In a study out of Cornell University, new data has all but confirmed that there are way too many pasta shapes out there.
Dr. Floyd Ali, head of food science at Cornell University, made some key discoveries while researching the hundreds of different pasta shapes known to humankind.
“We could be just fine with 10 or even 12 shapes,” said Dr. Ali. “But the amount of pasta shapes we have now is simply overwhelming.”
When most people think of all the different types of pasta out there, they usually only think of penne, spaghetti, rigatoni and other pasta standards, but in reality, there is a theoretical infinite number of pasta shapes, and we have come far too close to reaching that number.
We also spoke with people who have been affected by the insanely large amount of pasta that exists, and they had a lot to say.
“Just yesterday I went to the store to pick up some pasta for a simple dinner at home,” 28-year-old Mia Jackson told us. “But once I got to the pasta aisle, I was almost dizzy from all the options. Did I want spaghetti or rotini? Did I want penne or cavatelli? Or should I just totally mix it up and get lasagna noodles? I had no idea what to do.”
Mia hasn’t been the only one to suffer at the hands of the variety of pasta either.
“I went out to a restaurant last weekend,” 31-year-old Shanique Ford said. “And there were way too many types of pasta. How was I supposed to figure out if I wanted linguine, fettuccine, fedelini, capellini, pappardelle, or bucatini? Imagine how confused I was in that moment. Imagine what painful disorientation I felt.”
Dr. Ali says that this isn’t an uncommon situation that many Americans find themselves in. “All the different variations of pasta are too vast to grasp for many people,” he said. “And don’t even get me started on all the kinds of pasta with filling inside them, like tortellini, pansotti, ravioli…”
Dr. Ali went on for about two more hours just about that kind of pasta.
For anyone worried about the amount of pasta shapes out there, our advice is to just try to relax and avoid the dish altogether, or just get rotini every time.
