Alphabet pasta

{{Short description|Pasta shaped like alphabet letters}} {{Infobox prepared food | name = Alphabet pasta | image = AlphabetPasta.jpg | image_size = 250px | caption = Alphabet pasta | alternate_name = | country = | region = | creator = | course = | type = [[Pasta]] | served = | main_ingredient = | variations = | calories = | other = }}

'''Alphabet pasta''', also referred to as '''alfabeto''' and '''alphabetti spaghetti''' in the UK,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theocelot.co.uk/a-history-of-alphabetti-spaghetti/|title = A history of Alphabetti Spaghetti}}</ref> is a [[pasta]] that has been mechanically cut or pressed into the shapes of the letters of an [[alphabet]] (often the [[Latin alphabet]]). It is often served in an '''alphabet soup''', which is also sold in a can of condensed broth or as a packet soup. Another variation, '''alphagetti''', consists of letter-shaped pasta in a [[marinara sauce|marinara]] or [[spaghetti sauce]].

Small pieces of carrot and some spices are often added to the filling. The noodles are usually up to one centimeter in size and are shaped like the letters A-Z and, more rarely, the numbers 0-9 or the @ sign.

== History == It is not clear who invented alphabet soup, when or why. As early as 1877, Paris grocers sold "...small bits of macaroni, for use in soup, which are stamped with... the letters of the alphabet."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=70BaAAAAYAAJ&pg=RA1-PA106|title = Leslie's|last1 = Sleicher|first1 = John Albert|year = 1877}}</ref> and Paris restaurants served "...delicious soups made of macaroni or vermicelli cut up into the shape of letters of the alphabet..."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robinson |first=William Stevens |author-link=William Stevens Robinson |url=https://archive.org/details/warringtonpenpor00robi/ |title="Warrington" pen-portraits: a collection of personal and political reminiscences from 1848 to 1876, from the writings of William S. Robinson. With memoir, and extracts from diary and letters never before published |last2=Robinson |first2=Harriet Jane Hanson |author-link2=Harriet Hanson Robinson |publisher=[[Rand, Avery & Company]] |year=1877 |location=Boston |pages=375 |language=en}}</ref> In 1883, The Chicago Herald Cooking School cookbook provided a recipe for soup calling for a small pasta such as "alphabet pastes of the same material as macaroni stamped in letters".<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Clarkson|first=Janet|title=Soup : a global history|date=2010|publisher=Reaktion|isbn=978-1-86189-774-9|location=London|pages=119–120|oclc=642290114}}</ref> In January 1900 it was on the menu at New York City's Au Lion d'Or.<ref name=":0" /> In 1908, [[Wilbur Wright]] was served alphabet soup in [[Le Mans]], France.<ref>{{cite book |last1=McCullough |first1=David |title=The Wright Brothers |page=[https://archive.org/details/wrightbrothers0000unse/page/164 164] |publisher=Simon Schuster |year=2015 |isbn=978-1476728759 |url=https://archive.org/details/wrightbrothers0000unse/page/164 }}</ref>

Also unclear is whether the soup or the linguistic term for [[Alphabet soup (linguistics)|an overabundance of acronyms or abbreviations]] came first; food historian Janet Clarkson notes that "the first reference I have found so far to the metaphorical alphabet soup also occurs in 1883, in a quotation by the originator of ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazine, [[John Ames Mitchell]], referring to teaching his son the alphabet soup (the ABCs) of business."<ref name=":0" />

One common American brand of condensed-style alphabet soup is the [[Campbell Soup Company|Campbell's]] brand, which was founded in 1869. This soup, like its competitors, is marketed towards parents for its educational value.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wolf |first1=Jackie |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Laf_AAAACAAJ |title=Campbell's Alphabet Soup Book |edition=illustrated |publisher=Picture Me Press |year=2002 |isbn=978-1571516398 |access-date=2015-03-25 }}</ref>

A similar product, Alphabetti Spaghetti, was sold by the [[H. J. Heinz Company]] for 60 years before being discontinued in 1990. Like Campbell's alphabet soup, it contains alphabet pasta canned in [[tomato sauce]]. It was later reintroduced by Heinz in 2005.<ref>{{citation |title=Dish that's write on |newspaper=[[Daily Record (Scotland)|Daily Record]] |date=7 April 2005}}</ref>

==See also== * [[Alpha-Bits]] * [[List of pasta]] * [[List of pasta dishes]] * [[SpaghettiOs]] * {{portal-inline|Food}}

==References== {{reflist}} {{Cookbook|Pasta Recipes}}

==External links== * [https://www.food-info.net/uk/products/pasta/shapes.htm Pasta-shapes] - an illustrated guide at food-info.net * [https://triviahappy.com/articles/alphabet-soup-is-150-years-old-this-is-how-we-started-spelling-with-our-food Alphabet Soup is 150 Years Old - This Is How We Started Spelling With Our Food] at Trivia Happy

[[Category:Types of pasta]] [[Category:Food for children]]