Why do bad pasta shapes exist? 

Trash or treasure? Farfalle’s place in the pasta world is all a matter of perspective, allegedly. | Stefano Guidi/Getty Images If I was in a kidnapping situation and needed to subtly signal that something was terribly wrong without alerting my captors, I would loudly declare that farfalle is a fantastic pasta shape. I would shout endlessly about how well it always cooks — even the knot of the bowtie. I would preach about how “butterfly” pasta is truly perfect for every kind of sauce, because it picks up every bit of sauce, and it’s easily forked. I would assert that we should serve it