do Italians eat spaghetti with a spoon?

Some call it sacrilege, others call it a safe bet.

To spoon or not to spoon?

Isn’t that how the Hamlet speech went? Or at least to me, it did.

Because I am Italian-American, stuck between the guai (or difficulty) of knowing if using a spoon is problematic, political, or perfectly fine.

Truth is - I never knew what was right or wrong. I never used a spoon, but some of my Jersey-Italian family did. Over in Italy, many get all angry about tourists using a spoon on social media.

So, I safely assumed that Italian Americans used spoons and Italians didn’t. Until I saw Italians using a spoon in Napoli. Then, I was lost in the sauce, literally.

Even Sophia Loren - the ultimate Italian movie star - was photographed using a spoon to twirl her spaghetti. Everyone loves Sophia Loren - so what is all the fuss about?

Sophia Loren eating spaghetti in 1955

Finally, I put myself to researching and collecting personal opinions from Italians, non-Italians, and people in the middle (like me).

Here is what I found out.