Spaghettini

As spaghetti is the diminutive of spago (string), so spaghettini are ‘little spaghetti’. Their finer texture means they cook faster, take up a little more sauce, and have less resistance to the tooth – you feel them less in the mouth. It seems many, especially non-Italians, prefer this experience to the original spaghetti. Largely, this is a matter of taste and the two may be used more or less interchangeably. In general, spaghetti will be better with a heavier sauce, and spaghettini with a lighter one.