this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2024
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chapotraphouse
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An Italian scientist got a lot of flak back in 2022 for pointing out that you can boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes, turn off the burner, and let the residual heat cook the rest of the pasta and get the same result, saving some (very expensive back then) gas. So apparently that's a more energy-efficient way to cook pasta, if marginally so.
Italians, not liking when their very dear "muh traditions" are exposed to be based on rote repetition of recipes from very different material conditions and marketing from the 1920s, got very mad at him before even trying if the method worked or not.
Every time I go into the comments of a youtube video about making a traditional Italian dish easier it's full of the most pretentious people in the world talking about how "That's not real Risotto, my Italian mother blah blah blah" like shut the fuck up, your name is Carl and you live in Altoona, Iowa.
I once posted a pic of some spaghetti meatballs to a dorm group chat. The Italian dude immediately jumps in and says "that's not real pasta". So I say to him "noodles are from China, so you guys are actually just fucking up 捞面 really bad."
Dude got legitimately mad and didn't talk to me for a week. Worth it.
I knew one of these guys in college, one time I ate his cooking and it was the worst fucking spaghetti I've ever had in my life lmao
A dude that gave me that attitude on pasta/noodles also tried to (erronously) correct me on spider taxonomy and the ranges of mosquitos. I sticks with me years later.
Holy shit owned
The Sards have their own version of hand pulled noodles, too. Called su filindeu. The mainland Italian mind could never
I deal with ths as a job. It's insufferable. None one I work with is even Italian.
fuckin Altoona.. what you gonna do go to the horse races or adventureland?
Huh, interesting! They also mention pre-soaking the pasta for two hours to save more energy (since most of the time is really spent rehydrating rather than truly cooking) which can cut the cooking time from ten minutes to one or two minutes. Might have to give it a shot out of curiosity!
I didn't try the soaking method, but I did try the turning it off halfway method. The texture of the pasta is slightly different, but barely noticeable, unless you're using really high-quality pasta from higher-protein durum wheat (the one used the most in Italy). In that case it does turn a bit gummy.
If you're using regular-ass pasta made from red or winter wheat, which is the pasta you get in 99% of the world (unless you're importing or getting it from a high-quality brand), there's virtually no difference, in my very limited experimentation.
Mormon teens are experts in the soaking technique
gross
They were talking about soaking noodles, I couldn't resist
Ayoooo
Remember to wash off the rehydration water cuz that's where the anti-nutritive chemicals go
If you crack spaghetti in half to make it fit into the pot using this method then you do go to Italian hell 👌👉✌️👍
Italians that get mad at breaking pasta are pretty petty, but I don't break it because i love looong pasta. It's more fun.
I've never seen any pasta not claiming to be made from durum wheat? Is this really common in other countries?
I just tried the turning off method and it worked great on my electric smoothtop! Brought the water to a boil, put in my pasta, left in on for three minutes, and then covered for the remaining seven minutes. It did boil over a bit after covering, but that's on me for setting too high a temperature after adding the pasta. Still came out perfectly al dente! Now, this was with Mueller's, which is an American brand that I find significantly better than the standard US-produced Barilla even though it's a bit cheaper (highly recommend giving it a shot!), but I wouldn't call it fancy--will be interesting to try it with De Cecco and see if I encounter the gumminess you mentioned.
An Italian scientist in a lab coat, wearing a chef hat, with beakers full of sauces, intently studying pasta. When the results stump him, they do the hand gesture.
I haven't met any pasta scientists, but i've met a few Italian food scientists who do all the hand gestures. It's really funny
I know pasta scientist and italian food scientists, they are all ridiculously stereotypical
Italians are very stereotypical in general.
i always put the pasta in first, cover it with as little cold water as possible and then put a lid on it until it boils. its supposed to be faster but i mainly do it because i know it would piss off italians
I've tried that and the outside of the pasta is a bit overcooked and slimy when i've done it. These days i just boil water on the kettle, pour it in a pot and add the pasta. Faster and no fuss.
The electronic kettle to boil then moving it to the saucepan is the way to go. So much faster and if you have leftover hot water in the kettle you can use it while cleaning up.
Yup same, kettle water to pot, bring it to a rolling boil then pasta in. Bringing it up from cold in the pot uses so much gas. I guess next step would be cooking the pasta in the kettle and then pouring it out to serve
My poor coffee setup would die on the spot if I ever did that. Kettle is for filtered water only
I come from an Italian American family, moms side at least, and this is how I do it and it was specifically to spite my grandmother
As someone who works in an Italian restaurant making food in a stupid way cause trad is most of the cuisine.
I find it sorta fun even if unnecessary, I have an Italian friend who was describing how his family made their gnocchi and he really seemed proud haha.
I think it's really nice to be proud and happy about your food heritage, but being so protective and honestly actively hostile to anything that's not "your thing", it's just background fash brainworms.
Italians are some of the most smug about their cooking "traditions." I really don't get it, why are they such weirdos about it? It's really annoying.
It's really one of the very few things they get any international recognition and whatever approximates national pride over there. I get caring a lot about food, I do it for a living, but they're really weird about it.
It's a whole nation with a huge inferiority complex.