Harold McGee on cooking pasta

[Jenise]

He actually favors starting pasta in cold water: heresy!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/dining/25curi.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Will he start a revolution?

I read the article and thought.......why?

His article was a waste of my time. I gotcha revolution right here.

The article made a lot of sense--I cooked pasta in small pans on a hot plate back in my grad school days, and it tasted fine. I cooked some spaghetti (for the two of us) last night in 1 quart of water and it was slightly stickier than the big-pot version. This is a good thing because it sucks up sauce a little better. But cooking from cold water leads to boilovers for absentminded cooks like me!

[Jenise]

I read the article and thought.......why?

I'm with you. And I found it hard to believe that starting it in cold water didn't affect the texture--might be more noticeable/objectionable on a thicker-walled pasta like rigatoni, say, than a strand pasta that cooks in less time, not to mention your own preferences for cooking times. I tend to cook pasta in less time than most people, even those who think they're cooking 'al dente' and would not like a pasta that got overly soft around the edges even if it better toward the center. Also, the increased stirring will beat up a pasta like a rigatoni, too. Better to let them move freely.

I've always cooked pasta in a lot less water than called for, mainly because I have a small pasta cooking pan. I have a water faucet at my stove to fill large pans with water, however I still have to carry them back to the sink. Less water means you have to stir a bit more at the beginning. Pasta still comes out perfect.

He wants to tell all those generations of Italians that they are wrong? I won't go there with him.

[Jenise]

I have a water faucet at my stove to fill large pans with water, however I still have to carry them back to the sink.

Not to take a detour, Karen, but this was my argument to my husband who wanted to put a pot-filler tap at the stove: when I'm done, I still have to carry the pans back to the sink!

[Jenise]

He wants to tell all those generations of Italians that they are wrong? I won't go there with him.

The way I read it, he didn't say they were wrong, only that there wasn't just one right way, or maybe even that there was another way that almost as good and almost as good was good enough for him if it saved a lot of water. I'm sure we've all cooked some crowded pans of pasta when circumstances couldn't allow better such that we know he's right that it's doable, if not optimum, but I'm skeptical about the cold water part--or even why I should consider that. Maybe I should read the article again, but I don't remember/get what savings that afforded.

I have a water faucet at my stove to fill large pans with water, however I still have to carry them back to the sink.

Not to take a detour, Karen, but this was my argument to my husband who wanted to put a pot-filler tap at the stove: when I'm done, I still have to carry the pans back to the sink!

Ah, yes it is so...but I love the classy look and have enjoyed using it. It is a great conversation starter with guests who have never seen such a unit. I love it! Generally, when I bring the big pots out, I set them on the stove, out of the way. So they are already there when it is time to fill. Gene has instructed me that he will carry the pot full of hot water back to the sink, so as long as I have him around, I'm happy to let him do it.

Jenise,

You're right, he didn't say they were wrong...and I loved that he got Hazan and Bastianich (right?) to test his theory. They were open-minded enough to follow through and both felt it came up short...

Quite right, too, that I've probably cooked pasta in less water than reco'd...and likely ate quite well in spite of that...so I'll save some water, I'll save some energy by not heating up so much water....but won't go there with him on the cold water start, either.

fun that he played with it at all, though.

[Jenise]

I have a water faucet at my stove to fill large pans with water, however I still have to carry them back to the sink.

Not to take a detour, Karen, but this was my argument to my husband who wanted to put a pot-filler tap at the stove: when I'm done, I still have to carry the pans back to the sink!

Ah, yes it is so...but I love the classy look and have enjoyed using it. It is a great conversation starter with guests who have never seen such a unit. I love it! Generally, when I bring the big pots out, I set them on the stove, out of the way. So they are already there when it is time to fill. Gene has instructed me that he will carry the pot full of hot water back to the sink, so as long as I have him around, I'm happy to let him do it.

Oh they are totally hot looking, and I'll admit I was tempted on that basis, but of the two lists I made of improvements that were have-to's and improvements I'd like to have if there was room in the budget, this was on the latter. And of course there's no room in the budget at all.

Jenise, have you a scholarship to the Paris Hilton school of elocution?

Jenise, have you a scholarship to the Paris Hilton school of elocution?

Don't you have to submit a video application to get one of those?

Mark Lipton