The pandemic has come for our carbs once again. Bucatini, to be precise—described by one overly exuberant maestro as “the most sensual of the pastas.” Didn’t know it went away? Writer Rachel Handler kept being thwarted in her search for the popular tubular pasta—known for its hole and ability to soak up sauce—and realized it wasn’t just a local New York shortage. Moving from lowkey panic to lowkey obsession in the matter of months, she investigated for Grub Street and “the rest of the people in the United States of America, who had been through too much for too long to then have insult added to injury via the spontaneous and inexplicable disappearance of the best noodle.” So what’s to blame? Possible runs on the pasta for use as drinking straws; general pandemic delays; makers’ choices to stick to more pedestrian pastas (looking at you, spaghetti); and a mysterious case against a Big Pasta corporation. We’re still waiting, with bated breath, on the Food and Drug Administration’s response to Handler’s FOIA requests about why it’s keeping a particular eye on Italian maker De Cecco.