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Spaghetti is a long, thin form of Pasta, round in cross-section. It is frequently served in a Tomato-based Sauce, which may also contain Olive oil, seasonings, including herbs (especially Oregano and Basil), and vegetables (for example green peppers, onions and mushrooms). It may also be topped with any of several hard cheeses, such as Pecorino Romano, Parmesan or Asiago. It may also contain meat in the sauce. Outside Italy it is often served with meatballs, although that is not a typical Italian recipe.
Most spaghetti sold and consumed is commercially prepared, then dried. Spaghetti is cooked by Boiling the pasta in Water until it softens. The consistency or texture of spaghetti changes as it is cooked. One popular consistency is Al dente which is translated from the Italian as "to the tooth" meaning "to the bite" i.e. soft but with texture. Others prefer their spaghetti fully cooked, which gives it a much softer consistency. To have a perfect "spaghetti al dente", spaghetti should be derived only from Durum wheat semolina, even though spaghetti produced with other kinds of flour can be found outside Italy.
The word spaghetti is the plural of the Italian word spaghetto, which is a diminutive of spago, meaning "string," or "twine." Therefore literally, the word "spaghetti" means "little strings." It is, however, normal to treat it as an uncountable noun in English, and say "this spaghetti is tasty" rather than "these spaghetti are tasty." Similarly, to speak of an individual strand, we would say "there's a piece of spaghetti on the floor" rather than "there's a spaghetto on the floor." An alternative theory to the origins of the name comes from the popular story that Marco Polo (see below) returned from China with long string-like pasta.
The traditional noodles from China are called La(1) Mian(4)(in Hanyu Pinyin). A direct translation would be 'pull(ed) noodles'. They are made from naturally stretched flour via a pulling and rotating motion by chinese noodle master chefs. As Marco Polo only brought back the ingredients and not the specialised know-how (and that includes a Chinese master chef!), Italian spaghetti was and is now made with 'play-dough' like machines, just like those in modern commercial Chinese noodle factories.
Eating spaghetti with a Fork and a Spoon is perfectly polite, being the traditional Neapolitan habit. However, many other Italians consider the proper way to eat it to be with just a fork, or with the help of the edge of the knife at the very most, like any other dish.
Legend has it that Marco Polo brought the recipe for spaghetti back from China. In October 2005 a bowl of noodles 4000 yrs old was unearthed in a Chinese archaeological site as reported by the BBC . Prior evidence showed that pasta has been made in Italy at least since the 4th century BC.