Sweet pasta

[calabasas_trafalgar]

Yesterday my wife ordered some angel hair pasta. They ormally make it with tomato, basil, garlic, olive oil, and the pasta. She took a bite and said "this is kinda sweet", another bite, "this is really sweet", another bite "this is awful!". So we called the waitress, she took it back, came back and told us that she talked to the kitchen manager, and he said they make it with sugar(apparantly quite a bit). We asked them to remake it without sugar, but her palate was already messed up and it wasn't quite the same.

Has anybody else run into "sugary pasta"? It just seems wrong to me.

[PBSF]

I think the cook lost his or her palate. Sometimes a pinch of sugar helps balance the tartness of the tomato but if your wife tasted sugar...bad dish. Or maybe the kitchen mistakenly took sugar for salt.

[Scruncheons]

When I was a kid and my mother used to make lasagne (a big deal with boiling the noodles first, these being pre no-boil noodles days; not to mention meat sauce from scratch, yum) she used to do something with the leftover boiled noodles and sugar. Dusted them with sugar and baked them up, maybe? I can't remember, but we loved it. Sounds gross to me now.

[cheryl_h]

My MIL makes noodle kugel which I still can't stomach. It's sweet but served as a side to the savory course. My Asian genes can't get past this one.

[andlulu]

Isn't that with pineapple or some.. interesting paired ingredient? The word 'kugel' turns me off..

[cheryl_h]

Hers is noodles baked in a sweet custard. I think it's just milk, egg, sugar and cinnamon. I'm really not sure. I try very hard to eat some without flinching. The noodles are not only sweet, they're mushy.

Unfortunately the rest of DH's family love this, it's a big family treat. DH also makes it. The first time he made it for me, I got the big build up - this was very special, I was privileged etc. I had one mouthful and knew I was going to hate it. I finished my serving but it was an effort.

[lvecch]

I didn't even make the kugel connection - silly, me. If the kugel you've eaten was terrible, you haven't been eating the right kugel, because it can be amazing. The best I've tasted was at the Rein's Deli in Vernon, CT.

[lvecch]

I guess it depends on your definition of pasta. Sweetened noodles are common in many cultures. When I was a kid, my best friend's grandmother would make us egg noodles with butter, sugar, and cinnamon for dinner.

[andlulu]

I have to admit, that is probably one of the first things I would never try..

[lvecch]

I hated it then, but I think I would like it now.

Also, I forgot to mention: her grandmother was Hungarian.

[andlulu]

Interesting.. I am not a food snob by any means but sugar and noodles together sound.... just no good.

[amkirkland]

sounds good to me... but not satisfying as a main dish

[fara]

I posted on almost the same thing a little while ago. I do think it's amazing so many things are becoming sweet.
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[TexasToast]

Well then you'd hate this:

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

TT