Spaghetti is a typical Italian dish comprised of long, thin, and round pasta. It is frequently served in a tomato-based sauce, which may also contain olive oil, seasoning, herbs (especially oregano and basil) and or vegetables (green peppers, onions and mushrooms. It may also be topped with any of several hard cheeses, such as Pecorino Romano, Parmesan or Asiago. It is often served with meatballs.

Spaghetti is cooked by boiling the hardened pasta in water until it softens and becomes limp. The term describing the consistency or texture of properly cooked spaghetti is al dente which is translated from the Italian as "to the tooth" which means it is soft, but with texture.[1] http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=define%3Aal+dente&btnG=Search Spaghetti or pasta should not be mushy when properly cooked, and should not fall apart when combined with sauces.

The word is the plural of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning "string," or "twine." Therefore, literally, the word "spaghetti" means "little strings." It is, however, normal to treat it as an uncountable noun in English, and say "this spaghetti is nice" rather than "these spaghetti are nice." Similarly, to speak of an individual strand, we would say "there's a piece of spaghetti on the floor" rather than "there's a spaghetto on the floor."

The term is sometimes used to refer to Italians in a derogatory way, e.g., as in Spaghetti Western.

Legend has it that Marco Polo brought the recipe for spaghetti back from China; however there is evidence that pasta has been made in Italy at least since the 4th century BC.

Eating spaghetti with a fork and a spoon is perfectly polite, being the traditional Neapolitan habit. However, many other Italians consider the proper way to eat it to be with just a fork, or with the help of the edge of the knife at the very most, like any other dish.

Related articles

• Spaghetti Bolognese
• Pasta
• Cuisine of Italy
• Carbonara

External link

• An article about pasta http://www.ilovepasta.org/factsaboutpasta.html - contains detail about date of spaghetti in Italy