Corey's Food Court

Oh Pasta, how I love you so. You never fail to please. Even when I’m complaining about how much homework I have, I eat you and all my troubles are gone. I wish all of what I just said was true, however it’s not, we’re over *end corny, loving monologue towards an inanimate object*.

Though I’m not in ecstatic love with pasta as I feigned, I do enjoy it. I mean with so many different kinds of pasta, how could you go wrong? Even if you don’t like one kind of pasta, “there’s other fish in the sea” (WOW I actually applied that quote on an occasion other than one of those very often occurrences where I must pretend to care about a dramatic friend’s break-up with a guy she knew for two days). Off the top of my head I’ll name just some of the “fish in the sea”: spaghetti, lasagna, and my favorite penne (After interviewing my mother I discovered that penne is also her favorite as she likes how it cooks and just the general shape of it…I guess great minds do think alike). If that isn’t enough, (which it probably isn’t considering I only named three) there are entire cookbooks that consist entirely of pasta recipes.

So my friends at ProfessorsHouse.com (none of whom I have met or even talked to for that matter) informed me of the fact that the word pasta comes from the route “paste”, which is what the mixture used to make pasta looks like. The mixture used to make the ever so delicious pasta that we eat today consists of wheat, flour, egg, and water. Seem simple? Yes it is, in fact the recipe contains such common ingredients that it is hard to decipher how long ago people started making it (Davidson 582). At that point, all pasta is practically the same, the same core ingredients; nothing is very different except for maybe the type of flour used. Things begin change during the next step of a “pasta’s life” when it is kneaded and made into different shapes: macaroni, spaghetti, and ziti being just a few of the vast variety of shapes. If you don’t understand the whole shape concept by now, please see your doctor as soon as possible or “ASAP” for all you acronym folks out there. After being shaped, the pasta can be prepared fresh, dried and packaged, or frozen (Many people like myself just buy the dried and packaged pasta at the nearest supermarket as it is obviously easiest). Once the pasta is made, you have free reign over what you want to do. Your dish can become whatever you want. That being said, for you amateurs out there (I feel bad for you by the way, no just kidding, I’m an amateur too) I’d recommend following some recipes until you get good. You’d think this would restrain you from cooking a unique dish but the simple pasta noodle can become a very diverse array of dishes. You can follow Food Network’s Giada de Laurentiis’ original recipe “Fried Ravioli”, for an extra unhealthy dish. You can follow the women of ‘Love My Philly’’s recipe for “Tortellini Alfredo”. You can even ask your annoying neighbor who always looks in your window for an “Angel Hair Marinara” recipe (Although I wouldn’t recommend it). Whatever the case,  the simple noodles will not let you down when it comes to originality.

It’s amazing how four basic ingredients can go from being all the same to completely unique (and tasty might I add). According to ‘Pasta Canada’ there are over 600 kinds of pasta in the world, all of them stemming from the same core. They come from the same basic structure, yet they are all so different.  Where would the noodle be without creative ideas? (Probably in the dumps with my Geometry grade) *engaging psycho-who-loves-pasta-a-little-too-much mode* So pasta I’m here to take a stand, never back down! Never give up! Continue sitting there while everyone cooks you! It’s the uniqueness of each and every plate of you which makes me love you more than I love my grandmother. *disengaging psycho-who-loves-pasta-a-little-too-much mode* (PS…I cannot be blamed for anything said during “psycho-who-loves-pasta-a-little-too-much mode”)

If I haven’t already established this fact, I could eat pasta all day erry’ day (oh golly gee, the things kids are saying these days). However sometimes, there are things that a noodle shouldn’t be friends with, one of the horrific friends of pasta that I dislike ever so much are tomatoes. To me chunks of tomatoes in pasta are like that annoying friend who doesn’t really say or do anything but they still annoy you cause they just take up space (that is what I think of you tomato, yeah be afraid). I compared the almost inanimate friend to tomatoes in pasta because most of the time, tomato sauce is in pasta and you can taste it. That being said, when you add chunks of tomato it’s just like “we already taste you, all you are doing now is just making a bad texture” therefore, I prefer my pasta without tomatoes. I’m going to have to tell Mr. Pasta that Mr. Tomato was talking to his girlfriend, that should end their friendship forever (Booyah)!   So basically I have one left to say to you pasta: stay unique, don’t date until you are sixteen, and when you do start dating, you need my approval because ya know some of your friends leave a bad taste in my mouth (not funny pun 1000000% intended).

 

Sources used (Soon to become Bibliography)

Websites

http://www.pastacanada.com/english/pastafacts/pastafacts.html

http://www.professorshouse.com/food-beverage/food/types-of-pasta.aspx

Blogs

http://lovemyphilly.com/simple-creamy-tortellini-alfredo/

Books

The Oxford Companion to Food

Everyday Pasta: Favorite Pasta Recipes for Every Occasion

Interview-With Mom