If you’re a fan of TLC’s “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo,” you undoubtedly remember the meal that Mama June cooked up this week—sketti, that is, spaghetti with a microwaved mixture of ketchup and butter.
Not since the iCarly spaghetti taco has spaghetti received so much buzz, and Mama June’s latest dinner is sure to spur online recipes (including this one from TLC).
I’ll admit—I remember stealing a few bites when my mom would pour Heinz over bowls of warm elbow noodles. But I was 6.
And, conceivably, this dish is perfect for inebriated or otherwise “enhanced” college students. But as this long-running Chowhound thread proves, plenty of everyday folks secretly love this homemade fast-food meal, often made for them when they were children. In Malaysia, ketchup over noodles is served up as popular street food, though to be fair, it’s worlds apart from sketti, elevated to a gourmet level with lots of chilies, veggies, tofu and seafood.
I got to thinking, maybe there is something to the combo of tomato and butter. After all, butter is the secret ingredient in chef Scott Conant’s legendary $24 spaghetti, tomato and basil dish at his Scarpetta restaurants (he finishes the pasta with a healthy dollop in a sauté pan). Of course, Conant doesn’t use ketchup. Or a microwave.
I called Maebob’s Diner, a restaurant not far from Honey Boo Boo’s home, and the owner’s son, Rhett Blizzard, assured me he has never heard of ’sketti before this week and doesn’t know anyone who has: “No ma’am. We serve real spaghetti here.”
Have you ever eaten sketti? What do you think about ketchup over noodles? Fess up below.
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