Spaghetti dishes are for lovers of all things Italian

Eat more spaghetti. Italian actress Sophia Loren once said: “Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.”

 Sophia Loren

Spaghetti is also the food of love. Katie Lee, American cookbook author and television food critic, said: “For me, the thought of spaghetti and meatballs conjures up the image of that scene where ‘Lady and the Tramp’ gaze into each other’s eyes as they slurp a strand of pasta into a fateful kiss.”

 

Katie Lee

The scene from Walt Disney’s 1955 animated film is classic; the dogs are being treated to a candlelit dinner outside Tony’s Restaurant. Tramp is a shaggy, mixed breed, sometimes called a mutt, who is courting Lady, a refined, purebred American Cocker Spaniel.

 

Spaghetti-like noodles probably originated in China and were brought to Italy in the 12th century by Arab nomads who traded in central Asia. Durum wheat is well adapted to the hot and dry conditions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. 

Tori Avey, a food historian from Beverly Hills, Calif., said1` that durum wheat has a “high gluten content. When durum wheat pasta is dried, it lasts indefinitely, making it a very convenient food to store. Over time, because of pasta’s affordability and versatility, it became firmly rooted in Italian culture.” 

“Italy’s climate is suited to growing fresh vegetables and herbs, which meant that Italians could get creative with a delicious variety of pasta sauces,” Avey said. “Tomato-based sauces emerged as a favorite complement to pasta, and tomatoes remain the most popular ingredient in pasta sauce today.” 

Chef Bella Awdisho of Mountain View, Calif., said: “During the 14th and 15th centuries, spaghetti was standard fare on sailing ships because it kept very well for extended periods of time. European ships began sailing to Africa and the New World, so spaghetti was one of the foods introduced to virtually every shoreline touched by the explorers.”

The food librarian at the Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts in Chicago said: “Polpettes, or traditional small Italian meatballs, typically contain equal portions of meat and soaked bread as well as egg and vegetables. They may be made with beef, lamb, turkey or even fish, depending on what meat is available.” 

When Italians came to America, beginning in the late 1800s, they “made meatballs using affordable ground beef and indulged in larger portion sizes than they had had back home,” the librarian noted. 

Spaghetti sauce has become a specialty of southern cooks. One is a native of Monroe, N.C., Christin Mahrlig. She is the creator of the Spicy Southern Kitchen website and advises her followers to start with lean ground beef.

 

Christin Mahrlig

Other ingredients for her spaghetti sauce include onion, green pepper, stewed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, Worcestershire sauce and sugar. 

Judy Yeager of Georgetown, Ky., established “The Southern Lady Cooks” blog in 2008. Her favorite spaghetti sauce recipe includes a few additional ingredients, such as green chilis, mushrooms, garlic and dried oregano. 

Jocelyn Delk Adams created the brand “Grandbaby Cakes,” because that was the nickname given to her as a small girl by her grandmother, Maggie May “Big Mama” Small in Winona, Miss.

 

Big Mama and Jocelyn Delk Adams

Adams’s spaghetti sauce recipe includes sausage, olive oil, red wine, chicken stock and crushed red pepper flakes.

 

She offers a word of advice: “Allow the flavors to simmer. Don’t rush the cooking process for this sauce. For flavors to truly develop, you must let them come together slowly. It is truly worth it!”