National Spaghetti Day is an unofficial holiday that falls on January 4^th and celebrates the dish commonly served with sauce, meatballs, and Parmesan cheese. On this day, people all over the world celebrate by feeding their families their favorite version of it. If you’re a fan of this food, then grab a fork and enjoy a steaming plateful on this day.

The History of Spaghetti

Spaghetti can be traced back to the 1^st century, at least the noodles can. It is now believed that pasta was invented in Asia thousands of years ago and made its way to Italy during the Arabian conquest of Sicily in the 8th century. Pasta, which means “paste” in Italian, became a popular commodity among the poor and was experimented with by cooks in Italy for generations. Eventually, it became a dish popular enough for even those in the middle class.

In the 18th century, Thomas Jefferson popularized macaroni in the U.S., but it was Italian immigrants during the 18th and 19th centuries who brought spaghetti to the U.S.A. Once in the States, this dish continued to evolve. Today, spaghetti is a popular dish in the United States and is enjoyed by millions of people every day.

Unfortunately, while the history of spaghetti is fairly well known, no one really knows when National Spaghetti Day was invented or who invented it. It’s just one of those mysteries that’s unlikely to be solved anytime soon.

Saucy Spaghetti & Pasta Facts

• Spaghetti is an Italian word that means “twine.”
• Tomato sauce was an American innovation to spaghetti.
• Meatballs were also an American innovation to spaghetti.
• Parmesan is the most popular spaghetti topping.
• Marco Polo did not discover spaghetti.
• The average Italian eats 55 pounds of pasta a year.
• The average American eats 15.5 pounds of pasta a year.
• In Italy, almost 3 million tons of pasta are made each year.
• In the U.S., almost 2 million tons of pasta are made each year.
• The ballad “On Top of Spaghetti” was released in 1962.

Celebrating National Spaghetti Day

Celebrating National Spaghetti Day is pretty easy. All you have to do is gather your friends and family and serve them a nice dish of spaghetti. Or, if you’d rather eat alone, then make yourself a nice plate of spaghetti.

Conclusion

While most people think of spaghetti and meatballs covered with tomato sauce when they think about this dish, there are actually many different ways to serve it. You can make bacon and escarole spaghetti; mushroom and radicchio spaghetti; create a Mexican-themed spaghetti with corn and chili powder; or even make a spaghetti pie. Why limit yourself to one version of spaghetti when there are so many recipes available? They are all just waiting for you to make them on National Spaghetti Day. So pick your favorite and be sure to cook it until it’s “al dente!