14 Facts Any Pasta Lover Will Appreciate

    Spaghetto is the singular word for spaghetti.

    Jesse Szewczyk
    by Jesse Szewczyk

    BuzzFeed Staff

    1. Spaghetto is the singular word for spaghetti.

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    Generally speaking, Italian words ending in "O" are singular and words ending in "I" are plural.

    2. Before machinery, pasta was kneaded by foot.

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    Because pasta dough is so tough, workers would walk over large batches of dough to knead it and a single batch would take "a full day's walking" to make.

    3. Al dente pasta not only tastes better, it keeps you full longer.

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    This is because it takes longer to digest al dente pasta than it does overcooked pasta ― thus making you feel full longer.

    4. There are approximately 350 shapes of pasta...

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    And it's estimated that there are about four times as many names as there are shapes. Spaghetti, farfalle, and fettuccini are just the beginning.

    5. The average Italian eats 60 pounds of pasta per year...

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    While Americans eat just 26 pounds a year.

    6. And a typical portion is only 100 grams.

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    Compare that to a 700 gram portion of pasta at Olive Garden and it's clear why Italians can get away with it.

    7. People were once fooled into thinking spaghetti grew on trees.

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    On April 1, 1957, BBC aired a spoof documentary about spaghetti crops in Switzerland that showed farmers harvesting spaghetti from bushes. The humorous video was met with confusion including a portion of viewers wondering where they could buy their own spaghetti bush.

    8. October 25 is World Pasta Day...

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    And January 4 is National Spaghetti Day.

    9. Most dried pastas are made with only two ingredients.

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    Semolina flour and water ― that's it! Fresh pasta, egg noodles, and some dried pasta varieties are made with eggs, but the standard dried stuff is nothing more than a paste of flour and water.

    10. Which is why the word pasta comes from the Italian word for "paste."

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    Flour + water = paste = pasta.

    11. Italy produces between 1,700,000 and 3,300,000 TONS of pasta per year.

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    This is more than any other country (and equivalent to the weight of over 400,000 elephants).

    12. The most popular brand of dried pasta in Italy is Barilla.

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    They also account for 25% of the pasta sales in the United States.

    13. The three most popular shapes of pasta are spaghetti, macaroni, and penne.

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    Spaghetti is so popular that it accounts for two-thirds of all pasta production.

    14. The first pasta factory in the U.S. was built in Brooklyn.

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    Zerega was founded by a French immigrant (Antoine Zerega) in 1848 and is still making pasta today (although not in Brooklyn anymore).

    Let's eat!

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