Tariffs on Italian Pasta? Che Palle?

It was with great consternation that the editors of Macaroni read the headline:

        Tariffs on Pasta from Italy Set to Soar

While that primitive and classic starch, macaroni, has seldom been referred to directly in the pages of this blog in recent years, the “concept” of macaroni, elegant yet cheap, foreign yet common enough, capable of assuming a thousand unexpected shapes, foundation for a countless array of exotic sauces, is present in every issue, every blog.

Under the new Trump plan, Italian pasta-makers will face an astounding 107 percent tariff.

For American consumers, this won’t matter much. Only twelve percent of the pasta sold in the US comes from Italy. North Dakota might well be considered the heartland of durham and hard red spring wheat, the crop from which the best pasta is typically made. It’s true, the Creamettes building in the Minneapolis warehouse district is now filled with condos and apartments. But look at the shelves at Lund’s or Byerly’s and you’ll be reassured that the price of most pasta isn’t going the change much. Barilla sounds Italian, for example, but it’s made in the U.S.  

Considering the modest chunk of U.S. market share it commands, it’s hard to accuse Italy of “dumping” its pasta here. And it's also hard to imagine why Trump would play such a dirty trick on his favorite fascist colleague, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, whom he recently introduced at an event as “a beautiful young woman …”. But anyone who’s trying to “understand” Trump's motives as rooted in anything other than the perverse joy of flinging large objects around the room is on a fool’s errand.

Shipments of pasta impounded in Naples

The Washington Post has reported that “the new duties would hit roughly half of Italy's $780 million pasta exports to the United States, including 90% of its more expensive premium pastas.”  So it appears that the U.S. Commerce Department is finally “putting the screws” on the American upper class for a change.

World Pasta Day, October 25, has come and gone. Unaware that a pasta war was brewing, Hilary and I fortuitously took advantage of a two-for-one sale at Byerly’s recently and stocked up. And we already had a few packages in the pantry.

Here’s a quick and easy recipe.

Pasta in Anchovy Sauce

½ lb spaghetti

salt

1 can anchovy fillets, minced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

¼ cup olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs

Drop the spaghetti into 4 or 5 quarts boiling water.

Place the anchovies, garlic, oil, and butter in a skillet over low heat, stirring and mashing, until the ingredients form a fairly smooth sauce. Add the bread crumbs and cook 2 or 3 minutes longer, allowing the bread crumbs to brown.

Drain the spaghetti when done. Add it to the pan with the anchovy sauce and toss over low heat until the spaghetti is well coated. Serve immediately.