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I keep hearing about this rare and extremely difficult to make pasta, but one thing I always wondered is how good it actually is. My feeling is that it's just

by mihaic 2y ago

I keep hearing about this rare and extremely difficult to make pasta, but one thing I always wondered is how good it actually is. My feeling is that it's just an ok dish with a cultural legacy attached to it.

josfredo 2y ago
I think your observation applies to most cultural legacies.
lordnacho 2y ago
Cynic in me agrees with you. It's a common idea in the modern industrial world that there's still some artisan out there who makes something authentic and impossible to mimic. But my parents who ran a restaurant could make a simulacrum of pretty much every kind of food they ever came across. And they weren't world experts with a long training at Michelin star restaurants, they had minimal training. What did they they use their training for? Of course convincing people that they were making authentic Asian dishes in a western suburb.
TheAceOfHearts 2y ago
I've known a few people to try some rare delicacies and the focus is always on it being more of a symbol of status or wealth rather than it tasting particularly good. One example is those really expensive fruit from Japan. If you look them up on YouTube the general consensus I've seen is that they're good but probably not enough to merit paying that much for them unless you're incredibly wealthy. Anything that's actually really tasty or unique ends up becoming widespread and it eventually becomes reasonably affordable for anyone to try. One example of this is wagyu beef; at one time it was relatively rare and very expensive, but now you can find it in many asian supermarkets and a small cut is affordable for anyone.
dghughes 2y ago
> I always wondered is how good it actually is. For me "gamey mutton broth" is all I need to know. Yuck. Anything but mutton.
- bbarn 2y ago
  Heh, I was going to say the opposite. Sign me up!
dfxm12 2y ago
It's essentially pasta in broth. This is common in Italy and expanding the idea to "noodle soup", common in many places. The floor for this dish is certainly higher than "ok". Who doesn't enjoy a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup in the fall? It sounds like it would be like that.
- stavros 2y ago
  "OK" compared to the average chicken noodle soup, not compared to all the edible things. Basically, would it be worth the Italy hike to get there, or can I get roughly the same thing at the supermarket?
  - dfxm12 2y ago
    Is it worth it to crash this village's religious festival just to get a bowl of homemade pasta? No. I don't think it ever would be, but that's not the point. If you have some special connection to the area or to St. Francis of Assisi? Probably, yes.

by mihaic 2y ago

josfredo 2y ago

I think your observation applies to most cultural legacies.

lordnacho 2y ago

Cynic in me agrees with you. It's a common idea in the modern industrial world that there's still some artisan out there who makes something authentic and impossible to mimic. But my parents who ran a restaurant could make a simulacrum of pretty much every kind of food they ever came across. And they weren't world experts with a long training at Michelin star restaurants, they had minimal training. What did they they use their training for? Of course convincing people that they were making authentic Asian dishes in a western suburb.

TheAceOfHearts 2y ago

I've known a few people to try some rare delicacies and the focus is always on it being more of a symbol of status or wealth rather than it tasting particularly good. One example is those really expensive fruit from Japan. If you look them up on YouTube the general consensus I've seen is that they're good but probably not enough to merit paying that much for them unless you're incredibly wealthy. Anything that's actually really tasty or unique ends up becoming widespread and it eventually becomes reasonably affordable for anyone to try. One example of this is wagyu beef; at one time it was relatively rare and very expensive, but now you can find it in many asian supermarkets and a small cut is affordable for anyone.

dghughes 2y ago

> I always wondered is how good it actually is. For me "gamey mutton broth" is all I need to know. Yuck. Anything but mutton.

bbarn 2y ago
Heh, I was going to say the opposite. Sign me up!

dfxm12 2y ago

It's essentially pasta in broth. This is common in Italy and expanding the idea to "noodle soup", common in many places. The floor for this dish is certainly higher than "ok". Who doesn't enjoy a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup in the fall? It sounds like it would be like that.

stavros 2y ago
"OK" compared to the average chicken noodle soup, not compared to all the edible things. Basically, would it be worth the Italy hike to get there, or can I get roughly the same thing at the supermarket?
- dfxm12 2y ago
  Is it worth it to crash this village's religious festival just to get a bowl of homemade pasta? No. I don't think it ever would be, but that's not the point. If you have some special connection to the area or to St. Francis of Assisi? Probably, yes.