Opinicus wrote:

> Coming from a family one side of which is (southern) Italian, I know a
> great deal about pasta, having consumed,
> cooked, and made huge quantities of it in my younger days. In our family
> pasta was always cooked "al dente" and pasta
> that was even a bit beyond "al dente" was rejected. Watching a lot of
> cooking shows on TV nowadays I see them cooking the pasta "al dente" and
> then they dump this carefully cooked pasta into a pan containing the
> sauce and proceed to expose
> it to heat for another 5-10 minutes! Doesn't this turn it into mush?
> Where and when did this vile technique develop?
>

Goodness only knows! If mine is to be cooked into a dish (such as a
tuna pasta bake), I simply soak it in hot water for 10-15 minuets while
I cook the sauce, then assemble the dish and then cook it. The pasta
usually comes out just fine that way. I don't even bother soaking lasagna.

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