Recent Stories with tag spaghetti

Alice Gosti and Devin McDermott in "Spaghetti Co." (Photo: Tim Summers)

Near the beginning of Alice Gosti's Spaghetti Co. (Something just happened at 1:19 p.m.) a big bowl of pasta with red sauce is just that...a big bowl of pasta with red sauce, probably very tempting if you showed up to the Northwest Film Forum prior to dinner--it's part of the Forum's "Live at the Forum" performance series and ends with an 8 p.m. show tonight, December 18.

But by the end, the food has transubstantiated: the pasta is a doughy yeastiness in the air, a slippery cushion on the floor, the red sauce a gouache over the canvas of the body. While the people in the front row have had occasion to use their protective trash bags, the people in the second row are primed to duck the occasional rogue strand that heads their way.

The three striking young women (Alice Gosti, Laara Garcia, Devin McDermott) gathered so decorously around the table--bright red lipstick, fingernails, toenails--have buried their faces in their plates, poured wine in torrents, grabbed handfuls of pasta from the serving bowl, and worried at huge bites like dogs with a bone. Their chic little white dresses (by Mark Ferrin) are stained, and they have pasta in their hair and between their toes. While it sounds like Gallagher, it's surprisingly deliberate in pace, and nuanced, illuminating both the beauty and comedy to pasta unfurling in flight through the air, while capturing facet after facet of the social matrix that spans the table. ... (more)

The most delightful experience when cooking is to finally master something you’ve repeatedly messed up before. It gives one a sense of possibility--in cooking and in life. For me, this happened when first I made Ruth Reichl’s recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara.

Spaghetti Carbonara is meant to be eaten on cold nights in large bites and gulps. Made with eggs and bacon, it’s more sophisticated than the universally-beloved spaghetti with butter and parmesan, yet only slightly more complicated, and perfect when made for one or two.

Spaghetti Carbonara is a simple dish, but badly done, it’s really dreadful. I know, I’ve botched it before. First there was the time I made it for staff meal at the fancy restaurant where I worked. I dumped several pounds of hot cooked pasta into the eggs and lo and behold, the heat held by five pounds of pasta completely scrambled them--making a dish of dry pasta and coagulated egg. At least there was still bacon. Then there was the time that I ignored Ruth's recipe and tried to get away... (more)