Eating a plateful of spaghetti (or any other long noodle for that matter) with even a sliver of dignity can sometimes feel next to impossible. Example: when is the last time you ordered spaghetti on a first date? That said, human beings have figured out a thing or two over the last few millennium when it comes to consuming this favorite food, primarily with the help of chopsticks or their Western cousin, the fork.
When eating spaghetti with a fork, most people twirl a few strands around the tines of the fork, anchoring the fork on the side (or bottom) of the plate. For a while there, it was vogue in America to twirl the fork on a spoon, but I haven't seen so much of that lately. A final option is to cut the pasta into smaller pieces with a fork and knife and scoop it up using the fork, but that method is mostly used for children.
With chopsticks, it's just matter of capturing several strands of pasta with the chopsticks and bringing it up to your mouth, usually accompanied with a satisfying slurp. Of course, much depends on culture as the above clip from Tampopo illustrates, not only for the use of chopsticks but for the option to slurp as well. Some people I know use whatever method fits the culture of the dish: slurping Asian noodles from chopsticks and twirling pasta on a fork. Others use their preferred method no matter what they're eating, which can result in slurping spaghetti or twirling Asian noodles.
What's your advice for tackling a plate full of noodles alone or in the company of others?
Related: Slurping Ramen: Unexpected Table Manners Around the World
(Image: Tampopo)
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I still use a spoon to help me twirl; much easier that way.
When it comes to European-style noodles like spaghetti, I tend to cut it up into small pieces. This was advice given to me for business meals, because cutting the spaghetti up into small pieces means it won't splatter onto your business clothes when you're twirling. For Asian-style noodles like udon, I generally just pick them up with the chopsticks and slurp, because there's no easy way to cut them up. (Asian meals don't usually come with knives.)
I also always use a spoon to help twirl with the fork. My Italian family members taught me that's the right way to do it. We have hundreds of years of pasta-eating in my family, so that's the way I do it.
For long pastas I do the fork and twirl.
For stir fried noodles I grab and slurp.
For pho (and sometimes ramen) I pick up noodles and coil them onto my soup spoon for a tidier mouthful.
With Italian pasta, I'll twirl on a fork, though not with a spoon. You can do almost as well on the plate.
With udon, I'll use chopsticks to grab a thick noodle and lay it into the deep spoon they provide. Then a dip into the broth and it's good to go.
With ramen or pho, slurp city.
I was raised to use a spoon (a round soup spoon) for spaghetti. Not only does it make the twirling neater, it helps the sauce to stay with the pasta. My best friends growing up were Italian (parents from Italy) and the fork and spoon method was used at their table too.
I twirl the pasta on my fork, stick the fork in my mouth, and bite. If there are any strands of spaghetti dangling from my mouth, I bite through them and let the ends fall to the plate (this sounds awful but I try to be graceful about it and usually hold my fork underneath so they dont just plop onto the plate).
Interesting to note that a few commenters were taught the spoon and fork method from Italian family members. I studied in Italy for 4 months and traveled all over the place--not once did I see an Italian use a spoon with their pasta! Place settings for restaurants never included a spoon.