spaghetti

The quintessential Italian dish... yet before there were pasta machines and pasta factories, little strings or cords (derived from spago, or string) was one of the hardest shapes to make well, because each strand had to be formed by hand.

Although many people outside Italy think the classic sauce for spaghetti is bolognese, the Italians, especially in Bologna itself, will insist that it really should go on tagliatelle (it sticks better).

Thin spaghetti is spaghettini, fat spaghetti spaghettoni.

spaghetti a matassa: spaghetti sold in coils, nests, or figures of eight.

spaghetti alla chitarra: home-made square spaghetti.

spaghetti alla margherita: nothing to do with the famous pizza, but on Elba it means spaghetti with spider crab (known elsewhere as rancio fellone)