How many Italian words for pasta?
OK you know spaghetti. And lasagne. How about Agnolotti and Bigoli? The Italians have just about as many words for pasta as the Eskimos have for snow. If you’re like me, you get really confused with the pasta listed on the menu when you eat out. If you’re not too embarassed to ask the waitress to describe the pasta, you then have the problem of the waitress giving you an accurate description. How do you describe shapes if they are all vaguely similar?
Check out the definitive pasta guide here (thanks to Italylogue.com and Wikipedia):
- Agnolotti
- Bigoli
- Bucatini
- Cannelloni
- Cavatappi
- Cavatelli
- Conchiglie
- Farfalle
- Fusilli
- Gemelli
- Gnocchi
- Lumaconi
- Orecchiette
- Pappardelle
- Pici
- Radiatore
- Rigatoni
- Stringozzi
- Strozzapreti
- Tortellini
- Trofie
- Vermicelli
- Penne
- Orzo
Good one, sld have posted this earlier because cranium had a question showing the bow tie pasta and had to guess what Italian word it is: Farfalle was the correct answer but we guessed some other name that looked more like the picture. HAHA!
what about orzo pasta? is it Italian or US? I have seen it in Spanish restaurants.
You’re right. I’ve neglected to include Orzo. I’ve updated the post to include this popular pasta.