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"al dente" isn't really a quality _part_ of a piece of pasta can have. If the whole thing is al dente... that's just undercooked. The entire appeal of cooking

"al dente" isn't really a quality _part_ of a piece of pasta can have. If the whole thing is al dente... that's just undercooked. The entire appeal of cooking it that way is having the variance in texture in the same piece. It absolutely makes sense to design a pasta shape that optimizes for that. In fact a lot of pasta shapes already do, whether or not it was intentional.

ant6n 6y ago
I thought the point of cooking pasta al dente is that it doesnt get mushy when combined with sauce where it continues to cook a bit longer.
- 8fGTBjZxBcHq 6y ago
  Not really. I mean you want to cook it differently and slightly less if you're going to finish it in the sauce but that's a different thing. Al dente is specifically undercooking it a bit because you prefer that texture over the fully cooked texture. If you pull it a little early then let it fully finish in the sauce it's not what I would consider al dente.
  - africanboy 6y ago
    as an Italian, according to my personal understanding, "al dente" means the point where pasta is cooked but not yet overcooked (it starts becoming softer). The meaning of cooked and overcooked depends a lot on personal taste, but generally al dente it's when it's still elastic but not mushy, like if you apply pressure with the border of a fork, it goes back to the original shape when you relieve the pressure and doesn't fall apart. But that's simply the help visualize it and it's not even applicable to all kinds of pasta, practically we taste the pasta while it's still cooking and decide if it's all dente or not based on our experience. Usually when pasta cooked the exact amount of time specified on the package it should be "al dente", but you shouldn't trust it and start tasting it a couple of minutes before that point. Anyway not all pasta makes sense al dente, fresh pasta or stuffed pasta like ravioli or tortellini for example cannot (and shouldn't) be cooked al dente.
    - pvg 6y ago
      and start tasting it a couple of minutes before that point As a lazy person, I continue to be disappointed pasta scientists and designers have done little to make that part easier and less work.
      - bobthepanda 6y ago
        Easier ways of cooking pasta probably run into other issues. If you’re boiling the pasta it’s not hard to be there and pick a piece up, and really you can boil pasta in any vessel. It’s different, from, say, a rice cooker, where all rice more or less gets cooked the same way with varying times, you can definitely screw up cooking rice in a pot, and you don’t, say, need to reserve rice water for anything. Also rice cookers keep rice warm for hours on end in a manner that doesn’t detract from the taste or dry it out, but I don’t know that that would work for pasta.
        pvg 6y ago
        If you’re boiling the pasta it’s not hard to be there and pick a piece up You say this but we're deep in a thread with terms like 'saucibility'. Surely if pasta science can address a problem that's also neatly solved by simply adding more sauce, it can spare a few mighty braincells on 'standing by a pot for two minutes frantically fishing out and tasting hot undercooked noodles'. Maybe every packet of pasta can come with a couple of noodles on teabag strings.
        africanboy 6y ago
        restaurants use pasta cookers[1], they use brands of pasta that they already know and don't need to taste it (also because it's a system that doesn't scale) they already know the cooking time. Of course is not a science, sometimes it's not gonna be perfect, but on average it is consumer models also exist, but are quite expensive. My girlfriend bought a Cookeo[2] (it's an electric multi-cooker for different kinds of food, including pasta) and after a few failed attempts we have been happy of the results. It's quite cheap. p.s. tasting pasta while cooking it at home is kind of a ritual here in Italy [1] http://ifea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Italgi-pasta-cooker-CP900.jpg http://ifea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Italgi-pasta-c... [2] https://www.moulinex.it/COTTURA/Cookeo/c/Cookeo https://www.moulinex.it/COTTURA/Cookeo/c/Cookeo
  - mod 6y ago
    I think you guys agree, because I (mostly) agree with both of you. You cook the pasta al dente on purpose, to avoid mushiness with the sauce later. But the finished product isn't al dente--it was a temporary state. I didn't realize anyone preferred the texture and would preserve it, but that makes sense.
mleonhard 6y ago
This variance in texture is the main feature of traditional Chinese "knife-cut" noodles (刀削面 dāo-xiāo miàn) [0]. The chef cuts each noodle from a block of dough, letting it fall directly into hot water [1]. The noodle is fat (chewy) in the middle and tapered (soft) at the ends. [0] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=刀削面&t=h_&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=刀削面&t=h_&ia=images&iax=images [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7AP0Ll2-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7AP0Ll2-4
- siltpotato 6y ago
  Have never tasted it in my life and it already looks delicious. I love thick, flat noodles. I undercook fettuccine and ensure they stick together but I wonder if that would provide the same experience.

ant6n 6y ago

I thought the point of cooking pasta al dente is that it doesnt get mushy when combined with sauce where it continues to cook a bit longer.

8fGTBjZxBcHq 6y ago
Not really. I mean you want to cook it differently and slightly less if you're going to finish it in the sauce but that's a different thing. Al dente is specifically undercooking it a bit because you prefer that texture over the fully cooked texture. If you pull it a little early then let it fully finish in the sauce it's not what I would consider al dente.
- africanboy 6y ago
  as an Italian, according to my personal understanding, "al dente" means the point where pasta is cooked but not yet overcooked (it starts becoming softer). The meaning of cooked and overcooked depends a lot on personal taste, but generally al dente it's when it's still elastic but not mushy, like if you apply pressure with the border of a fork, it goes back to the original shape when you relieve the pressure and doesn't fall apart. But that's simply the help visualize it and it's not even applicable to all kinds of pasta, practically we taste the pasta while it's still cooking and decide if it's all dente or not based on our experience. Usually when pasta cooked the exact amount of time specified on the package it should be "al dente", but you shouldn't trust it and start tasting it a couple of minutes before that point. Anyway not all pasta makes sense al dente, fresh pasta or stuffed pasta like ravioli or tortellini for example cannot (and shouldn't) be cooked al dente.
  - pvg 6y ago
    and start tasting it a couple of minutes before that point As a lazy person, I continue to be disappointed pasta scientists and designers have done little to make that part easier and less work.
    - bobthepanda 6y ago
      Easier ways of cooking pasta probably run into other issues. If you’re boiling the pasta it’s not hard to be there and pick a piece up, and really you can boil pasta in any vessel. It’s different, from, say, a rice cooker, where all rice more or less gets cooked the same way with varying times, you can definitely screw up cooking rice in a pot, and you don’t, say, need to reserve rice water for anything. Also rice cookers keep rice warm for hours on end in a manner that doesn’t detract from the taste or dry it out, but I don’t know that that would work for pasta.
      - pvg 6y ago
        If you’re boiling the pasta it’s not hard to be there and pick a piece up You say this but we're deep in a thread with terms like 'saucibility'. Surely if pasta science can address a problem that's also neatly solved by simply adding more sauce, it can spare a few mighty braincells on 'standing by a pot for two minutes frantically fishing out and tasting hot undercooked noodles'. Maybe every packet of pasta can come with a couple of noodles on teabag strings.
        africanboy 6y ago
        restaurants use pasta cookers[1], they use brands of pasta that they already know and don't need to taste it (also because it's a system that doesn't scale) they already know the cooking time. Of course is not a science, sometimes it's not gonna be perfect, but on average it is consumer models also exist, but are quite expensive. My girlfriend bought a Cookeo[2] (it's an electric multi-cooker for different kinds of food, including pasta) and after a few failed attempts we have been happy of the results. It's quite cheap. p.s. tasting pasta while cooking it at home is kind of a ritual here in Italy [1] http://ifea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Italgi-pasta-cooker-CP900.jpg http://ifea.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Italgi-pasta-c... [2] https://www.moulinex.it/COTTURA/Cookeo/c/Cookeo https://www.moulinex.it/COTTURA/Cookeo/c/Cookeo
- mod 6y ago
  I think you guys agree, because I (mostly) agree with both of you. You cook the pasta al dente on purpose, to avoid mushiness with the sauce later. But the finished product isn't al dente--it was a temporary state. I didn't realize anyone preferred the texture and would preserve it, but that makes sense.

mleonhard 6y ago

This variance in texture is the main feature of traditional Chinese "knife-cut" noodles (刀削面 dāo-xiāo miàn) [0]. The chef cuts each noodle from a block of dough, letting it fall directly into hot water [1]. The noodle is fat (chewy) in the middle and tapered (soft) at the ends. [0] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=刀削面&t=h_&ia=images&iax=images https://duckduckgo.com/?q=刀削面&t=h_&ia=images&iax=images [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7AP0Ll2-4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7AP0Ll2-4

siltpotato 6y ago
Have never tasted it in my life and it already looks delicious. I love thick, flat noodles. I undercook fettuccine and ensure they stick together but I wonder if that would provide the same experience.