It is difficult to think of a more iconic Italian dish than spaghetti (unless it is pizza). This dish is so popular in America that the ingredients for it take up almost an entire aisle in most grocery stores, sometimes even under the label Italian. It is a childhood classic that also finds itself on the menu at nicer restaurants. But did you know that the neither the pasta nor the tomatoes that make the sauce originated in Italy?
While we Americans typically use “spaghetti” to refer to a dish of spaghetti noodles covered in a tomato-based sauce, spaghetti can also refer to the noodle alone. The name spaghetti comes from the Italian “spago” meaning twine. A single noodle is called a spaghetto. Multiple noodles together are spaghetti. It is the most popular pasta eaten today.
While there is archaeological evidence that a type of pasta or proto-pasta was being consumed in Italy in the first century AD, what we recognize as spaghetti was likely introduced in the 9th century AD by Arab conquerors. The Arabs introduced durum wheat which is still used to make pasta today. They also traveled with long thin strands of dried pasta, similar to spaghetti. The Arab wheat and pasta-making techniques were adopted and blended into local traditions.
Tomatoes are a fruit that are native to the Americas. They were introduced to Italy in the mid 16th century as a novelty, decorative plant, not as food. The first known tomato sauce recipe was published over 100 years later by chef Antonio Latini who noted that mixed with onions and herbs, tomatoes could make an interesting sauce that added a lot of flavors to otherwise bland food. It was not until the 1800s that the combination of pasta and tomato sauce became more widely popular.
Tomatoes grow well in Italy. The Italians have developed many varieties of tomatoes especially suited to their cuisine since their introduction centuries ago. While the main ingredients may not be originally Italian, they have been adapted and refined by the people of Italy to make not only the dish of spaghetti with tomato sauce uniquely Italian but also the ingredients themselves.
Crystal Kelly is a feature writer for Bizarre Bytes with those unusual facts that you only need to know for Trivial Pursuit or Jeopardy or to stump your in-laws.
