Michael Horowitz wrote:
> Recipes for making pasta vary - some say use oil, others don't mention
> it.
> Why or why not is oil used? - Mike
>

I assume you're talking about adding oil to the cooking water. There are
several discussion points about it, all false.

1) it prevents pastas from sticking together.
2) it prevents sauces from sticking to the cooked pasta.

The only thing that keeps pasta from sticking together is turbulence.
Rapidly boiling water and reasonably frequent stirring. Oil in the water
won't stick to the pasta and, since it's lighter than water, will float
out of the pot with the first pourings.

Putting butter or oil on the cooked pasta absolutely won't keep sauce
from sticking. But it will keep the pasta from sticking together. And it
adds a nice flavor note to the dish. Both in my restaurants where we
literally served tons of pasta over the years, and at home, I've cooked
it, drained it and tossed with oil for holding. Both my Italian
grandmothers did it that way. Cook, drain, toss with oil, sauce. Or
rather, my Sicilian grandmother tossed it with olive oil and my northern
Italian grandmother used butter. At home nowadays I use butter.

I tested the whole thing years - decades - ago and then have repeated
the tests for the cooking classes I've taught. Everyone had these
theories before we tried it. BOOM go the theories...

The only thing that oil in the cooking water will do is suppress
foaming. But so will turning the heat down a tiny bit to moderate the boil.

Conclusions:
1) there's no good reason to put oil in the cooking water.
2) there's a good reason to toss the pasta (any kind) with a little oil
or butter after draining.

Pastorio