- the mouthfeel of spaghetti is much more satisfying to me, due to the length of the strands. Sort of like the reason those baked “healthy” ramens/cup o’ noodles at the health food store don’t compare to the real deal: they’re usually a bunch of little inch-long noodle pieces floating in broth, rather than the ultra-long, curly ramen noodles I crave.
- as has been mentioned: Italians do not eat spaghetti with a spoon. I always eat it with just a fork.
- yes! seashell pasta sucks for tomato or cream-based sauces. that watery thing is very annoying.
- here is an interesting link about designer pasta shapes
Wait, y’all eat spaghetti with utensils?
I’m totally going to have to give that a try.
Well, supposing I remember it correctly, this quote from Strong Poison wouldn’t look as good.
“Ain’t an archive box in the country I couldn’t open blindfolded, in boxing gloves and with a strand of cooked spaghetti.”
How would you fit penne or conchiglie into the locks, for starters?
I’m going to be boring now and suggest that spaghetti won out because of logistics. Look at the same weight of spaghetti, penne, and, say, tagliatelle, and then decide which one you’d rather package and ship for an international market.
I’m usually for penne, but the shape doesn’t do much for one of my favourite Naked Chef recipes (mozzarella in chunks, cherry tomatoes in halves, fresh garlic and basil, and enouch olive oil to bind it together, plus loads of hot spaghetti.) Also, puttanesca or arrabbiata sauce would cling too much to the penne instead of just enough.
Now off to TV Tropes to find out how many offenders have imitated the spaghetti and meatballs scene. I’m tying this cooked spaghetti strand around my wrist, and if I’m not back in two hours, someone pull me back.
Because spaghetti is how it grows, off the spaghetti trees. When it’s still young it can be picked and rolled into different shapes…well, that’s what my grandpa told me when I was little! Now, wagon wheel shapes- why were those invented? All those cute little wheels break into shattered mush when I pour them into a colander.
I also much prefer spaghetti. Something about the texture just feels right to me. I can’t really explain it, and I feel like I ought to appreciate other pasta shapes more, but I don’t.
My only homemade pasta recipe, Fettucine al Bubba:
Cook yer fettucine in salted water, and drain.
Meanwhile, cook a couple slices of country ham. Cut it into little pieces.
In the same pan, heat some butter and some heavy cream and some salt and some pepper. When it’s thickened a bit, add some cooked asparagus and the country ham. Toss with the noodles.
I made this after I bought country ham and decided it was way too pungent for normal eating, and we had leftover asparagus. It was freakin’ delicious.
I’m with twickster. I prefer rigatoni over spaghetti.
Unfortunately, it normally removes the panties of any woman who comes over to enjoy it for dinner, and we can’t have that now, can we 
Am I the only one who eats Penne by catching it on those small skinny pretzel sticks?
This.
If you use a spoon to cup the end of your fork, eating spaghetti is quite easy.
I like fettucini to eat. But I remember with fondness spaghetti meals from my childhood. Food thats fun is a good way to get young kids to eat.
**Originally Posted by Thudlow Boink
The question I’ve always had is,
Why tacos?**
Totally agree. We always have nachos now.
I feel the same way! I love (thin) spag and even angel hair and really don’t like penne. I like spag because I like more sauce, less pasta ratio in each bite and most cut pastas are just too thick.
My favorite cut pastas are shells, elbows and rotini.
I’ll go with angel hair in public, but NEVER spaghetti. It’s a mess. I’m a rigatoni/penne kinda gal, myself.
Its the slurping sensation that is unbeatable with spaghetti - however, you need to be dressed in a lab-coat and protective gogles with all the sauce flying around…
It occurs to me that my fondness for rotini may have something to do with the fact that I live alone.
Since I live alone, I almost never sit down at a table to eat – I generally hold the plate or bowl in one hand and the fork in the other and continue doing whatever I’m doing (computering, reading, watching TV). Thus my preference for pastas that can be eaten without a whole additional set of flourishes or manipulations.
Has anyone else discovered the joy that is spaghetti rigatte?
I’ve had it, but my local supermarket either doesn’t stock it very often, or it sells like crazy. All the great mouthfeel of spaghetti, with the sauce-holding-ridges of penne. I use it for oil-based sauces, and regular spaghetti for tomato-based sauces.
My favorite is rotini, but when I do make long pastas, I break it up into manageable lengths before cooking it. And in a restaurant, I would be an embarrassment and cut the pasta up before eating it.
I’ve never thought of spaghetti or linguine as difficult to eat. I make far more of a mess eating anything that needs to come out of its shell first - steamed shrimp, lobster, crab legs, etc. I’ve been known to get food on the ceiling then.
I’ll second this. The slurping up part is like being a kid again. It’s fun. Also who uses lab coats? We just bust out an empty kiddie pool for each person, put on our bathing suits, get in and bingo no messy clean up. 
See, I kind of think the “twirl it around your fork” thing is fun. To me, that’s the one real benefit of spaghetti over, say, penne. (That and the fact that you won’t be laughed at by Italians for mistakenly pronouncing only one of the n’s.)
However, I wouldn’t order spaghetti at a business dinner (or, back in my single days, on a date), because it is more awkward to eat.