Hold the fork in your hand as if to poke the spaghetti. Scoop up a small amount of noodles on your fork and raise it about 12 inches above your plate. (Don't take too much spaghetti or you will end up with too big a bite. If you get what seems like too much, shake some of the spaghetti loose from the fork.)
Step2
Make sure the noodles are completely disconnected from the spaghetti on your plate.
Step3
Put the tines of the fork at an edge of the plate that is free of food. Quickly point the tines of the fork straight down toward the plate and place the points on the plate.
Step4
Twirl the fork to gather the noodles around the tines. With a quick scooping movement, gather up the roll around the tines and place in your mouth.
Step5
Gently gather up any stray noodle ends that don't make it all the way into your mouth. Stain-free spaghetti eating!
Tips & Warnings
It is always a good idea to wear a napkin as a bib when eating any sauced pasta dish.
Some people use a spoon to rest the fork on or cut the spaghetti with a knife, but Italians never do this; they just twirl the spaghetti on the fork.
on 12/20/2007
Why not cut it? We would not suck up a whole sausage so why do so with spaghetti - does not make sense to try and eat it whole - really ludicrous
on 2/16/2006
For you right handed people out there: Take a spoon in your left hand and the fork in the right, pretend you're about to toss a salad. Take the spaghetti between the fork and spoon and twirl the fork against the spoon until the noodles are around your fork. This is the best way not to splatter, and also the proper way to eat spaghetti. I always inevitably am wearing white when I'm eating spaghetti, and haven't had any problems except when I was a small child and was unaware of how to properly eat spaghetti.
on 1/30/2006
Some American restaurants serve pasta with a spoon for you to use to twirl the spaghetti around your fork. This custom is not Italian, however, and is not practiced in Italy.
on 11/22/2005
I highly recommend either tucking a large paper napkin in your shirt collar, or attaching a napkin to alligator clips which will keep your napkin in place around your neck (like a dental bib).
Comments
victorkor said
on 12/20/2007 Why not cut it? We would not suck up a whole sausage so why do so with spaghetti - does not make sense to try and eat it whole - really ludicrous
costi105 said
on 3/27/2007 Cutting spaghetti or using a spoon to eat it is not proper.
Anonymous said
on 2/16/2006 For you right handed people out there: Take a spoon in your left hand and the fork in the right, pretend you're about to toss a salad. Take the spaghetti between the fork and spoon and twirl the fork against the spoon until the noodles are around your fork. This is the best way not to splatter, and also the proper way to eat spaghetti. I always inevitably am wearing white when I'm eating spaghetti, and haven't had any problems except when I was a small child and was unaware of how to properly eat spaghetti.
Anonymous said
on 1/30/2006 Some American restaurants serve pasta with a spoon for you to use to twirl the spaghetti around your fork. This custom is not Italian, however, and is not practiced in Italy.
Anonymous said
on 11/22/2005 I highly recommend either tucking a large paper napkin in your shirt collar, or attaching a napkin to alligator clips which will keep your napkin in place around your neck (like a dental bib).