How to eat spaghetti
Some weeks ago I had a dinner with my classmates in Colorno. Each time we do this, someone prepares something to eat, and Jules had decided to cook spaghetti with vegetables. I was surprised because the dish was perfect, also the cooking time…. The problem came when we started to eat: looking around, I realized that no one was able to eat spaghetti in the “correct” Italian way.
- Arina (from Holland) started to cut up all the pasta with a knife, like food for babies!
- David (from Taiwan) used a fork like chopsticks, also using the suction-pump technique!
- Jules (from Belgium) used his fork like a caveman!
- Shauna (from the USA) wanted to use a spoon, and she looked like my grandmother knitting me a wool scarf.
Attending this master program, I know that I should have an open mind, but I just couldn’t bite back my words: “Please stop! Now I will show you the correct way to eat spaghetti!”
All my Italian blood rushed to my brain, which started to throb madly. I think that when you are born in my country you have, from the first moment that you open your mouth, a sense of pasta!
It is the symbol of Italy despite being a reflection of a connection to a different continent: pasta from the Middle-East Middle Ages, the tomato from the Americas, and Spain where they made sauces.
I know that it wasn’t a friendly act, but one of the best opportunities that we have here is to leap into the culture and traditions of our classmates’ countries. (I also have a lot of problems with chopsticks, even though I love sushi!)
Maybe another solution is to start to eat like we did millennia ago: we already have the best cutlery in our bodies: teeth to cut, and hands to bring food to the mouth!
I perfectly understand your feeling…:) You see it like a sort of crime against your food culture! Besides, I totally approve your response, it’s all for education sake!
you forgot to tell us which is the correct italian way to eat pasta! I’d love to learn it too
I agree with Mariana–how DO you do it?? I’m Italian-American and I’ve always stayed away from the spoon-eating which I’ve frequently encountered when visiting friends’ homes. Often, I’ve been so eager to eat my pasta that I’ve just taken a stab at the noodles, twirled my fork once or twice (but not always!) and then inevitably slurped up the noodles as they hang from my mouth. But I’d like to do it the real way! Like my grandmother did, whom I never met, but whose Calabrian roots surely must have told her something. So, Diana, please tell!