Students Using Their Noodles
Story by Amy McVey
Photos by Andy Rullestad
rom bow-tie mostaccioli to angel-hair capelini, pasta has become a passion of the U.S. college culture. This artistically shaped dough breaks cul-
This distinctly shaped dough breaks cultural boundaries. It decorates the kitchen shelves of savvy, sophisticated homes and extends an economic invitation to pennell college students.
HISTORY:
Little is known about the history of one of America's most popular eating pleasures, except that Americans can't stake claim to its invention.
One legend holds that Marco Polo, on his journey through China, discovered the noodle and brought it back to Venice, Italy.
Another tale tells of a young Chinese maiden who, when preparing her daily batch of bread dough, became involved in a conversation with a young Italian sailor. Lovestruck, she let the dough overflow, and it dried into long strings.
The sailor, to hide the young maiden's error, hid the dough strings and took them to his ship. The ship's cook boiled them in broth, creating what we now know as spaghetti.
But Guiseppe Prezzolini, author of Spaghetti Dinner, said these legends hold little fact, because the Italians were preparing pasta a century before Marco Polo traveled to China.
RECIPE
Franklin D. Roosevelt Italian Spaghetti, taken from The President's Cookbook by Henrietta Nesbit.
1 lb. spaghetti
1 large can tomatoes
I can mushrooms
4 tablespoons butter
1 large finely chopped onion
1/2 to 1 lb. hamburger
1 can bouillon or chicken consomme
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 teaspoon chili powder
Saute onion in part of butter until clear, add hamburger paste into small cakes about the size of a quarter. When nicely fried, crush and scramble the meat and add mushrooms sauteed in butter and tomatoes. Add bouillon and seasoning and simmer for an hour, or until meat is tender. Serve over 1 lb. of spaghetti which has been boiled and drained.
PASTA: THE STUDENTS' STAPLE
Pasta restaurants are hot right now, said Hunter Allen Blair, executive chef at Shadow Glen Golf Club, Olathe.
"Itian restaurants are popping up all over the Plaza," he said. Blair said that pasta was popular because of its possibilities.
"There's just so many things you can do with pasta," he said. "The creativity is endless."
But for Jennifer Wintz, pasta is not a restaurant delicacy. It's almost a daily necessity. She relies on pasta's simplicity.
It's quick, and you can put anything on it," the Leawood junior said.
As a result, Wintz said she devours pasta at both lunch and dinner at least five times a week.
Because pasta satisfies both belly and wallet, other college students eat their fair share of noodles as well.
And with today's emphasis on dietary health, pasta's one gram of fat per serving pleases even the most skeptical dieter.
But Ann Chapman, dietitian at Watson Memorial Health Center,
warns that pasta is no replacement for fruits and vegetables.
"If you fill up on pasta, and it's all you're eating, you're not going to have a healthy diet," she said.
Pasta is a member of the grain family and is enriched with vitamin B and iron. Chapman said a healthy amount of grain, including pasta, would be six to 11 half-cup servings of grain a day.