Pasta mania. Italians can’t do without it

Pasta. The relationship between Italians and spaghetti

Is there a dish that Italians just can't do without? Our passion for pasta is not just a joke on Made in Italy folklore. Data in hand, the latest research by Doxa/Unione Italiana Food explains the relationship of Italians with spaghetti & Co. as part of a survey on the change in eating habits during the pandemic. Pasta is confirmed as a central food item of the Italian daily diet: for 4 out of 10 Italians it is the most cooked food in the last year, and it is also the queen of dinners with friends. Eight out of ten Italians always eat pasta with someone, triggering relaxation and fulfillment (44%).

Spaghetti and tomato sauce

The most popular recipe, in this sense is spaghetti with tomato sauce (33%), followed by carbonara (26%), rigatoni al ragù (22%) and pasta with tuna and olives (16%). The notion to avoid pasta at dinner (23% of the interviewees are still convinced that eating it in the evening makes you fat) today is denied by science. In the words of the nutritionist Michelangelo Giampietro, "Eating pasta for dinner is a right choice and promoted by science. The presence of tryptophan in carbohydrates, combined with amino acids, increases the production of serotonin in the brain and the consequent state of psychological well-being, facilitating falling asleep and increasing the quality of sleep."