Years ago I dated an Italian lady who was also a phenomenal cook.
Cooked all kinds of great food, but her speciality was Italian. Some of
the best I've ever had. I don't remember if she even gave me a reason,
but she'd the one that told me NOT to put oil in the water when cooking
pasta. Considering how good a cook she was, I listened. I'm sure one of
the expert "foodies" here know the reason.