Pasta. Delicious, adaptable, and for most, a diet staple. A food that is easy to make, but bafflingly difficult to make well. With Fall coming on and my appetite returning to its full glory, I figured it only appropriate to sieve through some common pasta myths and noodle out the best method for making ‘Grand Ma quality’ spaghetti.
We’ve all seen these instructions before and we’ve all followed them (with various levels of success), but are they worth following exactly? Do I NEED to salt the water? I have to boil HOW much water? Is mystical “al dente” perfection really out of reach?
No.
1.You don’t NEED to salt your water, but you should!
Ancient wisdom states (and so do many famous chefs) that pasta water should always be salted to help the water boil faster, and to prevent the noodles from sticking together.
Experiments have shown that salting the water does not actually decrease cooking time, and only raises the boiling point of water by 1˚C (McGee, 1984). What salting DOES do is make the pasta taste amazing. As the pasta cooks it absorbs some of the sodium that is dissolved in the cooking water, seasoning the pasta from within. Delicious.
Salting your pasta is NOT necessary and will not reduce the overall cooking time. If you are trying to cut back on your sodium intake, for whatever reason, you can still get perfectly cooked pasta (albeit less-flavourful) without the salt.
2. Don’t add oil to the water.
Ancient wisdom states that to prevent your noodles from sticking together, you place a small amount of olive oil in the cooking liquid.
Noodles begin to stick together as the starches gelatinize during the first few minutes of cooking. Regardless of how much oil is used, without vigorous stirring, the oil will only sit on top of the water and do nothing to prevent the sticking.
What WILL work to prevent noodles from sticking is to stir the pasta vigorously during the first 1-2 minutes of cooking.
3. Add your pasta to COLD water if you want.
Adding pasta to a non-boiling pot of water would horrify many a grand mother. The pasta will absorb too much water and become a mushy mess, right? Actually, no.
The pasta absorbs the exact same amount of liquid whether it is started in boiling or cold water. Traditional methods cook the pasta while it absorbs the water, but these processes can occur separately.
Cover pasta with cold water in a small pot. Place it on a burner at high heat. Stir it occasionally as it heats up. Once boiling, place cover on pot and turn heat to the lowest setting for 7-10 minutes.
4. You do NOT need to boil 4-6 litres of water to make pasta.
The ancient wisdom behind the large pot of boiling water is that it will reduce cooking time and allow the pasta to soak up the ideal amount of water.
What happens when pasta is added to a large pot vs. a small pot the temperature of the large pot is decreased less (and now you’re thinking okay… well Grand Ma always was right!). HOWEVER, the small pot, contains a much smaller amount of water, and has a much smaller surface area from which to lose heat to the environment. The smaller pot will come to a boil faster, and return to a boil quicker than a larger pot.
So, if you want to save time, energy and water, use a small pot and add just enough water to cover the pasta. The resulting cooking water will also have a higher concentration of dissolved starches, which brings me to my final point…..
5. Reserve some of that pasta water!
As the pasta cooks the starches gelatinize, and dissolve in the water. The starches serve as an emulsifier, which helps the sauce ingredients to mix perfectly, and cling to every delicious ‘al dente’ bite. Reserving pasta water is a chef’s secret ingredient to the perfect sauce everytime!
So next time you’re in a rush, wanna save water or just make better tasting pasta, these 5 simple hints will go a long way to ensure you’re on your way to Grand Ma level noods.
Pasta la vista,
J.
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