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

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.

The reason some cooks do add oil is its supposed to keep your pasta from
sticking together. I'm just guessing, but I imagine the cooks who don't
probably believe it would also keep your sauce from sticking to the pasta.

Debra

"salgud" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> 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.
>

"Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
...
> 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 mean in the cooking water, not in the pasta itself. The
supposed reason for putting a little oil in the water is to coat the pasta
and prevent it from sticking together. But it will also prevent many sauces
from adhering to the pasta, and is a bad idea for that reason. Anyway, good
quality pasta properly cooked will not stick if used properly. The idea of
putting a pile of plain pasta on a plate and then ladling sauce over it
would seem strange to most Italians. Much better to mix the pasta as soon as
it is drained with some sauce. THis keeps it from sticking and lets the
flavor penetrate. Then plate it and add more sauce if desired.


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

Michael Horowitz wrote on 07 Apr 2005 in rec.food.cooking

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

Oil is used for preservitive purposes in comercial pastas. A good home-
made pasta is usually eaten within 3 days so no oil needed.

--
No Bread Crumbs were hurt in the making of this Meal.
Type 2 Diabetic Since Aug 2004
1AC- 7.2, 7.3, 5.5, 5.6 mmol
Weight from 265 down to 219 lbs. and dropping.
Continuing to be Manitoban

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
om...
> "Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
> ...
>> 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 mean in the cooking water, not in the pasta itself. The
> supposed reason for putting a little oil in the water is to coat the pasta
> and prevent it from sticking together. But it will also prevent many
> sauces from adhering to the pasta, and is a bad idea for that reason.
> Anyway, good quality pasta properly cooked will not stick if used
> properly. The idea of putting a pile of plain pasta on a plate and then
> ladling sauce over it would seem strange to most Italians. Much better to
> mix the pasta as soon as it is drained with some sauce. THis keeps it from
> sticking and lets the flavor penetrate. Then plate it and add more sauce
> if desired.
>
I made a recipe in the Soprano's (television show) cookbook, that:
After cooking the pasta and draining it, they heated butter in the same
pan, and put the pasta back in, stirred it up. Now here is where my
husband's and my memory differ. I recall they poured all of the sauce over
the mixed butter & pasta while it was on the stove, then mixed it and served
it in a pasta bowl; my husband said they did not mix the sauce into it, but
poured in on, on the table.
I must've checked this recipe out at the library, because I don't see it
anywhere.
Dee

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

I was always told that adding a little salt to the water would prevent
the pasta from sticking. Furthermore, a majority of the oil is floating
on the surface, so how can it coat the pasta under water?

In article >, "Peter
Aitken" > wrote:

> "Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
> ...
> > 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 mean in the cooking water, not in the pasta itself. The
> supposed reason for putting a little oil in the water is to coat the
> pasta and prevent it from sticking together.

Really? I thought you put it in the cooking water to keep the foaming
down. That's why I do it. And when I pour the water off, the oil's the
first to go.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> The Nylons added 4-3-05.

"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

In article . com>,
"ccrevival" > wrote:

> a majority of the oil is floating on the surface, so how can it coat
> the pasta under water?

Bingo! My sentiments, too.
--
-Barb, <http://www.jamlady.eboard.com> The Nylons added 4-3-05.

"I read recipes the way I read science fiction: I get to the end and
say,'Well, that's not going to happen.'" - Comedian Rita Rudner,
performance at New York, New York, January 10, 2005.

"Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
...
> Recipes for making pasta vary - some say use oil, others don't mention
> it.
> Why or why not is oil used? - Mike
>
Actually, the oil is intended to reduce foaming and potential boil-over.
Simply using
enough water (we're talking at least two gallons for a pound of pasta) in a
deep enough
pot (uncovered !!!) works just as well.

And, recently <stops to wash hands before typing> Alton <hears heavenly
choir> did
a show called "Myth Smashers" were he actually performed an experiment which
demonstrated that roughly 90 % of the oil is recovered when the water is
drained off.

So, myth "Smashed" :-)

Salt in the water because that is your only opportunity to season the pasta
itself, oil
if you like (and I do) but if your sauce doesn't stick look elsewhere for
the cause and
don't blame the oil !

John<==addicted to "Good Eats"

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

Oil is what makes all Eyetalian cooking greasy, like a friggin' dirty
filthy greasy WOP... Mikey TROLL!

Sheldon

John Bonnett wrote:

<snip>

> And, recently <stops to wash hands before typing> Alton <hears heavenly
> choir> did
> a show called "Myth Smashers" were he actually performed an experiment
which
> demonstrated that roughly 90 % of the oil is recovered when the water is
> drained off.
>
> So, myth "Smashed" :-)

I saw that episode and, no, it actually didn't "smash" anything.

AB recovered (he guessed) 90 percent of the oil he put in the cooking water,
and from this he proposed that not enough oil could be left behind to coat
the pasta and keep it from sticking together. But he didn't do the obvious:
he didn't toss the pasta and see if it was sticking or not.
THAT would have been the smasher, had he seen it through to the end.

Brown (and others) also claim that adding oil to the water will slick up the
pasta enough to keep sauces from adhering. But wait a minute. If not enough
oil is left on the pasta to keep it from sticking to itself, how can enough
be present to keep sauces from sticking?

I like "Good Eats" too, but it and Brown are not immune to errors and
misstatements. By the way, during the 4/6/05 Gyro episode, did a segue frame
state that "Meatloaf" was born in 1969, or was I imagining it?

<that would mean he was roughly six years old when he made "The Rocky Horror
Picture Show"... hot patootie, bless my soul!>

Monsur Fromage du Pollet > wrote:

>Michael Horowitz wrote on 07 Apr 2005 in rec.food.cooking
>
>> Recipes for making pasta vary - some say use oil, others don't
>> mention it.
>> Why or why not is oil used? - Mike
>>
>>
>
>Oil is used for preservitive purposes in comercial pastas. A good home-
>made pasta is usually eaten within 3 days so no oil needed.


Well, I guess I wasn't as clear as I could have been, but I was
talking about mixing pasta, NOT adding oil to the water (coats the
pasta and reduces the 'cling' factor);

"pennyaline" <nsmitchell@spamspamspamspamspamspamspameggandspam .com> wrote
in message news
> John Bonnett wrote:
>
> <snip>

-----snippage-----

> AB recovered (he guessed) 90 percent of the oil he put in the cooking
water,

Sorry. A DVR is your friend. AB didn't 'guess'...he *measured* with the
aid of
an (approximately) ten foot tall tube. That's one of the things which made
that
episode so cool.

Tossing would have been redundant. He had just demonstrated that adding oil
to pasta cooking water does *not* coat every individual strand preventing
sauce
from sticking. Which, after all, was the purpose of the exercise.

As an emperical note...it hasn't affected the hundreds of pounds of pasta
I've
cooked with a tablespoon of olive oil over the past half-century either.

John<==ummmm ! Pasta !!!

"Bob (this one)" > wrote in message
...
> 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

My mother-in-law has always cooked spaghetti (not angel hair) by covering
the pot when it boils and turning off the heat. I have done that myself and
it works -- I prefer #9.
Dee

"Sheldon" > wrote:

>
>Mikey TROLL Horror-witz wrote:
>> Recipes for making pasta vary - some say use oil, others don't
>mention
>> it.
>> Why or why not is oil used? - Mike
>
>Oil is what makes all Eyetalian cooking greasy, like a friggin' dirty
>filthy greasy WOP... Mikey TROLL!
>
>Sheldon

Yes, and notice how clever I was! asked a question that could have
been taken two ways; confused all the troops; had 'em all going in one
direction (and the wrong way at that!)- Mike

"Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
...
> Monsur Fromage du Pollet > wrote:
>
> >Michael Horowitz wrote on 07 Apr 2005 in rec.food.cooking
> >
> >> Recipes for making pasta vary - some say use oil, others don't
> >> mention it.
> >> Why or why not is oil used? - Mike
> >>
> >>
> >
> >Oil is used for preservitive purposes in comercial pastas. A good home-
> >made pasta is usually eaten within 3 days so no oil needed.
>
>
> Well, I guess I wasn't as clear as I could have been, but I was
> talking about mixing pasta, NOT adding oil to the water (coats the
> pasta and reduces the 'cling' factor);
>

Yabbut you have prepared the field for an *excellent* flame war !

Lacking the equipment to prepare pasta from scratch I've always
had to use the pre-made (I like Mueller's brand) stuff from the store.

The ingredient list on the box does not mention oil at all.

I've experimented with adding oil to the breadmaking machine and
the results weren't pretty :-(

John<==sticking with the tried and true !

John Bonnett wrote:
> >
>
> Lacking the equipment to prepare pasta from scratch I've always
> had to use the pre-made.

Um, my condolences on the loss of your hands.

Sheldon

John Bonnett wrote:
> I wrote:
> > AB recovered (he guessed) 90 percent of the oil he put in the cooking
> water,
>
> Sorry. A DVR is your friend. AB didn't 'guess'...he *measured* with the
> aid of
> an (approximately) ten foot tall tube. That's one of the things which
made
> that
> episode so cool.

If the tube was "approximately" ten feet tall, and as I recall not marked in
graduations...

And if the volume of oil to be used in the demonstration was not measured in
the same tube before adding it to the water...

Then the eyeballed amount of oil recovered in an unmarked tube but not
measurable as it was not measured in the first place (don't need a DVR, TiVo
or On Demand for this) is a rough, VERY rough, guesstimate of a return.

> Tossing would have been redundant. He had just demonstrated that adding
oil
> to pasta cooking water does *not* coat every individual strand preventing
> sauce

No, he didn't demonstrate that. How on earth do you (and he) imagine that he
did? What was his evidence that it did or did not occur? If, as you
maintain, he did get 90% of the oil back, that meant that 10% was still in
there. That means it was on the pan, the strainer, and the pasta. Probably
on all of the pasta.

After the oil recovery demonstration, Brown moved immediately into the
cooking-pasta-in-abundant-amounts-of-water demonstration, insisting that it
was the cram-up of starch in lesser volumes that led to sticking and that
the whole thing could be solved by using enough water.

It proved nothing about whether adding oil could prevent pasta from sticking
and as such, it certainly didn't "smash" the myth.


> As an emperical note...it hasn't affected the hundreds of pounds of pasta
> I've
> cooked with a tablespoon of olive oil over the past half-century either.

My own emperical note: I have added oil for decades, have had no trouble
with sauces and have non-stick pasta every time (I don't use two gallons of
water per pound, either).

"pennyaline" <nsmitchell@spamspamspamspamspamspamspameggandspam .com> wrote
in message ...
> John Bonnett wrote:
-----snippage------
>
> My own emperical note: I have added oil for decades, have had no trouble
> with sauces and have non-stick pasta every time (I don't use two gallons
of
> water per pound, either).

So you are saying we are in violent agreement on this point ?

John<==cooking pasta as we type !

In article >,
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
>

When mom and dad taught me to cook pasta, either an spagetti noodles,
elbow or egg noodles, they said add about 1 tbs. or so of oil to the top
of the boiling water. It helps preven the noodles from sticking together.
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell--you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

In article . com>,
"ccrevival" > wrote:

> I was always told that adding a little salt to the water would prevent
> the pasta from sticking. Furthermore, a majority of the oil is floating
> on the surface, so how can it coat the pasta under water?
>

Salting the water adds flavor to the pasta.
Supposedly, as the pasta is inserted into the boling water, the oil
coats it a bit.

I like Pastorio's idea better, and for the reasons he stated. ;-d
--
K.

Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

John Bonnett wrote:
> I wrote:
> > My own emperical note: I have added oil for decades, have had no trouble
> > with sauces and have non-stick pasta every time (I don't use two gallons
> of
> > water per pound, either).
>
> So you are saying we are in violent agreement on this point ?

On this point, yes, vehemently!

<my problem is with AB's methodology>

Bob (this one) wrote:
> 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
>
> [snip]
> 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. [snip]
> 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.
>
This doesn't seem to me to be a case where restaurant practice leads to
what's best at home. Most of the time at home we are not going to
"hold" pasta for any time at all. It goes immediately from being
drained to being sauced. So there shouldn't be a need to add oil to
prevent sticking. If, at home, so much time elapses between your
draining the pasta and serving it, then you need to pay attention to
your timing, not your use of oil.

For flavor, yes, occasionally. I sometimes get the urge for a little
bit of 'plain' spaghetti. While it's boiling I gently cook some minced
garlic and red chili flakes in my best olive oil. As soon as the
spaghetti is al dente I drain it, and pour on the garlic and the oil I
just cooked it in. Add chopped parsley, and a really big handful of
parmesano. Nothing more needed. -aem

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
>

The oil helps keep the water from foaming and boiling over.

Bob

aem wrote:

> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>>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
>>
>> [snip]
>>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. [snip]

>>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.
>
> This doesn't seem to me to be a case where restaurant practice leads to
> what's best at home.

Really? Was it too difficult for you to read what was actually written
before you decided to spurt this insufficient opinion? Nice job of
cutting off the germane part. And an utterly spectacular case of
misunderstanding the perfectly obvious.

Let me try to actually have you read the words this time. Note that this
describes *two* different conditions in *two* different settings. One
where pasta is held; the other where it's served immediately. And where
the restaurant technique proceeded from the home approach, not the
reverse as you so thuddingly pontificated.

Ready... get set... bite this...
"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."

See where my grandmothers did the oiling thing...? When they were going
to sauce it immediately? Notice the lack of the word "hold" between
"toss with oil" and "serve." Too fast, huh...? Right...

> Most of the time at home we are not going to
> "hold" pasta for any time at all.

"hold" this...

> It goes immediately from being
> drained to being sauced. So there shouldn't be a need to add oil to
> prevent sticking.

If you slather sauce on your pasta, it might serve as a lubricant - or
it might serve to cement it together. But if you dress it sparingly, it
might not coat every strand. And even if it does, it might be a sauce
that doesn't prevent sticking. Not all of them do, you know. Oh, wait.
You don't know. Not all Italian pasta dressings are so liquid. Check out
pasta con sarde.

And you seem to think that pasta *must* go from being drained directly
to being sauced. Bad assumption.

> If, at home, so much time elapses between your
> draining the pasta and serving it, then you need to pay attention to
> your timing, not your use of oil.

Thank you for your trivial opinions. I'm delighted you were able to so
demonstrate your inability to read, to reason and to cook... all in a
short little post like this.

In our home service, we don't sauce all the pasta together. We let each
person add the amount they want. See how that could work? So in the two
minutes or so between the time I drain it and serve it, it could stick
were it not tossed with a dash of butter. Then it doesn't stick. And any
left not served also won't stick. Even when it's cold. And it won't have
sauce on it. So the leftovers can be used in myriad ways instead of
merely as last night's pasta reheated.

> For flavor, yes, occasionally. I sometimes get the urge for a little
> bit of 'plain' spaghetti. While it's boiling I gently cook some minced
> garlic and red chili flakes in my best olive oil. As soon as the
> spaghetti is al dente I drain it, and pour on the garlic and the oil I
> just cooked it in. Add chopped parsley, and a really big handful of
> parmesano. Nothing more needed.

I'm sure every Italian was just startled at your brilliant invention.
I'm absolutely positive that no one else has ever made pasta con olio e
aglio. Brilliant.

And there's no such word as "parmesano." Do at least learn the
vocabulary if you're going to try to do that looking-down-from-Olympus
thing. Bad form to blunder while being smug.

It's a pleasure learning from this sort of erudition, experience and
technical dexterity.

No, seriously...

Pastorio

zxcvbob wrote:
> 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
> >
>
> The oil helps keep the water from foaming and boiling over.
>
> Bob

That's what I was taught as well. And you only need a tiny bit. It
works!

-L.

Mi e' parso che Michael Horowitz abbia scritto:

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

Don't use it: if your pasta is decent, it doesn't need it.
If your pasta needs oil to avoid sticking, change supplier.
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

Mi e' parso che Katra abbia scritto:

> Salting the water adds flavor to the pasta.

And it is absolutely *necessary*.
Try cooking pasta without salt in the water and serve it to some
italians. You can measure theyr education and respect towards you
by the way they smile and eat that horrible thing
--
Vilco
Think Pink , Drink Rose'

"John Bonnett" > wrote:

>
>"Michael Horowitz" > wrote in message
.. .
>> Monsur Fromage du Pollet > wrote:
>>
>> >Michael Horowitz wrote on 07 Apr 2005 in rec.food.cooking
>> >
>> >> Recipes for making pasta vary - some say use oil, others don't
>> >> mention it.
>> >> Why or why not is oil used? - Mike
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >Oil is used for preservitive purposes in comercial pastas. A good home-
>> >made pasta is usually eaten within 3 days so no oil needed.
>>
>>
>> Well, I guess I wasn't as clear as I could have been, but I was
>> talking about mixing pasta, NOT adding oil to the water (coats the
>> pasta and reduces the 'cling' factor);
>>
>
>Yabbut you have prepared the field for an *excellent* flame war !
>
>Lacking the equipment to prepare pasta from scratch I've always
>had to use the pre-made (I like Mueller's brand) stuff from the store.
>
>The ingredient list on the box does not mention oil at all.
>
>I've experimented with adding oil to the breadmaking machine and
>the results weren't pretty :-(
>
>John<==sticking with the tried and true !
>
John -
You're missing a treat which is just as dramatic as having been
eating popcorn all your life, only to discover that one can add salt
and it becomes a whole new thing!

Trust me on this one. The only investment is a little time, two
eggs, 1/4t. salt, 1+ cup of flour and a GOOGLE search on 'homemade
pasta"(or better still, wait an hour and someone will post details!)

Regards, Giuseppe Horowitz

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 make meals for a shift worker so the meals are often reheated & eaten
hours after cooking.

I will add a little oil while the pasta is draining.

Resaoning
- oil added during cooking is too dispersed in the water to be of much use
- adding a much smaller amount of oil after cooking while the pasta is
draining, then tossing the pasta, is far more effective
- pasta will keep separate for hours

gtoomey

Bob (this one) wrote:

> Really? [snip gratuitous insults]

Yeah, really. We have different opinions and experiences. Big deal.
At first I was going to reply to the substantive new points you made,
but all I found was repetition of what you already posted. Oh! Yeah,
I don't know the correct Italian for parmesan cheese. You're right.
Feel better now? -aem

aem wrote:

> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>>Really? [snip gratuitous insults]
>
> Yeah, really. We have different opinions and experiences. Big deal.

Actually, a very big deal. You bleated your nonsense because you
couldn't understand some very straightforward information. You were
simply wrong. And you're too Penmartic to admit it.

The simple fact of the matter is that not all opinions are of equal
value. As you proved.

As for experience, you offered nothing to support your "experience"
beyond typing it. I offered my observations of the combined experience
of two Italian women who cooked every day of their adult lives. And my
further experience of being a trained chef who started cooking in
restaurants in the early 50's and progressed through running and owning
(my own and some belonging to others) restaurants for three decades. Who
experimented with the cooking techniques being discussed in many
different settings to reach the empirical conclusions I presented.

Just for your amusement, come see me on Tuesday and Wednesday this week
doing cooking demonstrations in Harrisonburg, Virginia. It's the annual,
gigantic Sysco Food show and I'm doing - get ready for it - pasta. Funny
thing how my ideas about pasta are being supported and promoted by a,
well, pasta company. And yours, um, aren't.

See you there. Maybe I can teach you some things. In the face of likely
failure, hope springs eternal... You'll love my denim chef coat. I'll
even give you an autograph.

> At first I was going to reply to the substantive new points you made,

Oh, substantive new points. Got it. New information. Right.

> but all I found was repetition of what you already posted.

Oh, wait. The "substantive new points [i] made" were repetitions of old
ones. This is the sort of clear thinking you showed in that embarrassing
post you so wisely deleted in its entirety. <LOL>

> Oh! Yeah, I don't know the correct Italian for parmesan cheese.
You're right.

Or English, either. Parmigiano. Parmesan. Simple, simpleton.

But when you try to imply greater understanding and knowledge by using
that phony "parmesano" and leap to your erroneous, silly conclusions,
then your superficiality and fraudulence splash out all over your shirt.

> Feel better now? -aem

Off with you now to play with the other petulant children who try to
fake it and get caught.

Pastorio

"Bob (this one)" > wrote in message
...
> aem wrote:
>
>> Bob (this one) wrote:
>>
>>>Really? [snip gratuitous insults]
>>
>> Yeah, really. We have different opinions and experiences. Big deal.
>
> Actually, a very big deal. You bleated your nonsense because you couldn't
> understand some very straightforward information. You were simply wrong.
> And you're too Penmartic to admit it.
>

Hey a new word - penmartic - I love it!


--
Peter Aitken

Remove the crap from my email address before using.

Bob (this one) wrote:
> [snips]
> As for experience, you offered nothing to support your "experience"
> beyond typing it.

Perhaps I needed to spell it out for you. My experience, and that of
several others who have posted in this thread, is that our pasta
doesn't stick. Therefore, we don't have to oil it between cooking it
and serving it.

> I offered my observations of the combined experience
> of two Italian women who cooked every day of their adult lives. And
> my further experience ....[snips]

Your pasta sticks, apparently. So oil it if you need to. That doesn't
mean that the rest of us need to. 'Nuff said. -aem

"Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
. com...
> "Bob (this one)" > wrote in message
> ...

> > Actually, a very big deal. You bleated your nonsense because you
couldn't
> > understand some very straightforward information. You were simply wrong.
> > And you're too Penmartic to admit it.
> >
>
> Hey a new word - penmartic - I love it!

We also have a verb implied here - "to penmart" - not to
mention a whole new belief system ("penmartism") as well
as a debilitating medical (mental?) condition, "penmartia."

Bob M.

"Bob Myers" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Peter Aitken" > wrote in message
> . com...
> > "Bob (this one)" > wrote in message
> > ...
>
> > > Actually, a very big deal. You bleated your nonsense because you
> couldn't
> > > understand some very straightforward information. You were simply
wrong.
> > > And you're too Penmartic to admit it.
> > >
> >
> > Hey a new word - penmartic - I love it!
>
> We also have a verb implied here - "to penmart" - not to
> mention a whole new belief system ("penmartism") as well
> as a debilitating medical (mental?) condition, "penmartia."
>
> Bob M.
>
>
Don't forget:

as a noun - 'ship shape and penmartic fashion'
or an adverb - 'the chef penmarticly refused to fry fish'

John<==how do you conjugate 'to penmart' ?

-L. wrote:
> zxcvbob wrote:
> > 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
> > >
> >
> > The oil helps keep the water from foaming and boiling over.
> >
> > Bob
>
> That's what I was taught as well. And you only need a tiny bit. It
> works!

Does not. You imagine. Only thing adding oil to a pot of cooking
pasta does is waste oil and make the pot a wee bit more difficult to
clean... without oil just a quick rinse and a wipe... with oil ya gotta
use a bit of soap on the sponge. More than anything else what makes
pasta stick is *over-cooking*, makes pasta gummy, any dumb dago strunz
knows that much... that's how the shadrool WOPs got used to al dente,
not because they like raw pasta, because they don't own any soap. <g>

Ahahahahahahahahaha. . . .

Sheldago

aem wrote:
> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>> [snips]
>>As for experience, you offered nothing to support your "experience"
>>beyond typing it.
>
> Perhaps I needed to spell it out for you.

Perhaps there's nothing to spell. I'm so, so sorry I pointed that
obvious elephant in the room.

> My experience, and that of
> several others who have posted in this thread, is that our pasta
> doesn't stick.

Right. And the only reason I offered for buttering or oiling pasta was
about sticking? Can you really be that obtuse?

Rhetorical...

> Therefore, we don't have to oil it between cooking it and serving it.

Poor aem. Can't seem to follow the thought line. Can't seem to
understand that slathering pasta with sauce the instant it's cooked
isn't the only way to deal with it. Perhaps if you got someone with a
normal attention span to read you the sequence of posts, you might get a
glimmering of what has really happened here. Unfortunately.

Can't seem to grasp the idea that deleting all the information that
shows you to be a fool only reinforces it.

>>I offered my observations of the combined experience
>>of two Italian women who cooked every day of their adult lives. And
>>my further experience ....[snips]
>
> Your pasta sticks, apparently.

<LOLOL> Your uncomprehending posture is so cute. I can just see you
tossing frosted curls over your suntanned shoulder saying,
"what-evv-er"... Prom queen flounces and sneering dismissal - more like
a parting shot delivered with egg all over your face.

As though it bailed you out.

That manly bluster didn't work, so now it's prissy hissy...

<LOL> I can't wait for your next incarnation. Maybe a foreign accent. Or
a new wardrobe. <LOL>

> So oil it if you need to. That doesn't
> mean that the rest of us need to.

This penmartic non sequitur of yours really and sadly shows what you're
about. For some reason, you seem to have fixated on one tiny element of
pasta handling and blown it into *everything* that pasta is about. Poor
overwhelmed aem... <LOL>

So are you coming to see me demonstrate pasta cookery at the big, big
food show next week? I'll make sure they let you in. I'll introduce you
to others professionals who could be glad to explain how to cook pasta
in several languages. Maybe one could penetrate. Small hope, but charity
is a karmic thing...

> 'Nuff said.

Practice what you desperately preach.

Pastorio