vermicelli" common in BrE

[Untaught88]

Hi,

Is "vermicelli" common in BrE/AmE because I couldn't find this word in my Oxford dictionary (Sixth edition)?

 

[Tarheel]

It's a kind of pasta.

 

[emsr2d2]

It's very common in food shops and on the menu in Italian restaurants but I'm not entirely surprised it doesn't appear in an English dictionary. You'll find it in Italian dictionaries.

 

[MikeNewYork]

It appears in these: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vermicelli

 

[Tarheel]

I prefer pictures.
;-)

vermicelli

 

[Rover_KE]

It appears in these: http://www.thefreedictionary.com/vermicelli

And in all these.

 

[Tdol]

It's not a particularly rare or uncommon form of pasta (in the UK at least).

 

[MikeNewYork]

The etymology of vermicelli is interesting. It means "little worms".

 

[SoothingDave]

So, it's also an entomology. ;-)

 

[Rover_KE]

It's also called 'angel hair pasta'.

I feel marginally more comfortable eating angel hair than little worms.

 

[emsr2d2]

I looked that up earlier and found a couple of sites that said vermicelli is somewhat thicker than angel hair pasta. Angel hair is "capellini".

See here.

 

[MikeNewYork]

entymology

 

[SoothingDave]

entymology

That's what I thought, too, but Wikipedia gives it as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entomology

 

[SoothingDave]

It's also called 'angel hair pasta'.

I feel marginally more comfortable eating angel hair than little worms.

Vermicelli is cut into short pieces. Angel hair pasta is a long noodle, like regular spaghetti.

 

[emsr2d2]

I've never had vermicelli cut into short pieces. Surely the only people who have their pasta cut up are small children!

This is the Google Images page for dishes made with vermicelli. Only a couple of them appear to have been chopped up.

 

[MikeNewYork]

My mistake.

 

[SoothingDave]

I've never had vermicelli cut into short pieces. Surely the only people who have their pasta cut up are small children!

This is the Google Images page for dishes made with vermicelli. Only a couple of them appear to have been chopped up.

It's the "roni" part of "Rice-a-roni." (Do you have that in the UK?) I am used to seeing it cut short. It doesn't really look like a little worm if it is long!

 

[emsr2d2]

I have no idea what "rice-a-roni" is. It sounds like some kind of macaroni cheese but made with rice pasta instead of durum wheat pasta. To be fair, I'm not the best person to ask. I don't buy those kinds of "ready meals". If I want to make macaroni cheese, I boil some macaroni in a pan and I make cheese sauce from scratch, then I combine the two!

 

[SoothingDave]

It's actually rice and vermicelli together, with various types of flavorings. Chicken soup is the original flavor.

 

[MikeNewYork]

I get my mac and cheese from a box -- Kraft.