An ode to bucatini, the pasta that’s as fun to eat as it is to say

I love bucatini. It’s so fun to say. Let’s give it a go: boo-kuh-tee-nee.

(It helps if you use your most exaggerated Italian accent.) See, fun! But it’s even more enjoyable to eat. Also known as perciatelli, bucatini is a thick, long pasta similar to spaghetti but with a hole running down the center.

Italian dried pasta artisans have been making the shape since around the 16th century, and it became particularly popular in Rome, where it is the characteristic pasta served with Amatriciana sauce, starring tomatoes and guanciale. I first encountered bucatini a decade ago when I stumbled upon it at the grocery store and then posted a recipe with it on my blog. It was love at first bite.

"I’d definitely say I’m a fan after using it in this recipe because of the heartiness it provides and its delicious chew,” younger me wrote. And I’m not the only member of its ardent fan club. To find out why, I put out a call on social media asking people to tell me about their feelings toward the noodle.

Events professional and magazine founder Amber Mayfield Hewett said it "feels a little fancier than it is,” calling it "spaghetti’s sophisticated cousin.” Others said it carries a certain sense of indulgence, which might explain why it’s the best-selling pasta at both locations of Caruso’s Grocery, according to chef Matt Adler. In another comparison to its more common relative, fashion designer Bach Mai said, "It’s like spaghetti but hiding a little secret inside, maki.