I’ll admit to enjoying the turn of a phrase, and, “how can fascist pasta look so tasty,” sprung to mind when I read an article in Atlas Obscura about Marinetti pasta. Filippo Marinetti, a fascist futurist poet, tried to have pasta banned from Italy in the early 20th century.

Mamma Mia!

Instead of succeeding in said ban, Italy’s magazine de la cuisine, La Cucina Italiana, awarded a chef’s ironically named Sugo Marinetti top marks for their version of the dish.

Thing is, La Cucina Italiana’s editor was also a fascist, and helped Filippo Marinetti launch his so called war on pasta. The duo called pasta, “an absurd gastronomic religion.” At the time, Marinetti and La Cucina Italiana’s editor, Umberto Notari, were composing and publishing the Manifesto of Futurist Cooking which called for pasta’s banishment from the boot. I don’t know why Umberto took umbrage on noodles, but the story is fascinating and Atlas Obscura includes a tasty recipe for making Sugo Marinetti at home.

Check out the story, and try the recipe yourself.