Has This Pasta 'Hack' Gone Too Far?

Spaghetti can be a divisive food. Just ask Italians. Every once in a while, a recipe comes along that causes traditionalists to bristle, to seethe at unwarranted alterations. To some the inclusion of ham in a spaghetti carbonara may seem mundane, to others it’s downright apocalyptic.

There is, however, a new spaghetti trick causing more mayhem than usual. It appears in a video that began making the rounds first on Facebook and then on Twitter where it caused quite the stir. Let’s break it down.

Facebook users Josh and Lisa first posted the video on their Facebook page on April 22. In it, a woman, Lisa of Josh and Lisa fame, narrates as she prepares a spaghetti dinner for some friends. First she pours cold tomato sauce onto a clean white marble countertop, then layers it with meatballs, grated parmesan cheese and cooked spaghetti. Yes, all that food gets poured directly onto the countertop (isn’t the marble cold?). Then, she mixes it all together. In theory, it's not that weird: It’s essentially just pasta, sauce, cheese and meatballs getting tossed together, but the way it happens sans-vessel, red sauce flecked across the counter is slightly goosebump inducing. She follows it up by stacking chopped romaine on the counter, drizzling it with dressing, and topping it all off with garlic bread. “We do this all the time,” she tells the camera.

The video took off on Facebook but eventually made the rounds on Twitter when user @jarvis tweeted it. The internet, obviously, had a field day with it. Here are some of my favorite responses:

Of course, what people do in the privacy of their own homes is always their own business, but once it gets uploaded onto the internet it’s fair game! I’m all for a communal eating experience—it’s a fun way to make food feel interactive—but something about this video is particularly uncanny. It's gotta be a joke, right? I'm honestly not sure.

The person behind the camera summed up my reaction the best: “But it’s all over the counter…” Yes, yes it is.

Would you try counter spaghetti? Let us know in the comments.