Cascatelli
{{Short description|Ruffled semicircular pasta shape}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Cascatelli
| image = Cascatelli Duo 3.jpg
| image_size =
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| alternate_name =
| country = United States
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| creator = Dan Pashman
| year = 2021
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| type = Pasta
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| main_ingredient = Durum wheat flour, water
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Cascatelli ({{IPA|it|kaskaˈtɛlli|lang}}) are a short pasta shape with a flat strip and a pair of ruffles parallel to each other, each of which sticks out at a 90-degree angle from the strip. The ruffles give the shape texture and create a "sauce trough".
This modern pasta shape was developed over three years from 2018-2021 by the American food podcaster Dan Pashman in collaboration with the New York pasta company Sfoglini. The shape is inspired by the mafalda and bucatini pasta types, highlighting the ribbon-shaped ruffle pasta and half-tube components respectively, and was designed to meet Pashman's preferred characteristics in a pasta shape: forkability, sauceability, and toothsinkability. With its ruffled design, cascatelli closely resembles radiatori in shape.
Name
The name comes from the Italian {{lang|it|cascate}} meaning {{gloss|waterfalls}}, while {{lang|it|cascatelle}} means {{gloss|little waterfalls}}.{{Cite news |last=Glenn |first=Heidi |last2=Martin |first2=Rachel |date=March 22, 2021 |title=For Pasta Lovers Bored By Spaghetti, There's A New Short, Wavy, Sauce-Holding Shape |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/03/22/978877878/for-pasta-lovers-bored-by-spaghetti-theres-a-new-short-wavy-sauce-holding-shape |access-date=April 2, 2021 |archive-date=March 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210331132423/https://www.npr.org/2021/03/22/978877878/for-pasta-lovers-bored-by-spaghetti-theres-a-new-short-wavy-sauce-holding-shape |url-status=live }} Pashman decided to end it with {{lang|it|-elli}} to sound like more traditional Italian pasta names that often end with the masculine plural diminutive suffixes {{lang|it|-ini}}, {{lang|it|-elli}}, {{lang|it|-illi}}, {{lang|it|-etti}} to convey the sense of {{gloss|little}}. While acknowledging that the correct Italian spelling for the plural of waterfall is {{lang|it|cascatelle}}, he argued "I think we can take some poetic license. If we end it with an i, cascatelli, it sounds more like a pasta name".{{Cite web |last=O'Hara |first=Andres |date=March 18, 2021 |title=Mission: ImPASTAble 5 {{!}} A Shape Is Born |url=https://www.sporkful.com/mission-impastable-5-a-shape-is-born/ |access-date=2022-01-31 |website=The sporkful with Dan Pashman |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131130855/https://www.sporkful.com/mission-impastable-5-a-shape-is-born/ |url-status=live }} The name cascatelli received trademark protection in the United States for use in association with pasta in March 2021.{{Cite web|title=Cascatelli - S90585625|url=https://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4809:x3dv3r.2.1|access-date=2022-01-31|website=Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)|publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office}} Other potential names had included Italian variations on ridged dinosaurs, millipedes or the musical bass clef.
History
Dan Pashman, host of The Sporkful podcast, decided to make a new "ideal" pasta shape that needed to have the perfect bite, an appealing texture, and hold the right amount of sauce. The American pasta company Sfoglini worked with Pashman to produce the product.{{Cite web |last=Stevens |first=Ashlie |date=2021-03-29 |title=Everything you need to know about cascatelli, the new "perfect" pasta shape that's a viral hit |url=https://www.salon.com/2021/03/29/what-to-know-about-cascatelli-pasta/ |access-date=2023-06-03 |website=Salon |language=en |archive-date=2023-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230602135726/https://www.salon.com/2021/03/29/what-to-know-about-cascatelli-pasta/ |url-status=live }}
Pashman coined terms to describe the three qualities to talk about pasta shapes:
- "Forkability" – how easy it is to get a pasta shape on your fork and keep it there
- "Sauceability" – how well a sauce sticks to it
- "Toothsinkability" – how satisfying it is to bite into.
The pasta was officially released in 2021, after a three-year research and development process. That process is documented in The Sporkful podcast series "Mission: ImPASTAble".{{Cite web |title=Mission Impastable |url=https://www.sporkful.com/tag/mission-impastable/ |access-date=2022-01-31 |website=The sporkful with Dan Pashman |language=en |archive-date=2022-01-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220131164413/https://www.sporkful.com/tag/mission-impastable/ |url-status=live }}
Composition and use
Cascatelli are a half-tubed pasta made of hard durum wheat flour and water, or semolina. The suggested cook time is 13-15 minutes.
See also
{{Portal|United States|Food}}
References
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