Fantastic Pasta: Why Everyone Loves these Oodles of Noodles (Stephen John)

Far from being just oodles of noodles swimming in tomato or cream sauce, pasta is one dish that you'll see served in every conceivable variation and preparation in almost every country around the world. If love is a universal concept, then pasta is a universal taste. While not everyone knows the difference between fettuccine and fusili, most have definitely heartily slurped a bowl of spaghetti Bolognese, tucked enthusiastically into a plate of lasagna or smacked their lips over creamy spaghetti carbonara. If you go online and check out best cooking videos, you'll see that majority of these videos feature both traditional and non-traditional pasta dishes.

Perhaps the fact that it can be eaten slowly or quickly, slurped or twirled around a fork and savored before finally being swallowed are only some of the reasons why pasta topped a global survey as everybody's most favorite food. If you can have fun eating a certain food and have your tummy filled at the same time, then it comes as no surprise why pasta came out on top, especially in countries like the Philippines, Guatemala, Brazil and South Africa. Venezuela turned out to be the second largest consumer of pasta after its country of origin Italy, to be followed by Tunisia, Chile and Peru.

This love affair that we have with pasta is also evident in its sales figures: in the UK alone, sales of dry and fresh pasta, including pasta-based ready meals have reached approximately ?800M while in the US, it is projected that they will reach approximately $19BN despite the rising cost of wheat.

Pasta dishes are popular not only because they are quick, easy and convenient to make but the sauce itself can be made from simple ingredients. Even the most clueless cook can create lots of dishes with it that taste good and fills up the tummy nicely. The noodles itself also have a long shelf life so you can keep it in the pantry until you need it. Businesses often find that pasta is easy to transport and easy to mass produce which is why it is also a favorite among food companies.

For parents of picky eaters, however, pasta is one dish that satisfies everyone across the board. Macaroni and cheese, in particular, is a traditional favorite among many families, loved by kids and adults alike. It can be prepared straight from the box or prepared using two traditional methods: b?chamel-based, which means the macaroni noodles are blanketed with a cheese-flavored white sauce, topped with crumbs and baked, and custard-based where a mixture of egg and milk is poured over layers of grated cheese and noodles where as the dish bakes, the egg, milk and cheese set into a custard. If you want to learn more about making the easiest mac and cheese as well as to learn about easy delicious pasta recipes, you can check out websites like Foodplus.tv and be on your way to becoming the next master pasta maker.

Even if you are someone who'd rather eat pasta than cook it, you will be able to scour the internet for delicious variations of classic pasta favorites that are easy to make and taste just as good as how your mother made it. Sites like foodplus.tv offer easy to follow tips on how to make the best mac and cheese or any other pasta variation via cooking videos that you can easily download to your computer and watch as you cook even without internet connection. It also offers you alternative ways to change up this classic recipe by using different cheeses or adding unusual ingredients like Worcestershire sauce, mustard or a dash of hot sauce. Foodplus.tv fast and easy pasta recipes are ones that even kids can make on their own and ones that they will truly be unable to resist.

Talking of kids, there is perhaps no one who loves pasta more than your little ones. While most kids are open to rice and meat possibilities, most cannot turn down a good serving of spaghetti with meatballs and yes, macaroni and cheese. Pasta is also good for kids in a totally non-food way because it can also be used in crafts like pasta jewels and pasta poses that keep them entertained for hours on end. More importantly, pasta is an ideal food for kids because not only is it low in fat, it is also a good source of folic acid and iron. When you want to make the best pasta dishes for your kids or find easy pasta recipes for kids, you can find them all on the foodplus.tv site along with helpful tips on how to get your kids involved in the kitchen to make for perfect bonding moments.

Pasta dishes are also considered to be the best date dish, if you consider the tons of recommended dishes for Valentine's Day you see online. Because pasta is almost fool-proof and goes well with any kind of sauce you care to make, it also brings out your inner creativity and inspires you to come up with unique and tasty variations you and your special someone can enjoy together, Valentine's Day or not. It is also quite an inexpensive dish to make, as well as a quick one to make from scratch so you don't have to spend hours slaving in the kitchen or traipsing the local market for ingredients. Anything and everything you need are right there in your pantry, ready to be used. Check out how to make easy pasta recipes for two in www.foodplus.tv and prove that the way to a man's heart is indeed through his stomach.

Stephen John is a food and wine enthusiast. He blogs about food, wine, and culture and writes food and wine reviews for a living and loves travelling and trying out exotic cuisines from different countries. Learning how to cook or make your favorite pasta dishes for you and especially your kids is as easy as 123 when you watch cooking videos online and follow the easy step-by-step instructions. Find easy pasta recipes for kids on Foodplus.tv for truly delicious and easy-to-make pasta dishes your little ones won't be able to resist.