Posts

Step 1 ...

Pasta.  Homemade Pasta.  Just as there are different homes, there are different homemade pastas. For instance, what kind of flour, whether to salt the dough or no, to use a rolling pin and a wooden surface, or mechanized hand crank to roll the dough.. not to mention whether to use a food processor, or one's own hands to even mix the dough. So a bit of history.  Pasta is made in some form or another in just about every culture. According to PBS " While we do think of pasta as a culturally Italian food, it is likely the descendent of ancient Asian noodles. A common belief about pasta is that it was brought to Italy from China by Marco Polo during the 13th century."   Even International Pasta remarks " On chapter CLXXI from the “Books of the World's Wonders”,  Marco Polo makes a reference to the pasta in China." However, as PBS states, " the book relies heavily on re-tellings by various authors and experts. This, combined with the fact that pasta
Post a Comment
Read more

Step 2

Flour. "00" flour if you happen to bump into in the grocery. all purpose flour works just fine... Have cake flour on hand?  Mix it with all purpose flour 50/50 half and half.. and you're kinda coming really close to "00" flour. Salt the water not the dough, because you want the gluten to act. kneading the dough will create a texture and something toothy feel, not aldente which is firm to the tooth at the outset, but more of a chewy texture as you continue to chew and eat the pasta.  Have you ever had mushy rice?  Mushy pasta is similar in that it falls apart in your mouth.  NOT ideal.  It is what makes yucky mac and cheese from those kraft boxes.... you overcooked the macaroni. It soaked up too much water.  That's what made it not aldente'...    to KNEAD the dough is something one does before it hits the water to cook.  Kneading the dough will stretch the gluten and gliadins.  Gliadins are those things which help gluten.. it gives the stuff t
Post a Comment
Read more