ways. | |
martywny Stately Oak  Posts: 3,174 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 8:05:00 GMT -5 datgirl likes this - Select Post
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Post by martywny on Apr 17, 2020 8:05:00 GMT -5 tom 🕊,desertwoman,meatburner,binnylou,pepperhead212🕊️,Mumsey,datgirl, Back in October of last year I posted about an injury I sustained while breaking a bunch of spaghetti in half. Some of the sharp ends poked a hole in my hand and it bled enough to where I had to bandage it. Two nights ago I had spaghetti in my hands again, starting to bend it when I remembered what happened last time. I stuck it in the pot and within a minute it was soft enough to curl it all underwater. Yep, you sure can stab yourself with it! | | USDA Zone 6b in Newstead, NY on the left side of the state | |
| desertwoman Stately Oak Posts: 18,195 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 8:39:50 GMT -5 datgirl likes this - Select Post
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Post by desertwoman on Apr 17, 2020 8:39:50 GMT -5 Apr 17, 2020 0:25:50 GMT -5 pepperhead212🕊️ said:I wish that they made rice noodles like that Trader Joes has organic brown rice fusilli (spirals) and penne and spaghetti. Rice pastas have come a long way since we first wanted to eat them, 30 years ago.Apr 17, 2020 6:41:27 GMT -5 datgirl said:I'm not Italian , so is it ok that I break my spaghetti to fit into the pot? There are no pasta police - datgirl. Just know you will make an Italian cryApr 17, 2020 3:11:31 GMT -5 Mumsey said:great fun to "slurp" it one strand at a time though!They fit right in with Asian cultures who believe slurping is the only way to eat those long strands! | | Northern New Mexico 7000' desert plateauZone 7a (formerly Zone 5, then 6a, 6b)Posting since 2005 | |
pondgardener Stately Oak  Posts: 2,136 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 9:04:06 GMT -5 desertwoman and Tomato Z like this - Select Post
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Post by pondgardener on Apr 17, 2020 9:04:06 GMT -5 desertwoman, since I use a recipe for cooking spaghetti in the Instant Pot, and I have to break the spaghetti in half to layer it, is there are a humane way to do so without causing an Italian to cry? It doesn't seem to bother my wife, but that may be because she has Sicilian ancestors, that had mafia ties. She may be genetically predisposed to the sound of things breaking, like bones.  | | Do not fear death, rather the unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.Southern Colorado Zone 5b | |
| datgirl Stately Oak Posts: 6,119 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 9:53:40 GMT -5 martywny likes this - Select Post
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Post by datgirl on Apr 17, 2020 9:53:40 GMT -5 My husband is half Italian, and he has some very strong opinions on certain pasta practices, but since I do the cooking, he has accepted the broken spaghetti. He will not eat cold pasta as in pasta salad, he won't mix pastas like shells and rotini together and he really doesn't like creamy white sauces like Alfredo. His loss, because I love any kind of pasta and sauce. | |
| martywny Stately Oak Posts: 3,174 | Why Italians don't break spaghetti Apr 17, 2020 11:54:05 GMT -5 datgirl likes this - Select Post
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Post by martywny on Apr 17, 2020 11:54:05 GMT -5 I've developed a fondness for Mediterranean pasta dishes and eat a lot of that during the summer. | | USDA Zone 6b in Newstead, NY on the left side of the state | |
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