OK... What do you call Tomato Sauce... "Sauce" or "Gravy" ???

[frigilux]

Petek and Louis: Both breaking spaghetti prior to cooking and cutting it into smaller strands at the table were major violations in my mom's opinion.  I saw 'Pot-Sized' short spaghetti (HyVee brand) in the grocery store a few months ago and thought, "Mom would freak." LOL

 

She would twirl a single strand of spaghetti onto a kid-sized fork for me when I was too young to do it myself, but she'd never, ever cut it.  In hindsight the full-length strand would probably be considered a choking hazard for tykes these days.

 

[countryguy]

I always break the spaghetti in half so that it fits in the pot....still tastes the same LOL

Gary

 

[frigilux]

Re: Gary's post above.

 

Louis, please post the cat photo! LOL

 

[mtn1584]

Bronx NY born and bred Italian here...
Macaroni always!!! I hate the word p***a!
I call it marinara and when there’s meat in it, a meat gravy.
Grew up though calling everything gravy.
Mike

 

[foraloysius]

Gary!

 

[norgeway]

No matter what you call it

I LOVE it, any Italian dish is GOOD!

 

[sudsmaster]

One useful suggestion I saw recently: don't rinse cooked spaghetti. This removes the thin layer of starch that otherwise helps the tomato sauce/gravy/condiment to adhere to the pasta.

 

[norgeway]

The old cook books

Say to rinse, but I never knew anyone who did, I don't, but I do break spaghetti up in pieces....I know, its a no no, but its easier to eat without making a mess.

 

[foraloysius]

I could post a whole bunch of cats here! lol

Italians don't rinse their pasta, they even add some starchy pasta water to make the binding between the pasta and the sauce. It's a must for recipes like a puttanesca.

But... People with diabetes can get away a bit more when eating pasta when the pasta is cooled off then reheated. Reheating is essential here. That method gives a smaller rise in blood glucose.

 

[sudsmaster]

Pasta is naturally more diabetic friendly than, say, potatoes or refined wheat flour. The reason is that the starch in pasta is more slowly digested than the refined starch in flour, or in potatoes. This means a more gradual rise in blood glucose that diabetics may find easier to handle. I imagine the cooling and reheating of pasta somehow may make the starch even more slow to digest.

I wonder if there are any studies to document the effect?

 

[daveamkrayoguy]

Spaghetti Sauce--Pasta Sauce, much like how Pancake Syrup should just be MAPLE Syrup, if it is to go on WAFFLES!

Never heard of tomato gravy, (or any kind of tomato sauce being referred to that way) but surely there must be a way to make it the way you would make regular brown gravy...

-- Dave

 

[chachp]

Italian born and raised

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">My Grandparents were from Italy.  My parents were born here.  </span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">Every Sunday was dinner with the family at my Grandparents house.  Meatballs, Sausage, and Braciole was served separately from the Pasta with "Sauce".  We never called it Gravy.  Then they would clear the table, put out fruit and bowls of nuts that the "men" snacked on while waiting on desert which was usually something like Ricotta Cheese pie or something like that.  Everything was home made including the Pasta.  My Grandmother spent the entire day on Saturday cooking for all of us.  I can remember playing with all my cousins after dinner while the "men" sat at the table with their pants unbuttoned LOL.</span>

 

<span style="font-family: 'comic sans ms', sans-serif;">Such great memories.  Do families do this anymore?</span>

 

[vacerator]

Yes, we do gather

on a weekly basis. Sometimes I/we cook. Our 7 month old grandson keeps us at home, so we have only taken him to a restaurant once so far.
Our son goes to his girlfriends Italian/Polosh grandmothers for Sunday dinner. Thats just the way it is. The guy goes to the spouses family most of the time.
On occasion, they both join us.
With everyone on different schedules, it's difficult to gather more than our immediate family often. My sister in law has tried to do it monthly at a restaurant. My nephew and his partner moved to Chicago last week. The rest of us are within one hour of each other. Still thats distance.
A brother in law has taken a job in Elizabethtown Ky, and is only home once a month. His adult son takes care of their house here. They bought a second smaller house there, as the job will be for 5 years, then they will retire. His wife goes back and forth on 2 week intervals as of now.
Thats life I guess.

An aunt in California passed away a few weeks ago, and they had the funeral service a week later because their kids are all over California and couldn't come on a moments notice.