Rangers Alex Wennberg Discusses His Habit Of Putting Ketchup On Pasta

Part of me never wants to food-shame people, but then I see nonsense like Rangers center Alex Wennberg throwing ketchup on his pasta, and I'm back on board the food-shaming wagon.

Just before the trade deadline, Wennberg was playing for the Seattle Kraken, when the team decided to deal him to the New York Rangers.

Just days before that, the team had released a fun graphic about Wennberg that included his affinity for dousing pasta in some Heinz.

The Swedish-born 29-year-old was asked about this habit in an article by Vincent Z. Mercogliano of the Rockland/Westchester Journal News.

"You saw that, too?" at morning skate before he and the Rangers take on the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday. "That’s why I got traded."

He's kidding…. but this is a tradeable offense.

Wennberg claimed that this was a typical Swedish thing, but I'm not buying it. I've been to Ikea a bunch of times and have yet to see this.

"I didn't know it was an issue until I showed up here," he said. "I actually stopped doing that because it rubs people the wrong way."

Ketchup: a simple, fan-favorite condiment with a lot of rules. (Getty Images)

There Are A Lot Of Rules When It Comes To Ketchup

Ketchup is not the most polarizing condiment. That honor goes to mayonnaise. However, while I'd wager that a majority of people enjoy ketchup to some degree, no condiment comes with rules and regulations the way ketchup does.

Don't believe me? Tell a Chicagoan that you'd like a bit of ketchup for your hotdog and prepare for them to glare at you like they want to shatter your patella with a tire iron.

People are judgmental about ketchup habits. I've heard people moan about how ketchup shouldn't be gobbed on top of scrambled eggs (something that doesn't bother me in the least) while others insist you should dip a grilled cheese in ketchup.

Now, ketchup on pasta? Wrong.

We've got a rainbow of pasta sauces to choose from. Marinara, bolognese, Alfredo, pesto, vodka: the list goes on.

There's no need to reach for one of those upside-down bottles of ketchup.

Even if Wennberg starts a trend with this, I don't think I'll ever be able to accept it. I'm still having trouble digesting (in every sense of the word) the idea of putting chili on spaghetti.

I'll be on the cold, hard ground before I accept Alex Wennberg's preferred pasta sauce…

But if that's what he's into, more power to him.