Please DON'T read the instructions on the back of the Pasta box.
This is the first spot for you. Don't do that. Never. If you do that you will find something like "to add more savour to the pasta add some salt in the water." This means nobody will salt it thinking it's just a "way of cooking it". BULLSHIT!
So please, take your pot, fill it with water, bring it to a boil and when it's boiling, BEFORE ADDING THE PASTA, salt it (using the cooking salt). You can taste the water if you are not sure of how much salt you have to use. It doesn't have to taste like the ocean, but it has to be "nicely salty".
No way. Unless we are taking about fresh pasta you have to keep it in a DRY place or it will loose its consistency. A compartment of your kitchen will be perfect!
PLEASE DON'T CHANGE THE INGREDIENTS OF A RECIPE. If you can't find one, just change recipe. Don't change the ingredients. I've heard people saying, "Well, if you can't find the Stracchino cheese you can use the Mozzarella, if you can't find the Mozzarella you can use the Cheddar" or "Olive oil is too expensive, use the seedoil, it will be the same". Are you teasing me, right? To belong to the cathegory called "Cheese" doesn't make them all the same and if you believe Olive oil is too expensive, stop trying cooking Italian and prepare a Chinese dish! What you alwasy have to keep in mind is that the reason why the Italian cuisine is so famous is that it uses wonderful ingredients, the best ones. Change them and nothing will remain. The Olive Oil in the Italian Cuisine is fundamental like the Pope in the Vatican.
Cooking for Italians is not just taking 4 ingredients, combine them together and eat. It means taking your time to look for the best ingredients, living your kitchen and invest your time in creating something unique. It means you are doing something for the people you love, because they will sit around a table with you and share a magic moment. I was shocked the first time I read an Italian recipe in English. It was like 2 lines, saying "take all the ingredients, mix them together, fill a saucepan with the mixture and cook at medium heat for 30 minutes". Oh my!!! Italian recipes tell you what's the best way to cut the ingredients, which one to add for first, how to mix them, what kind of saucepan to use, etc, etc, etc. They are guidelines for the creation of a perfect combination that will end with a divine dish. Find out more!
2 Comments
Pat
7/19/2013 08:29:28 am
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Misty Renee Formisano
7/29/2013 03:09:55 am
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