Spaghetti tacos are a variety of taco that originated as a running joke on the Nickelodeon teen sitcom iCarly . The dish consists of spaghetti and tomato sauce inside hard taco shells. In the television show, spaghetti tacos were invented by the character Spencer Shay, the older brother of the titular character, in an episode that first aired in October 2007. [1] [2]
Dan Schneider, the creator of the show, stated that he came up with the idea while writing the episode iWill Date Freddie. In the show, it is stated that Spencer created the dish when he could not decide whether to make spaghetti or tacos for dinner. [3] The joke then resurfaced in five additional episodes. [1] Season 3 episode iCook features a parody of food competition show Throwdown! with Bobby Flay in which the iCarly gang compete with fictional celebrity chef Ricky Flame to create the best spaghetti taco. [3]
Although spaghetti tacos are most often described as an American invention, in 2012 New Yorker magazine described a spaghetti taco dish that was served at several restaurants operated in Tijuana, Mexico, by the family of Juan José Plascencias. [4]
Spaghetti tacos became a fad among children and teens during the time iCarly aired, and were featured in The New York Times in 2010. [1] Media scholar Robert Thompson of Syracuse University praised the dish, describing it as "an inevitability" and a "very important technological development" that made it possible for people to eat spaghetti without plates and in their car. [1] [5]
Recipes for variations on spaghetti tacos include a spicy version on the Betty Crocker website called "Fiesta spaghetti tacos". [6] Other recipes encourage cooks to smother the spaghetti tacos in guacamole, or to use Italian sausage and peppers. [1]
There is even a recipe for a dessert version of spaghetti tacos, made with brownie mix, frosting, and preserved strawberries. [1]
Spaghetti is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta. It is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine. Like other pasta, spaghetti is made of milled wheat, water, and sometimes enriched with vitamins and minerals. Italian spaghetti is typically made from durum-wheat semolina. Usually the pasta is white because refined flour is used, but whole wheat flour may be added. Spaghettoni is a thicker form of spaghetti, while spaghettini is a thinner form. Capellini is a very thin spaghetti, sometimes known colloquially as "angel hair pasta", while Vermicelli refers to intermediate widths, varying between the United States and Italy.
Carbonara is a pasta dish made with eggs, hard cheese, fatty cured pork, and black pepper. The dish took its modern form and name in the middle of the 20th century.
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A pot pie, in US and Canadian dialects, is a type of meat pie with a top pie crust that is commonly used throughout the continent, consisting of flaky pastry. Pot pies may be made with a variety of fillings including poultry, beef, seafood, or plant-based meat substitute fillings, and may also differ in the types of crust.
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The Betty Crocker Cookbook is a cookbook written by staff at General Mills, the holders of the Betty Crocker trademark. The persona of Betty Crocker was invented by the Washburn-Crosby Company as a feminine "face" for the company's public relations. Early editions of the cookbook were ostensibly written by the character herself.
Worst Cooks in America is an American reality television series that premiered on January 3, 2010, on Food Network. The show takes 12 to 16 contestants with very poor cooking skills through a culinary boot camp, to earn a cash prize of $25,000 and a Food Network cooking set. In the celebrity edition of the show, the winning celebrity gets a $50,000 prize to donate to the charity of their choice. The recruits are trained on the various basic cooking techniques including baking, knife skills, temperature, seasoning and preparation. The final challenge is to cook a restaurant-quality, three-course meal for three food critics.
Bean dip is a type of dipping sauce made using beans or refried beans as a primary ingredient. It is typically served with tortilla chips, and can also be served with other foods such as crackers and crudités. Various types of beans are used, and fresh-cooked, canned or flaked beans can be used. Various additional ingredients are used in its preparation, such as onion, garlic, chili peppers and spices, and it is sometimes garnished with some ingredients. Bean dip can be served cold, at room temperature, or hot. Bean dip is sometimes used as an ingredient in the preparation of other dishes such as burritos and quesadillas.
Bolognese sauce, known in Italian as ragù alla bolognese or ragù bolognese, is a meat-based sauce in Italian cuisine, typical of the city of Bologna. It is customarily used to dress tagliatelle al ragù and to prepare lasagne alla bolognese.
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