Boil water, add pasta, drain. At first glance, cooking these starches is child’s play. But according to Italian chefs surveyed by HuffPost, this age-old art shouldn’t be taken lightly.
The first trick to successful cooking is to add salt to the water in your pan. From a flavor point of view, this spice adds flavor to pasta by flavoring the cooking water.
Beyond adding flavor, salt can make the cooking process easier. Steve Samson, Executive Chef at Rossoblu, Superfine Pizza and Superfine Playa, explains: “Salt water is more chemically stable due to the sodium ion Na+ and the chloride ion Cl-. Therefore it has a higher boiling point. This allows the pasta to cook at a slightly higher temperature, which gives it a better texture.” And to help the salt dissolve quickly, add it as soon as the water starts to boil.
If you really want to follow in the footsteps of the greatest Italian chefs, pour hot water straight into your pot. In addition to reaching the boiling point more quickly, it saves energy. A technique that many impatient people have probably already experienced.
The perfect time
Italian know-how is not limited to these tricks. For a perfect cooking result, the chefs recommend very precise timing: wait until the water starts to boil and the salt has completely dissolved before adding the pasta. “If you don’t wait, the pasta will absorb too much water and become sticky,” says Lina Nicolai, chef at Il Piatto restaurant in Washington. Regular stirring during cooking will also fix this problem.
Bottom line: when you’re making pasta, fill your pot with hot water and wait for it to boil. Then add the pasta when the salt previously poured in has dissolved. And most importantly, like every great self-respecting Italian chef, don’t forget to save the water from the pasta to incorporate into your sauce.