Your pasta shape may matter more than you think. Aditi Randev has broken down the mathematics behind it, and pasta lovers now have a whole new way to choose their next bowl.
Ever stood in front of a pasta menu wondering whether to order penne, spaghetti, or fusilli? According to content creator and brand and marketing expert Aditi Randev, the answer may not simply come down to what looks good.
In a recent Instagram video, Aditi looked at pasta through the lens of mathematics and design. Her question was simple: which pasta shape can maximise your satisfaction by holding onto more sauce? And the answer gets surprisingly technical.
It Is All About Three Things
Aditi explained that pasta shapes can be evaluated across three key metrics.
1. Surface area to volume ratio
The more surface area a pasta has, the more room there is for sauce to cling to it.
2. Mechanical ridging
Think spirals, ridges, cavities and all those little spaces that can trap sauce.
3. Rough texture
A rougher surface allows better wetting, which helps the sauce stick to the pasta rather than slide off.
Put all three together, and suddenly that innocent-looking pasta shape starts looking like a carefully designed piece of engineering. So, which shapes come out on top?
According to Aditi, Radiatori takes the fifth spot. With its ridged and ruffled shape, it offers plenty of surface area for sauces to hold onto. She said it works particularly well with thick cheese and creamy vegetable sauces.
At No. 4 is Cascatelli. This pasta has a distinctive waterfall-like, ruffled shape. According to Aditi, the design helps hold the sauce and also makes it easier to stab with a fork. It is not just an unusual shape for the sake of looking different. The shape has a purpose.
Next comes Cavatappi. Its double-helix design gives it plenty of twists and spaces where thick sauces can settle. That makes it particularly suited to cheesy sauces, according to Aditi. So if there is a creamy, cheesy pasta on the menu and cavatappi is an option, you might want to give it a second look.
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Fusilli, a familiar favourite takes the second spot, thanks to its triple-helix design. Those tight spirals create plenty of opportunities for sauce to get caught between the twists. Aditi also pointed out that fusilli holds 42% more sauce than penne. That one detail could make fusilli look very different the next time it lands on your plate.
And No. 1 Is...
Taking the top spot is Rigatoni. It has a wide hollow tube along with ridges on the outside. That combination gives thick sauces plenty of places to cling to and collect. So, when the sauce is chunky or thick, rigatoni comes out as Aditi's top pick based on the three metrics she discussed.
For Spaghetti Lovers, There Is A Catch
The ranking is not meant for every type of pasta sauce. Aditi made an important distinction. If the sauce is oil-based or wine-based and not chunky, she recommends going for spaghetti or linguini. These long pasta shapes use surface tension and capillary wicking to pull the oil onto the pasta.
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So, ultimately, the "best" pasta shape depends on the sauce sitting in front of you.
It also highlights that pasta shapes are not simply designed to look different. Their curves, ridges, hollows and textures can affect how they interact with sauce.
As Aditi put it, design has a lot more to do with functionality than just looking good.