Is Spaghetti your favorite meal? Have you ever wondered how exactly the thought of spaghetti was created or where it originated from? In the past century a lot of countries have claimed certain dishes and foods as authentically theirs. For example, when we think of tacos, Mexico pops to most minds, or coconuts that are associated with the Caribbean. When we eat pasta we think of Italy, but not all of those assumptions are 100% true. 

To get a closer and more accurate idea of how diverse the paths are of certain foods and different places, I took a closer look at the origins of spaghetti. Most people believe that pasta originated from Italy, right? Well, some historians are convinced that Marco Polo brought spaghetti back from his voyage to China. In fact, it wasn’t the famous world traveler who introduced noodles to the western world, it’s perceived that early versions of the product were brought to Italy from the old arabic world.

The now-classic combination of spaghetti with tomato sauce is a more recent innovation. Tomatoes were introduced to Italy from the Americas in the 16th century, but were not widely used in sauces until the 19th century.

(Traces of pasta have also been found in ancient Greece)