Wednesday Is Prince Spaghetti Day

[frigilux]

I use Bionature organic whole wheat spaghetti quite often, especially for spaghetti hot dish/baked spaghetti recipes. It tastes great and has a texture nearly the same as regular spaghetti. I used to order it online, but now the local food co-op carries it. Highly recommended for those who must/want to eat whole wheat spaghetti.

 

[frigilux]

Regular pasta: De Cecco is my favorite, especially for spaghetti. I pick it up at Cub Foods when I'm in Mankato, MN. The local HyVee carries Barilla, which is what I use when my stock of De Cecco runs out.

 

[foraloysius]

De Cecco pasta

I especially like the De Cecco Linguine No. 7, pure pasta heaven!

BTW, talking about spaghetti and meatballs. Did you see Anthony Bourdain serving spaghetti and meatballs in Italy?

 

[angus]

Thursday was spaghetti night in Brooklyn. And for the most part in the late 50's and 60's the only acceptable brand of dried pasta was Ronzoni. Strangely my mother also only bought Muller's egg noodles for pot roast and the like.

Today, I use mostly DeCecco, though it is getting harder to find the shapes I like in Shop Rite and Stop & Shop (linguini fini and mezze rigatoni). For a while there was also a square spaghetti called "pasta alla chitarra" (#13) which was delicious. However, DeCecco has literally stopped making it.

When I want fresh pasta for lasagne, I go to Borgatti's on East 187th Street in the Bronx. The pasta is ethereal and their spinach lasagne sheets are perfect for traditional lasagne bolognese. I learned a long time ago to make fresh pasta by hand, cut it by hand etc... However, after one too many times of doing this for a crowd, I figure Borgatti's has been doing this for a long time and does it better than I ever could. The drive down and back is still less than the time, work and clean up involved.

For whole wheat pasta, I agree that the Bionaturae brand is one of the best and it is widely available in Whole Foods.

 

[filterflo58]

thats tragic!

 

[Iowegian]

It's a strange world.

PastaBarilla has a huge plant near us.

No one grows wheat in Iowa.

The Barilla people positioned their plant right off Interstate 35. It's a technological wonder - they can run their giganto plant with something like 60 people and turn out many tons of noodles a day.

Hauling semi-loads of wheat from KS, and maybe ND & SD here doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Maybe they have a rail siding, I don't know.

But their product is really good.

Their Penne, farfalle, and other hollow noodles make really good mac and cheese, chili-mac and such. Not so thrilled about their linguine, but their spaghetti noodles are first class.

 

[launderess]

Barillia Plant In Ames Iowa

Makes use of both the US Interstate system and rail. Those were two of the reasons for choosing the Iowa location as it is centrally located within the USA as well

http://www.grainnet.com/articles/Barilla_Iowa_Plant_Up_and_Running-4563.html

 

[Iowegian]

Thanks for the historical perspective.

We were subjected to those awful "creamettes" noodles when I was growing up. Wherever they came from...

I need to hop over to to the Super forum where the Nancys are trying to get me banned for criticizing someone's apple pie recipe.

Be right back - or not...

 

[launderess]

"I need to hop over to to the Super forum where the Nanc

Oh no he didn't!

Suddenly feel the need to go powder my nose. Will be back in a day or so after the dust settles, or maybe not!

 

[gansky1]

Jon made us some whole-wheat pasta when we were there this last summer, once cooked we couldn't tell the difference. Delicious.

I grew up in the "Little Italy" part of town where lasagne and cheese-bread was an after-school snack! We still have a few locally owned Italian restaurants, steak-houses and bakeries but they're fading fast, up against the chain restaurants that ring the shopping malls.

 

[angus]

Greg, what was the Omaha Italian restaurant featured on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives? For some reason, can't remember the name of the joint - only thing I can recall was that the owner's name was Stanley.

 

[rp2813]

He was already in the Super forum.  I guess he was so busy spewing vitriol that he lost track.  Glad we are done with him.

 

[toploader55]

DeCecco

I use DeCecco commercially in the restaurant. Vermicelli is nearly impossible to find at least in the North East Commercially.

DeCecco makes Fedelinni. (Flat Very Thin Linguini. Like Vermecelli) It is not Linguini Fini.

Also try DeBoles Jerusalem Artichoke Pasta. They make Linguini, Thin Spaghetti, Thin Spanhetti with Garlic and Parsley and some others for those of us who have Dietary Restrictments.

I have been eating this Pasta since 1976. The year I was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia. Great Product and when I serve it to guests, they always think it's regular pasta.

http://www.deboles.com/

 

[toploader55]

DeCecco

I use DeCecco commercially in the restaurant. Vermicelli is nearly impossible to find at least in the North East Commercially.

DeCecco makes Fedelinni. (Flat Very Thin Linguini. Like Vermecelli) It is not Linguini Fini.

Also try DeBoles Jerusalem Artichoke Pasta. They make Linguini, Thin Spaghetti, Thin Spanhetti with Garlic and Parsley and some others for those of us who have Dietary Restrictments.

I have been eating this Pasta since 1976. The year I was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia. Great Product and when I serve it to guests, they always think it's regular pasta.

http://www.deboles.com/

 

[petek]

Speaking of DDD did anyone read that scathing critique of his new NY eating establishment.
I was wondering if some of these places he reviews just put on the dog for the two days they close while filming. A close friend of mine here was in Cleveland for a browns game and being Polish they went to a Polish restaurant featured on DDD specifically because of the rave review... said it wasn't anything near like what the DDD "showed" and they were quite disappointed.

 

[rp2813]

I read the critique and I believe every word of it.  I look forward to the day that Guy Fieri goes down in flames due to overexposure just like Rachel Ray (already seeing her junk cookware in thrift stores).  He's the most obnoxious TV host on the air.  I've seen the menu for his Johnny Garlic's chain and there's not a thing on it that interests me.  He's playing to the lowest common denominator, so diners, drive-ins and dives are right up his alley.

 

As for the restaurants he visits, I can say that the Falafel Drive-In he visited here in town has always turned out the same tasty fare before and since he stopped by, and it continues to have long lines during peak periods.  That place is a gold mine, and I doubt that the bombastic bleach blonde's visit did anything at all to increase business.

 

He thinks he's way too cool for school.  I say, send him to Siberia.

 

[jeffg]

Ralph, your post made me laugh. The Food Network has produced a steady stream of these guys (Fieri, Bobby Flay, Alton Brown etc), none of whom I would allow within 30 feet of my kitchen. Yes they've written books, yes they've won the James Beard Award, and no we've never tried a single recipe from any of them that we'd make a second time.

As long as you look good when the makeup is on and cameras are pointed at you, it's all that really matters to the owners of the network. One learns more by watching 10 minutes of Jacques Pépin than 10 hours of Guy Fieri or Bobby Flay.

 

[toploader55]

Food Networks and Foody Shows.

Have absolutely raised mayhem in the Restaurant business to out of sight proportions.

Every Chef now has to be a dietician to each customers needs. Customers now come in and tell the server how THEY want their food prepared. It's Bullshit. If they want things prepared how they see fit... STAY HOME AND MAKE IT YOURSELF. Busy restaurants run on seconds. Not minutes. And these a*****es come in for dinner and expect you to drop what your doing, stop production to take care of their oral wants and needs.

On Food Allergies :

Yes thanks to Genetic Engineering and Pharmeceutical side effects, this country has been raised to yet another level of Food Allegies.

My Problem with the allergies and going out to dinner is this...

Don't expect the waitstaff and kitchen staff to be your personal dieticians.

I was diagnosed with Hypoglycemia in 1977. I EDUCATED MYSELF as to what I can and cannot eat. I researched my afflictions and found out I cannot eat Bleached White Flour, Refined Sugars, Simple Carbohydrates, etc. So when I go out to eat, I will find something on the menu that suits my needs.

I don't go into a restaurant and ask 35 questions about "does this have gluten ?" Does this have Peanut Oil" ? Educate yourselves. Read about how foods are sooooo overly processed today, that almost everything you eat is loaded with preservatives, High in sodium, and sugars etc.

Sorry about the Rant... But it really gets out of control especially on the weekend nights.

I am on the internet constantly educating myself about what is going on with our food supplies and it ain't pretty. Especially after the surfacing of Whole Foods selling Monsanto produced GMO crap.

Be careful everyone. The Zuchinni you eat today might cause your arm to fall off in a few days.

 

[toploader55]

PS...

Sorry, Didn't mean to HiJack the thread.

 

[twintubdexter]

hey Ralphy boy...

What Falafel Drive-In are you talking about, the one on Bascom near West San Carlos? I was a kid working at nearby Western Appliance when that burger & fries joint changed into "that place run by foreigners with the strange food." It got popular very fast.