Jan. 9, 2026
The Priest Strangler (GT Mini)
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A dish with a deadly past.
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WEBVTT
00:00.031 --> 00:05.805
[SPEAKER_00]: Death by Pasta, I'm Jason Horton, I'm Rebecca Leib, and this is Ghost Town.
00:20.163 --> 00:27.741
[SPEAKER_00]: Although it's not on many American menus, Stroso-Pretty is a typical pasta of Rome, made from water and flour without eggs.
00:28.603 --> 00:37.202
[SPEAKER_00]: It looks like an elongated cavitelli, or a smaller pasta-sized canoli shell, or a kind of finger-sized tube.
00:38.105 --> 00:39.167
[SPEAKER_00]: Appetizing, I know.
00:39.772 --> 00:53.770
[SPEAKER_00]: However, I describe it, I want you to get a sense of how it looks, I want you to visualize it, because straws are pretty isn't just any ordinary food, it's a pasta with a dark reputation, murder.
00:53.810 --> 01:00.919
[SPEAKER_00]: Today on Ghost Town the history of straws are pretty, which translates to the priest-strangler.
01:02.047 --> 01:07.856
[SPEAKER_00]: Until the birth of the unified Italy back in 1861, Owen and Rome were under the jurisdiction of the church.
01:08.638 --> 01:14.667
[SPEAKER_00]: At the time, priests were the ones that collected taxes, often showing up around lunchtime when their debtors were at home.
01:15.569 --> 01:21.979
[SPEAKER_00]: Part of the custom, or perhaps, the unwritten law, was that citizens had to host the tax collecting priests for lunch.
01:21.959 --> 01:28.497
[SPEAKER_00]: If Italians couldn't provide lunch or foot the bill, clerical authority would literally take something valuable in their home.
01:29.098 --> 01:32.728
[SPEAKER_00]: Be it a possession, some crops, or even an animal.
01:33.434 --> 01:40.345
[SPEAKER_00]: Needless to say, these priests often were unwelcome, but a kind of necessary evil to their governmental system.
01:41.247 --> 01:48.339
[SPEAKER_00]: Now without humor, Italians created a new pasta, making a darkly cheeky comment on the pain of hosting these priests.
01:49.160 --> 01:55.290
[SPEAKER_00]: It was called Stroza-Pretty, translated to priest-strangler, or priest-choker.
01:56.300 --> 02:05.259
[SPEAKER_00]: So of course, this is a creative name with the context that we just talked about, but there are lots of other theories as to why Strauss-Apretty is called Strauss-Apretty.
02:06.261 --> 02:12.975
[SPEAKER_00]: One is that the post itself is said to be reminiscent of the ropes to hang quote condemned man in the 19th century.
02:13.411 --> 02:14.172
[SPEAKER_00]: dark, right?
02:14.853 --> 02:22.425
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, even darker, some sources say that Italians served the clergy the Pasta, hoping the priest might choke himself while eating.
02:23.387 --> 02:30.418
[SPEAKER_00]: Another theories that gluttonous priests were so enthralled by the Pasta that they ate too quickly and actually did choke themselves.
02:31.239 --> 02:36.027
[SPEAKER_00]: Another explanation involves the making of the Pasta by the Azdora or Housewife.
02:36.007 --> 02:44.595
[SPEAKER_00]: Going with the whole clergy would come by for money, the Azdora would quote, choke the raw dough strips to make the straws a pretty, cursing the local clergy.
02:44.655 --> 03:00.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Another possible explanation for why straws a pretty is straws a pretty, a kind of pivot and what we've been talking about is that following Sunday Mass, it was common for a priest to visit homes with the villagers and enjoy dinner with them, no tax strings attached.
03:01.411 --> 03:04.714
[SPEAKER_00]: The best dinners would entice the priest to come by more often.
03:05.285 --> 03:11.879
[SPEAKER_00]: as a way to subtly stay to the hungry priest that he was overstaying his welcome or coming by for dinner a bit too much.
03:12.520 --> 03:17.230
[SPEAKER_00]: The Italian family would serve Stroso-Pretty to say, hey, time to leave us alone.
03:18.232 --> 03:22.922
[SPEAKER_00]: Another origin story simply put, is that the poster resembles a clerical collar.
03:23.189 --> 03:25.554
[SPEAKER_00]: commonly referred to as a priest choker.
03:25.594 --> 03:37.339
[SPEAKER_00]: Stroso-Pretty pasta existed as early as the 18th century and gave way to another less violently named pasta called Iganapretty translated as Deceive the Priest.
03:38.241 --> 03:42.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Deception sounds a bit better than strangulation in my humble opinion.
03:43.523 --> 03:46.829
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you believe about Stroso-Pretty, one thing can be sure.
03:46.849 --> 03:57.128
[SPEAKER_00]: The Pasta's controversial origin story reflects the anti-clarical sentiment of the region in a way that reads both deadly and delicious.
00:00.031 --> 00:05.805
[SPEAKER_00]: Death by Pasta, I'm Jason Horton, I'm Rebecca Leib, and this is Ghost Town.
00:20.163 --> 00:27.741
[SPEAKER_00]: Although it's not on many American menus, Stroso-Pretty is a typical pasta of Rome, made from water and flour without eggs.
00:28.603 --> 00:37.202
[SPEAKER_00]: It looks like an elongated cavitelli, or a smaller pasta-sized canoli shell, or a kind of finger-sized tube.
00:38.105 --> 00:39.167
[SPEAKER_00]: Appetizing, I know.
00:39.772 --> 00:53.770
[SPEAKER_00]: However, I describe it, I want you to get a sense of how it looks, I want you to visualize it, because straws are pretty isn't just any ordinary food, it's a pasta with a dark reputation, murder.
00:53.810 --> 01:00.919
[SPEAKER_00]: Today on Ghost Town the history of straws are pretty, which translates to the priest-strangler.
01:02.047 --> 01:07.856
[SPEAKER_00]: Until the birth of the unified Italy back in 1861, Owen and Rome were under the jurisdiction of the church.
01:08.638 --> 01:14.667
[SPEAKER_00]: At the time, priests were the ones that collected taxes, often showing up around lunchtime when their debtors were at home.
01:15.569 --> 01:21.979
[SPEAKER_00]: Part of the custom, or perhaps, the unwritten law, was that citizens had to host the tax collecting priests for lunch.
01:21.959 --> 01:28.497
[SPEAKER_00]: If Italians couldn't provide lunch or foot the bill, clerical authority would literally take something valuable in their home.
01:29.098 --> 01:32.728
[SPEAKER_00]: Be it a possession, some crops, or even an animal.
01:33.434 --> 01:40.345
[SPEAKER_00]: Needless to say, these priests often were unwelcome, but a kind of necessary evil to their governmental system.
01:41.247 --> 01:48.339
[SPEAKER_00]: Now without humor, Italians created a new pasta, making a darkly cheeky comment on the pain of hosting these priests.
01:49.160 --> 01:55.290
[SPEAKER_00]: It was called Stroza-Pretty, translated to priest-strangler, or priest-choker.
01:56.300 --> 02:05.259
[SPEAKER_00]: So of course, this is a creative name with the context that we just talked about, but there are lots of other theories as to why Strauss-Apretty is called Strauss-Apretty.
02:06.261 --> 02:12.975
[SPEAKER_00]: One is that the post itself is said to be reminiscent of the ropes to hang quote condemned man in the 19th century.
02:13.411 --> 02:14.172
[SPEAKER_00]: dark, right?
02:14.853 --> 02:22.425
[SPEAKER_00]: Well, even darker, some sources say that Italians served the clergy the Pasta, hoping the priest might choke himself while eating.
02:23.387 --> 02:30.418
[SPEAKER_00]: Another theories that gluttonous priests were so enthralled by the Pasta that they ate too quickly and actually did choke themselves.
02:31.239 --> 02:36.027
[SPEAKER_00]: Another explanation involves the making of the Pasta by the Azdora or Housewife.
02:36.007 --> 02:44.595
[SPEAKER_00]: Going with the whole clergy would come by for money, the Azdora would quote, choke the raw dough strips to make the straws a pretty, cursing the local clergy.
02:44.655 --> 03:00.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Another possible explanation for why straws a pretty is straws a pretty, a kind of pivot and what we've been talking about is that following Sunday Mass, it was common for a priest to visit homes with the villagers and enjoy dinner with them, no tax strings attached.
03:01.411 --> 03:04.714
[SPEAKER_00]: The best dinners would entice the priest to come by more often.
03:05.285 --> 03:11.879
[SPEAKER_00]: as a way to subtly stay to the hungry priest that he was overstaying his welcome or coming by for dinner a bit too much.
03:12.520 --> 03:17.230
[SPEAKER_00]: The Italian family would serve Stroso-Pretty to say, hey, time to leave us alone.
03:18.232 --> 03:22.922
[SPEAKER_00]: Another origin story simply put, is that the poster resembles a clerical collar.
03:23.189 --> 03:25.554
[SPEAKER_00]: commonly referred to as a priest choker.
03:25.594 --> 03:37.339
[SPEAKER_00]: Stroso-Pretty pasta existed as early as the 18th century and gave way to another less violently named pasta called Iganapretty translated as Deceive the Priest.
03:38.241 --> 03:42.750
[SPEAKER_00]: Deception sounds a bit better than strangulation in my humble opinion.
03:43.523 --> 03:46.829
[SPEAKER_00]: Whatever you believe about Stroso-Pretty, one thing can be sure.
03:46.849 --> 03:57.128
[SPEAKER_00]: The Pasta's controversial origin story reflects the anti-clarical sentiment of the region in a way that reads both deadly and delicious.
