Good news for the wine and pasta set... if your definition of "news" doesn't mean it has to be new...
As a pasta addict from way back, I hate people who say it’s bad for you. All those Dukan, Atkins and anti-carb crusaders who maintain it’s too processed and too white to be beneficial. Oh, they say, you can have a little bit, but not after 5pm, and make sure you have it with loads of vegetables, and while you’re at it, wholemeal has more fibre so use brown instead of white. And skip the cheese. And add tofu. And really, you shouldn’t eat it at all, so, while you’re at it, just leave out the pasta altogether. You won’t miss it. Trust me. And you’ll feel so much better!
Hmpf. Makes me want to hotfoot it to my nonna’s house who understands there is only one real serving size when it comes to pasta – huge – and only one way to eat it – with plenty of rich ragu and a hilltop of freshly grated parmesan.
So I was happy to read that Charles Napier doesn’t agree with the pasta puritans.
The English scientist maintains that macaroni is actually an excellent cure for alcoholism. He says that macaroni, and other products made from flour, as well as dried peas and lentils, work by rendering the “carbon in an alcoholic drink both unnecessary and repulsive”.
He cites the case of one 60-year-old man who “was seriously impaired by his frequent excesses”. After an “almost fatal attack of delirium”, the man adopted a diet heavy on the macaroni and beans, and, somewhat miraculously, “a complete cure was effected in seven months”.
Sure, he said this in 1878, but good science is forever right?
Maybe not, but at least the Pastafarians will be pleased …
Bibliography
- “Alcoholism and Farinaceous Food.” The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 July, 1878, 7.
Lamingtons & Lasagna 
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