Whether it's spaghetti, lasagna or rotini, people love pasta. A recent poll of 16,000 people in 17 countries revealed that pasta is world's favorite food. Pasta is so versatile - it can be made as simple or complex a dish as you wish. It is also so satisfying and inexpensive, that it's not hard to understand why pasta is so loved.
To celebrate National Pasta Month, here are five fun facts:
1. How many types of pasta shapes can you name? According to the National Pasta Association, there are more than 600 pasta shapes produced worldwide.
2. The first pasta factory in the U.S. opened in 1848 in Brooklyn, NY. It was started by Antoine Zerega, a French immigrant. The factory's machinery was powered by a single horse and the noodles were laid on the roof to dry in the sunshine. Zerega's business is still in operation and is now run by the fifth generation of his family.
3. In Italy, the average person consumes more than 51 pounds of pasta per year. In the U.S., the average person consumes about 20 pounds of pasta per year.
4. We bet this took a long time to boil: The Guinness World Record for the largest bowl of pasta was set in Garden Grove, CA in March 2010. Made by Buca di Beppo Italian Restaurant, the bowl of pasta weighed in at a hefty 13,786 pounds.
5. Looking for some new ideas? Hundreds of pasta recipes, conveniently categorized, can be found here.
If you want to go out for a pasta dinner, a few local places to try are in Vernon, in Ellington, in Manchester, in Enfield, in Windsor, in East Windsor, in Tolland, in Suffield and in Mansfield and Vernon..
