Naming a Pasta: the Story of Cascatelli

“Raining Cascatelli” by Filebustre (CC BY-SA 4.0)

In a story about how Cascatelli got its name, ANS President Laurel Sutton describes the process of naming a new shape of pasta.

According to creator and Sporkful Podcast host Dan Pashman, Cascatelli was designed to maximize what he believes are all optimum features of pastas: sauceability (“how readily sauce adhere to the shape”), forkability (“how easy it is to get the shape on your fork and keep it there”), and toothskinability (“how satisfying it is to sink your teeth into it”).

In Sutton’s story, several fascinating alternatives were introduced (and one, Millepiedi, promptly vetoed due to similarity to the insect of the same name). Ultimately, Cascatelle was the winning entry with one small change. Click here to read more about that change in “Pastafazool! Helping to name Cascatelli” at Catchword.

Click here to listen to the podcast episode featuring ANS President Laurel Sutton.