Cathy2 wrote:The salt is dissolved and now part of the cooking water's chemical composition. While it disapeered to the naked eye, it is very present affecting taste, boiling temperatures to various degrees and perhaps texture.

I agree. I should have been clearer. What I meant is that I can't taste any difference in the pasta whether using kosher, iodine-added, or plain table salt.

Cogito wrote:

Cathy2 wrote:The salt is dissolved and now part of the cooking water's chemical composition. While it disapeered to the naked eye, it is very present affecting taste, boiling temperatures to various degrees and perhaps texture.

I agree. I should have been clearer. What I meant is that I can't taste any difference in the pasta whether using kosher, iodine-added, or plain table salt.

Nor can I, which is why I go with the iodine infused because maybe I don't get enough via other foods.

Regards,

Cogito wrote:I find the discussion of the various types of salts interesting, but cannot imagine how they could have much effect on anything since the salt is dissolved.

That was precisely my point. Theoretically, the presence of iodine could be tasted if you use iodinised salt but practically speaking, in this particular context, I doubt the average person can detect the presence of iodine in the pasta itself after it has been boiled in water with iodinised salt. But if one can detect it and one doesn't like it, the remedy is simple enough.

Less than a gallon for a pound strikes me as too little and unlikely to give maximal results; ca. 5-6 quarts is what Italians generally use for that amount of pasta. With some shapes of pasta you can get away with the low side of the range (between 4 and 5) but with others you can't.

Antonius

OK, now I'm a believer. After reading about the wonders of adding a bit of the pasta water to the sauce, I tried it this afternoon with a simple oil-based sauce. Usually this sauce all ends up at the bottom of the bowl. This time, I thrashed the oo and pasta water together for a bit, then added the pasta. Dang! the sauce stuck about 3 times better.

Tnx y'awl, you've improved my life...

Now. About salt. I've very recently read a rather interesting discussion about salt and food. Infuriatingly, I can *not* remember where I read it. Cook's maybe? Maybe in a text? Wherever... what's important is that salt does a whole bunch more than simply make things taste salty. Apparently it changes and potentiates the whole gustatory environment, making quite a different context, for example in the case of something that might be bitter w/o salt, but is sweet with it.

In any case, the article was quite straight in its argument that salt does a lot of important things in food, and should not be left out.

This squares with what my good buddy Chen Weihang, a sometime chef from Hubei, told me: even if you've got soy in a sauce, add a bit of pure salt: it makes a noticeable diffference.

Geo

Antonius wrote:People often state what they believe to be the right way to cook things as rules and commandments but, at least in my experience, that's not how things work in traditional Italian cooking as practised by serious cooks. There are general rules of thumb but also exceptions -- the trick is to know the difference and that comes through teaching, observation and practical experience.

Two and a half years late, but FWIW, Antonius, I'd hoped that the obvious over-the-topness would convey that tongue was firmly planted in cheek

Hi,

This article by Harold McGee will challenge your ideas of cooking pasta: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dinin ... d=all&_r=0

He started the pasta in cold water and in far less water than we'd ever expect to use. The cooking water was thicker from the high starch content, which could be used as-is or for adjusting pasta sauce thickness.

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

This article by Harold McGee will challenge your ideas of cooking pasta: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dinin ... d=all&_r=0

He started the pasta in cold water and in far less water than we'd ever expect to use. The cooking water was thicker from the high starch content, which could be used as-is or for adjusting pasta sauce thickness.

Regards,

This is the way I always cooked pasta because it was how my mom cooked Chinese noodles: soaking the pasta in cold water, and with just enough water to cover. Never did the gallons of rolling boiling water thing, always seemed wasteful to me. The pasta doesn't stick together at all and it comes out fine. You do have to stir it a little more to keep from sticking to the bottom but it doesn't take much extra effort at all.

I agree; boiling a big pot of water for a serving or two of pasta has always seemed to me to be a waste of energy (the gas stove's, that is) and water. I cook pasta in just enough water to keep it covered and add more water and bring it up to a full boil if it starts to seem low. Takes a little more supervision, but it seems silly to me to waste more energy and water than that to cook 50 cents' worth of pasta.