October is National Pasta Month

Christopher Columbus, one of Italy's most famous pastaphiles, was born in October, which happens to be National Pasta Month.

Our 11-year old popoki (cat in Hawaiian) Columbus (aka The Godfather) bears the explorer's namesake...and left his island hale in Hawaii to travel over an ocean, a continent, another ocean and continent to lives with us in the Mediterranean.



Big Yawn from Columbus.... Pasta makes everyone sleepy! But it sure doesn't stop my dad from enjoying his squid ink pasta.



Even in the best of Italian restaurants in Hawaii, they cook pasta til its soft. Here it's cooked al dente (al-DEN-tay) literally means "to the tooth," which is how to test pasta to see if it is properly cooked. The pasta should be a bit firm, offering some resistance to the tooth, but tender. Onorio is the pasta guru.




Thomas Jefferson is credited with introducing macaroni to the United States. It seems that he fell in love with a certain dish he sampled in Naples, while serving as the U.S. Ambassador to France. In fact, he promptly ordered crates of "macaroni," along with a pasta-making machine, sent back to the States.




You haven't eaten like a local in Hawaii if you haven't had macaroni salad. It's Hawaii-style pasta side dish often served in the shape of a scoop of an ice cream and rarely ever makes an appearance without its favorite friends -- 'two scoop rice.'

As yummy as all the pasta is in Sicily, what I would do for a side order of Zippy's macaroni salad -- the ultimate Hawaii kine comfort food.