Why Is Spaghetti Called Spaghetti?

Everybody knows pizza, but what do you really know about Italian cuisine…?

Did you for example ever ask yourself “why is spaghetti called spaghetti”?

We all have bespattered ourselves at least once with spaghetti sauce, havent’t we…?

Not very astonishing given the fact that those long slippery noodles are not so easy to eat.

If you wrap too much of them around your fork they quickly pile up to a dumpling the size of a ball of wool which nobody can stuff into the mouth without coll(e)ateral damage.

If you take too few they are slipping back onto the plate in a split second.

If you slurp them in bent deeply over your plate (not very elegant but acceptable) you can be sure that their very last end spills the sauce over the whole table in a slight swerve before it finishes up in your mouth.

The real fun however starts when there are children at the table…

Of course nowadays everybody who knows even a little about Italian cooking, also knows that spaghetti (and all the other Italian pasta as well) has to be cooked “al dente” (with a bite), which means that they mustn’t have the consistence of porridge when they are served.

So far we can say, we know already a lot about spaghetti.

But do you also know why spaghetti are called spaghetti?

If you don’t know the answer you might find it, taking a look into an Italian dictionary.

Spaghetto is the diminutive of the italian word spago (packthread, cord, string) which is derived from the latin spacus.

That means, spaghetti are simply string noodles

P.S. But here’s an additional question. Why do Italians write spaghetti with an h?

So, what about you? Do you know this…?