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There are two fundamental rules of making good pasta, maybe more, but these are what seem to be held the most to heart: 1. If you don't salt enough, no matter

There are two fundamental rules of making good pasta, maybe more, but these are what seem to be held the most to heart: 1. If you don't salt enough, no matter how good you make the sauce, or how fancy the noodle is, you're not going to have a good pasta dish. This seems to be one of the primary positions of this paper (although I didn't read it) 2. It's commonly known that Italian street vendors serving pasta would re-use the water throughout the day. This led to an increasing amount of starch being extracted into the water and ultimately, a better noodle closer to the end of the day. Starch is important and this is why pasta water is key to the finish of a pasta dish.

mmastrac 5y ago
Finishing pasta by cooking it the last 1/4 of the way in sauce with a bit of leftover pasta water is my go-to.
- TillE 5y ago
  When you're cooking for just one or two people, you can just make everything in one large pan. Start the sauce (fry garlic in olive oil, etc), then add the liquid (usually canned tomatoes plus a couple can-fulls of water) and pasta. You need a little experimentation to figure out how much water you need, then you'll have perfectly cooked pasta when the sauce is appropriately reduced.
wodenokoto 5y ago
Which is why you should cook in as little water as viable. Packaging says to cook pasta in a lot of water, but this is because that is what large kitchens do, as they reuse the water throughout the day. In the home kitchen you get closer to the reused, starchy water, by simply using less water and stirring.
- kevincox 5y ago
  The problem here is that if your stove isn't very powerful the pasta can cool down the watera lot at the start. This can lead to sticking or just suboptimal pasta. Using more water mitigates this.
cheese_goddess 5y ago
The point about salt is what people always say about bread and cheese, also, but I cook all my dishes and make my own bread and cheese without salt (health reasons), and I can say with conviction that it's not true. You can cook pasta just as well with and without any salt at all and the same goes for anything else also. Scientific measurements may be measuring ... something. But they're not necessarily measuring what really matters, which is how stuff tastes when you actually eat it. As to trained taster panels, in my opinion those are trained to match what the prevailing orthodoxy is and you can safely ignore them.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- cheese_goddess 5y ago
  I don't get why my comment is downvoted. Yes, I know the HN guidelines, but what, exactly, is it that people disagree with in my comment, can someone please say? Cheers.
  - blacklivsmatr 5y ago
    I don't know why you got downvoted but I do know I like salt and I often run into places that don't put enough of it. Whether it's important for pasta or not I really don't know but it's easy to believe it would be better with than without. Also, adding salt after cooking doesn't taste the same as adding it during cooking (again, in general, not specifically for pasta). My go to example for that would be scrambled eggs. Salted before cooked they taste great. Salted after they taste like bland eggs with salt added on top.
    - cheese_goddess 5y ago
      The parent says that no matter what you do, if you don't add salt you can't have a good pasta dish, not that it tastes better with salt. I'm saying that yes, you can have a good pasta dish without salt, not that it doesn't taste better with salt.
carlob 5y ago
Re: 2. I've lived in Italy for most of my life and I have never seen a pasta street vendor. Pasta is something that you eat sitting down.
- yazaddaruvala 5y ago
  A bowl of fettuccine/pesto <pasta of choice> can be very tasty standing up :) Especially if you crumble in some extra parmigiano reggiano. Highly recommend you try it at least once.
  - carlob 5y ago
    I don't doubt that, I'm just saying pasta street vendors are not seen around here.
wolverine876 5y ago
> If you don't salt enough, no matter how good you make the sauce, or how fancy the noodle is, you're not going to have a good pasta dish. I use zero salt. IME it's unnecessary.

mmastrac 5y ago

Finishing pasta by cooking it the last 1/4 of the way in sauce with a bit of leftover pasta water is my go-to.

TillE 5y ago
When you're cooking for just one or two people, you can just make everything in one large pan. Start the sauce (fry garlic in olive oil, etc), then add the liquid (usually canned tomatoes plus a couple can-fulls of water) and pasta. You need a little experimentation to figure out how much water you need, then you'll have perfectly cooked pasta when the sauce is appropriately reduced.

wodenokoto 5y ago

Which is why you should cook in as little water as viable. Packaging says to cook pasta in a lot of water, but this is because that is what large kitchens do, as they reuse the water throughout the day. In the home kitchen you get closer to the reused, starchy water, by simply using less water and stirring.

kevincox 5y ago
The problem here is that if your stove isn't very powerful the pasta can cool down the watera lot at the start. This can lead to sticking or just suboptimal pasta. Using more water mitigates this.

cheese_goddess 5y ago

The point about salt is what people always say about bread and cheese, also, but I cook all my dishes and make my own bread and cheese without salt (health reasons), and I can say with conviction that it's not true. You can cook pasta just as well with and without any salt at all and the same goes for anything else also. Scientific measurements may be measuring ... something. But they're not necessarily measuring what really matters, which is how stuff tastes when you actually eat it. As to trained taster panels, in my opinion those are trained to match what the prevailing orthodoxy is and you can safely ignore them.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
cheese_goddess 5y ago
I don't get why my comment is downvoted. Yes, I know the HN guidelines, but what, exactly, is it that people disagree with in my comment, can someone please say? Cheers.
- blacklivsmatr 5y ago
  I don't know why you got downvoted but I do know I like salt and I often run into places that don't put enough of it. Whether it's important for pasta or not I really don't know but it's easy to believe it would be better with than without. Also, adding salt after cooking doesn't taste the same as adding it during cooking (again, in general, not specifically for pasta). My go to example for that would be scrambled eggs. Salted before cooked they taste great. Salted after they taste like bland eggs with salt added on top.
  - cheese_goddess 5y ago
    The parent says that no matter what you do, if you don't add salt you can't have a good pasta dish, not that it tastes better with salt. I'm saying that yes, you can have a good pasta dish without salt, not that it doesn't taste better with salt.

carlob 5y ago

Re: 2. I've lived in Italy for most of my life and I have never seen a pasta street vendor. Pasta is something that you eat sitting down.

yazaddaruvala 5y ago
A bowl of fettuccine/pesto <pasta of choice> can be very tasty standing up :) Especially if you crumble in some extra parmigiano reggiano. Highly recommend you try it at least once.
- carlob 5y ago
  I don't doubt that, I'm just saying pasta street vendors are not seen around here.

wolverine876 5y ago

> If you don't salt enough, no matter how good you make the sauce, or how fancy the noodle is, you're not going to have a good pasta dish. I use zero salt. IME it's unnecessary.