[Fire Me Boy!]

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

Spaghetti is not a dish, though. It's a type of noodle used in a dish.

I just disagree. I think you understand what I'm saying. Maybe not for you, but if you ask the average American if they want spaghetti, they envision spaghetti with a tomato sauce, maybe with or without meat.

With that "dish" in mind, I contend that that pasta itself doesn't matter.

With your acknowledgement that your ragu is what I think most people think of as "spaghetti," then my original statement that rigatoni is better than spaghetti stands. We agree!

Side note: When I was in the hospital a month ago, they came by for dinner orders. Offered "spaghetti." What they brought me not only had no spaghetti (it was farfalle) with some nasty ass unknown meat, cheese, and cream sauce. In no way was it spaghetti.

The 2 tablespoons of salt in water does taste like seawater. I wonder if you took your "two handfuls" and measure it how close we'd actually be here. You can't "pinch" a tablespoon, except like a 4-finger pinch.

Also, an Italian soffritto and miropoix are basically the same thing, plus parsley. Size of the dice or mince isn't the difference. A a finely minced miropoix is still miropoix.