So since I have a lot of pasta to get through…I’m going to need some recommendations for your favorite unconventional pasta dishes 👇 Or If you need some inspiration here are some recipes and the pasta shape gide: www.cookwell.com/education/video-companion/a-guide-to-choosing-pasta-shapes www.cookwell.com/discover/collection/weeknight-pasta
Favorite unconventional pasta is a gochujang + soy sauce pasta with garlic bacon and mozzarella cheese. I think it was Marion’s kitchen that had the original recipe but I always tweak it when I make it.
I make a scrambled egg pasta with Parmesan cheese. It’s kind of a “failed carbonara” as the point of it is to get the solid bits of egg folded into the pasta, not make a creamy sauce
As someone who worked in an artisanal pasta factory, I always told customers that fancy pasta is not really for weeknight dinners. Yeah, it will work and be great, but artisanal pasta is for when either the pasta has to shine front and center of a dish, or when you want to go all out to make the very best dish possible. Overall both cheap and fancy pasta have a role.
@@hobblesofkarth3943 Even royals can digest ordinary pasta. From the Internet: "At Tullgarn Castle, during the reign of King Gustaf V of Sweden, a special pie was often prepared and eaten in connection with hunting and excursions. The recipe for Tullgarnspaj (Tullgarn Pie) was composed by the French chef Paul Arbin, who served the king from 1926 until the king's death in 1950. The recipe was published in Monsieur Arbin's cookbook "Royal Dishes" which was published in 1952 and contained a total of 400 recipes. The recipe is calculated for 8-10 people 150 g puff pastry 400 g ordinary spaghetti 200 g melted butter ½ liter of heavy cream 150 g grated Parmesan cheese 150 g grated, salted meat 2 eggs, beaten with 2 dl heavy cream 250 g sweetbread, stewed in cream and meat glaze 200 g boiled or fried chicken, chopped or diced 2 tablespoons braised tomato 1 egg yolk salt, pepper, nutmeg Place a thin slice of puff pastry in the bottom of an ovenproof dish or a metal dish, approximately 15 cm high and 20 cm wide. Cook the spaghetti in salted water until just cooked. Pour off the water and then cook it until cooked together with 100 g of the butter, the heavy cream, salt, pepper and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Place some spaghetti in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Add grated, salty meat, a few spoons of the egg mixture, veal tenderloin and a little melted butter on top. Then add spaghetti and grated cheese on top. Fill the pan in this way in turns. The last turn should consist of chicken and tomato. On top is placed a slice of puff pastry and brushed with egg yolk. Bake the pie in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 200°. The filling can be varied with small veal or pork fillets, steaks, various minced meats, meatballs and all kinds of poultry."
People misunderstand the 'al dente' rule. You should cook/boil pasta until you reach al dente, then you transfer the pasta to a pan with the sauce for about a minute or so. This will take your pasta just past the al dente stage, which is perfect.
@@johnleo2668 Rao's jarred sauce is a good start. But to make it semi-good you have to add mushrooms, garlic, onions, and some mixed italian herbs. Cook it for about 30-45 minutes and it makes a good quick-sauce. A real tomato gravy takes about 3-4 hours to make so I often take this shortcut when time is short.
I always feel like I'm taking crazy pills for thinking this. It's not like some massive conspiracy where every pasta brand puts the wrong cooking time on the package on purpose.
re: al dente pasta... it's normal to like it more cooked than al dente!! It's typical that you're supposed to finish cooking the pasta *in the sauce*, which lets especially more water-based sauces soak into the noodles. The reason why it's traditional to cook pasta al dente is so that you don't end up overcooking it if you finish it in sauce; but for more oily sauces, a longer boil is better (because the sauce will coat the noodles rather than permeate them). EDIT: I cosign you on the whole wheat pasta!! I especially like it for simpler sauces.
Not really, a lot of Italians like the pasta to be al dente as the finished product. They would recommend taking it off even earlier so that after it's cooked in the pan it is al dente.
I normally cook it earlier than the package instructions suggest, because my whole family likes slightly chewy pasta. So it really depends on personal preferences
I find that teflon-cut pasta sticks together way more than bronze cut. The rough initial texture stops smooth surfaces from gluing together as the starches start to hydrate.
Either will not stick together if you stir them after you throw them in the water. That stir breaks up the initial stickiness, after that you're good. If they do stick again you have way too little water in the pot.
I wish you would have made a compete dish with the expensive and inexpensive same shaped pasta. That way you could see how all the individual tests come together. Great video though!
I m italian and i live in Italy, whit zero doub i can distinguish commercial pasta ( from 0,89€ to € 2,50), the smell and the texure are totally different
@@Lorre982I agree. I used to own a small pasta manufacturing business in the US, and could tell pretty easily. But I also learned to have the pasta as the star of the dish…not the sauce.
We have 2 diabetics at our house. It turns out that the cheap $1 Krogers pasta has a much lower glycemic index than whole wheat pasta or other more substantial expensive pasta. We proved this with continuous glucose monitors and a bunch of brands.
Also the composition of the whole meal significantly impacts glucose/insulin response, it can be somewhat counterintuitive at times. Experimentation reveals the truth.
if the two diabetics also have too much body fat, i can recommend the following breakfast: 3 cooked eggs plus 150g of full fat cheese (like gauda) plus 3 tee spoons of butter + a good amount of salt. no carbs added, no juice with carbs etc. eat that meal as soon as possible in the morning after falling out of the bed to lower the cortisol hormone (this is the reason to add butter). it switches the body into fat burning mode, is protein sparing and comes with enough protein for a half day.
@ definitely! We also expected the opposite. It’s allowed them both to eat pasta dishes, especially if there’s not too much tomato. Modern tomatoes are far sweeter than the ones I grew up with in the 50’s.
Kamut (which is a brand of khorasan wheat) is a VERY different type of wheat, one with which I'm currently experimenting. It has higher protein but a variance in the glutenin/gliadin ratios, which results in lower gluten formation. Uses of ancient grains forms of wheat and similar grains, such as einkorn, rye, khorasan, buckwheat, polonicom, mamut, and so forth, including their suitability for celiacs and how well they make breads, might be an interesting topic for a future deep dive.
Celiacs cannot have any gluten at all, so Kamut, Einkorn etc aren't an option. I've been working on a farm years ago and one of my jobs was baking bread, rolls and sheet cakes for market days. The "bakery" was my bosses' baby so we did quite a few experiments. Kamut bread tends to be a bit crumbly, but we managed to bake a very decent whole grain Kamut butter toast bread and the customers liked it as much as we did. I also have a feeling that the carbs in Kamut must have shorter chains than modern wheat or spelt, because I remember a slightly sweet and nutty flavour, not exactly like Cashew, but something in that direction.
I used to get kamut pasta and it was a favorite for me: higher protein and cooked up similarly to "white" (semolina) pasta. FWIW: grains other than wheat have completely different textures, and often go from undercooked to mushy in a matter of seconds (some even end up both mushy and undercooked at the same time!) This was a _major_ issue with whole wheat pasta 45 years ago; production methods have much improved since then. Another issue with non-wheat pastas is that sauce does _not_ often adhere properly (this may be an issue of the amount of starch in the pasta - and by extension, in the pasta water). One of my old favorite pastas (hasn't been manufactured in over 40 years) was Prince "Superoni", which was 70% durum semolina and 30% soy. It cooked up the same as regular pasta, with a slightly nuttier taste and 1/3 more protein than regular pasta.
I LOVE your “is expensive X actually worth it?” style videos, but I saw a comment on one of your old videos that had a great idea and I want to reiterate it: “What I buy at the grocery store and how I use it” This would be SUCH an informative series. Explaining why you pick X rather than just “it tastes good” would be amazing. This could also divulge into a “These items are ALWAYS in my pantry” which would be super informative. Love your content, Ethan! Now I want to have a pasta date night!
Loved that test with the pulling one noodle out every minute. That was pretty cool and tying in another video of yours about strictly following recipes. If you know what you like then go for it!! Same with the macaroni and meatballs, ngl that looked good lol
@@levischorpioen Spaghetti n cheese is EXTRA cheesy. Macaroni meatballs needs extra garlic and basil. It boils down to the proportions, one holds more sauce.
*Video idea:* How does _homemade_ pasta compare to _dried_ pasta made in factories? - What are the ingredient differences? (Wheats, flours, eggs, etc?) - How do you achieve certain shapes? (tools, machines, etc) - How do the tastes, textures, aromas, etc all change in a blind test?
@@mattia_carciola ^THIS^ Alex takes about 17 episodes to answer this question in excruciating detail. Short Answer: for home situations, dried pasta will always be better. Leave fresh pasta to resturants.
A big difference: Eggs! You can buy dried egg noodles, but it's usually just a single simple variety. The from-scratch recipes I've seen use only eggs as the liquid.
@@mattia_carciola I have made pasta and air-dried it at home. It's not dry like the boxed stuff, but it's dry enough to not stick and keeps in the fridge for a long time.
@@JohnDlugosz Read the ingredients on a box of pasta. Flour, water and that is it. No eggs. Eggs are a northern german addition to noodles. Egg-noodles are not really pasta. Search for a playlist from Alex: "Dry Pasta : The Unsung Hero of the Pasta World" 17, 30 minute episodes on how to (not) make pasta at home.
My favorite shape is Racchette (De Cecco). For a tomato sauce pasta dish I like to undercook the pasta in water by a few minutes, then cook it to its final texture IN the sauce so some of the moisture of the sauce absorbs into the pasta itself. I don't salt the cooking water but the sauce is well seasoned so some of that salt must be getting into the pasta in the finishing process. I do prefer al dente overall, but not so al dente that it feels like there is a firmer or undercooked layer in the core.
I agree with you here on not salting the water. I actually saw another scientific cooking video on pasta where he concluded it's basically never worth it if you're putting a sauce on anyway and it's easier to control the amount of salt if it's all in the sauce. Also that pasta doesn't need to be boiling hot to be cooked so you can bring your water to the boil, pop the lid on and turn it off then stir and reheat at 5 minutes and turn it off again until it's cooked. Been doing it that way for over a decade now and I wonder how much energy it's saved me haha.
Agreed with your conclusion; I do think it is worth it for me, since I noticed that textural difference (albeit via following the box instructions). But I did also notice the difference with salting the water as well tasted noticeably more improved (and required noticeably more salt than I’d have thought). I may not be sold on wheat pastas (the texture just felt “off”) but I do feel sold on bronze cut pastas.
Your supposed to salt the water before you put the Pasta in or it will be bland and tasteless. I find if you cook your pasta a little under it will continue to cook while your tossing it in the Sauce and Don't forget to save some of that Pasta water as it will Rehydrate the sauce if it gets too dry and act as thickener since there is Starch from the pasta in the water itself.
From my understanding the coarser grind of semolina also makes it possible to hydrate the pasta dough with less water, which in turn makes it easier to dry it later.
I usually stock up on De Cecco pasta when it is on offer. A lot of my sauces really work better with the additional starch. And, when I make pasta al forno the bite left in the pasta feels better to me.
@@miskatonic6210he's saying that it's the best you can buy in stores. no one has time to make stocks of fresh pasta themselves, nor the money to always buy it fresh. but, if we wanna buy store pasta, then I'm sorry but Rummo is way better than De Cecco to me, just not sure how common in is in the US
I very much appreciate the design you are adding to your videos. Matching it with your website. The content is great as always, and now it’s looking even better. Thank you for this deep dive on pasta, I loved it
The research aspect of it is so proper. I've taken away that I have to consume more mindfully. This makes me wish all manufacturers and producers would give information about their process. A lot of that production cost will add into the pricing because if it's handmade, airdried etc, they don't produce as quickly as a factory process. It then depends on whether you're willing to pay for that human labour or not. Thanks Ethan!
Honestly, I think what you’re making the pasta with makes most of the difference. I regularly switch back between a bronze dye and barilla or even great value brand pasta. Nothing is really registering as better when I switch back-and-forth even with the great value brand. I know it’s the cheapest but I really like paying $.98 for pasta, especially when I’m paying $4 for the ground beef or heavy cream or getting the best parmesan reg I can find.
This is kind of the same way I cook. While more expensive ingredients do tend to have a better taste/texture, once a whole dish is completed, a lot of that difference is negated - not completely, but it's not nearly as noticeable as just comparing those differences for that single ingredient alone. When you have the entirety of the dish completed, however, the difference often just isn't worth the extra expense, IMO. Comparing a $3-4 dish of pasta with a $15-20 dish, the more expensive version is almost never worth that multiple-100% difference in cost. The mor expensive dish is better, yes, but usually only by like 20-30%, not 300%+. It is very rare, in my experience, to find something that is truly worth anywhere near the extra cost. As an occasional splurge, or for an event where you want things to be a bit fancier, sure. But for everyday cooking? I would much rather make 3 or 4 times the amount of a cheaper dish that is still perfectly good. Beyond that, in all honesty, most people just aren't able to judge and enjoy more expensive ingredients properly. I've literally been able to placebo-effect people, by swapping out ingredients in their boxes, so they think they're being served much more expensive stuff, when what they're actually getting is the cheapest store-brand items available.
I highly recomend dichting Barilla. It's not really better then the great value pastas. In fact, you can find some great value pastas that will exceed Barilla.
@@AeriFyrein He didn't mention that the Bronze cut pastas have a rougher texture that helps more of the Sauce stick to the pasta and not sit at the bottom of the pan and the Brand too, Some brands are better than others. But it's all in the persons experience with the ingredients it's like people who have fancy Japanese knives and don't know how to properly care for them because they though more expensive is better.
@ Not exactly sure what this is referring to, since it seems pretty different than what I was commenting on. But regardless, he actually did mention in the video about the texture & sauce stuff. IIRC, he actually found they were similar, or even that the non-bronze cut pasta had sauce sticking to it better. I believe there was also mention (though this could have been from a comment, rather than the video) that the type of sauce makes a difference, for which type it will stick to better - a sauce that is heavier on water will work better on one type, compared to a more oil-based or properly emulsified sauce. Since people using cheaper pasta will tend to also be using cheaper sauce - which is going to have a lot more water content typically - then those sauces definitely *would* benefit from the bronze-cut pasta.
I often cook with bucatini, as my spaghetti replacement. I also cook with Orchiette, casarecce, and cavatelli. Orichiette is wonderful with broccoli rabe and italian sausage
100%. Now in Aldi they also have the "specially selected" pasta which is actually a white label version of Monograno for around $3. I think for $1 more per box its really worth it, especially for simple sauces.
Aldi make their producers produce at cost, they refuse to pay any of their suppliers decent rates to keep their prices low. This affects the workforce who make the stuff they sell. Fuck Aldi
I hate that I have yet another Aldi product that I like.🫥 The Aldi stores where I live are so inconsistent on fresh goods (produce, out of date refrigerated items, out of stock…always out of stock) that it’s becoming more of a chore to go there. Good tip though! I can buy a bunch to have on hand
As an italian born and raised in italy, the big differeces between bronz cut pasta and teflon cut pasta are 3 1- thanks to the rougher surface bronze cut pasta sticks mutch less than teflon cut pasta wile cooking 2-thanks to the rougher surface bronze cut pasta release more starch wile cooking wich helps a lot if you cook the sauce with pasta and pasta water resulting in a thicker and smoother sauce. 3-better texture So YES bronze cut pasta (or more expencive pasta) is better both on the tecnical side and the texture side. P.S. the pasta isn't actualli cooking but rehydrating, and the denaturation of the protein that give texture begin around 80°C (176° F)
I'm Italian and I don't like al dente either. I like it cooked perfectly. Not too hard, not too soft. The problem with cooking it right in the middle is, if you mix the pasta and sauce together and put the leftovers in the fridge, the pasta will get mushy. Don't mix the leftovers.
That's why I usually make more sauce, reserve the amount I'm not needing and put it in the fridge. It's worth cooking the pasta again. When I had a microwave sometimes I just saved another dish, but not always. Also, what many people call "al dente" is undercooked, especially here in Italy.
Yup, that's why I never want anyone to prep dried pasta for me... it does not work especially with the smaller kinds of pasta. The leftovers will always be overcooked as soon as they are heated up again, even if they were absolutely perfect. I much prefer them fried.
Thanks for another fascinating video. I love how you point out that shape and cooking time make more difference than die and drying time. I'm a big fan of whole wheat pasta, to the point that "white" pasta lacks flavor and texture compared to what I'm used to. I'm also a fan of penne and spiral pastas that grab more sauce than smooth types. That way, I get more flavor and chew without spending more money.
Ethan, I genuinely love your analysis of food as a general rule. Thanks! With that, I also find that your review matches what I have found. There are pasta dishes that you can adjust cooking time etc. with a lesser expensive pasta cooked correctly. Overall, I (as a matter of aesthetics) like bronze cut - largely because of the 'fuzzy' texture, AND I simply like the flavor of the wheats used in these. Ditto on whole wheat pasta. It has a savory roasted flavor that benefits many dishes - especially salads, and fresh adjunct ingredients. Anyway, great job dude!👍
Go with the cheapest pasta that has a pale yellow colour and rough exterior. I find De Cecco to be pretty good for a mass market brand thats available everywhere
@@spacelegos4964 De Cecco use good quality grain so that's not an issue... the main thing is if you are in us and you get us pasta it will travel (and pollute) a lot less, I'm in Italy and for the same reason I want pasta with grain from Italy... I want to avoid to produce too much CO2.
@@LiefLayerfrench here, molissana is my favorite pasta! We got several shapes, but only the basic ones, i miss shopping in italy for the variety! And alternate shapes are only found in speciality shops with insane prices (more than 5€ for a 450-500g package) De cecco is ok, i don't like Rumo (feels very cheap don't know why). I use Barilla for sauces that don't require pasta water like ragu, or for lasagna
I agree, when i am not in Italy, De Cecco is the bare minimum that makes me comfortable with my choice. I am not gonna touch anything that has piss-yellow colour to it.
I just can't tell you how much I appreciate these more science/experiment approach videos. You're answering questions I've had for years. I just don't have the time to test them like you are. THANK YOU!!!
As a former Texas resident, after watching this I’m currently yearning for central market. That and HEB are the only things I really miss after moving to California.
You're a rare person who moved FROM Texas TO California? LOL. I hope it was for work, cuz there's reason no other good reason. You can't even really say weather anymore, cuz they've been getting their share of heat. You can find great food in any major city in Texas. Texas is still way more affordable even with all the Californians now jacking up real estate prices.
@ Texas is undoubtedly more affordable than California, no argument there. But the access to scenery, culture, and food are unparalleled (at least in the Bay Area). And despite what some media outlets love parroting, it's not nearly as violent as some of Texas' larger cities. To be clear, California has its problems but Texas does too.
@ Austin/Hill Country has some magnificent scenery which a lot of Californians compare to being back home. Houston in particular has just as much amazing food and culture as any city in California, being that it's a major port city which a lot of refugees came to. Houston and Dallas have the largest Vietnamese communities outside of Vietnam itself. It's actually the 3rd most spoken language in Texas. Bay Area oysters were the only thing I remember wishing we had here. Gulf oysters are not the same.
Pedro, I think he implied $9 for a box of pasta to cook as a homecook. You can have pasta cost $100 in restaurants but that's not the point. @@pedro72246
@@HH-le1videpends on the box size but a small box will at least serve two so still expensivd but with sauce it isnt that expensive compared to a restaurant that will charge 30 bucks.
And here we are. Overcooked pasta it's the same of a well done steak. Sure, you can like it, but you're declaring you're a savage, a diabolical beast, a walking blasphemy
I pretty much just go for the cheapest bronze cut I can find Which used to be La Molisana from Amazon, but the price has increased by 50% _at least,_ in the past couple years, so now I only buy Fiorfiore from Walmart
The thing we eat the most at my house with pasta is homemade Cincinnati chili 3 ways! We usually use whole wheat (higher fiber, less spikes in blood glucose).
I sooo agree with the point on shape of the pasta. Maybe it's just a psychological bias or a matter of taste (like an artistic type of thing) but you actually experience eating differently when you fork differently - you know what I mean? I love switching up spaghetti with penne or fusilli for the same tomato sauce from time to time, just to experience it in a more variate way. It's same for me with onion cut or herbs I add to same basic sauce, just make it different to the taste of a day. By the way, isn't cooking pasta al dente a reason for finishing it up in the sauce? 😅Always though it was the intention behind it. Great vid as always, Ethan.
It's not just psychological imo. Different shapes have different mouth feels and different ways it picks up sauce. I love adding shape variety into my dishes calling for a specific type.
After buying more "mid range" pasta I cant realy use barilla etc anymore. I just notice the difference in texture and that it holds the sauce better and I make pasta like 3+ times per week :)
20:39 "This might be the first time in history anyone's used bronze cut spaghetti with a store bought mac and cheese sauce, wouldn't recommend making this one at home." Ethan still eats it because it's pasta with cheese and he is a professional.
While expensive pasta can enhance the experience with better texture and flavor, cheaper pasta is sufficient for many meals. Whole wheat pasta offers a distinct, earthy taste worth considering.
i switched to whole wheat pasta last fall, and the store was out one day so i was forced to get the white pasta. the white one didn't have any flavour and tasted bit wierd to be honest, because it's blander tasting than whole wheat. for the added bonus that whole wheat is healthier i'm pretty glad i made the switch because i love the stuff now, it's way better than regular! i was just so picky as a kid, whole wheat tasted kinda granular as a kid but i don't taste it anymore, it just has more flavour
Al Dente, in my opinion, allows for additional cooking time with the sauce. I am also not a huge Al Dente fan either, but nothing is worse than mushy Azz pasta. Lol
One of the things that makes us eat pasta every day is that we are not limited by the link between pasta shape and condiment. We make macaroni with meat sauce(because meatball pasta is an american thing) all the time. That's the fun of having so many different shapes and different sauces(gricia, amatriciana, carbonara, puttanesca, etc) to have fun with.
A couple of years ago, there was a pasta shortage, shelves were empty...and the pasta came back, but with regular wheat instead of durum. I'm apparently the only one who noticed this. My local Walmart has exactly one pasta with durum, the Rao's brand. All the others are regular wheat. My theory is the war in Ukraine plus a crop failure in Canada caused a winter wheat crisis in the US. Manufacturers switched supplies, and now, they just sell us inferior product as if nobody would notice. Nobody but me, apparently.
Then, people must like their pasta well cooked past Al dente. I do sense the difference because the protein is usually lower, and sugar levels spike sooner. So, with cheaper pastas I find that aiming for a firm al dente slow the sugar spikes, but proper durum I can cook longer.
Depends on where you shop. I can find durum wheat pastas in many giant eagle branches. Don’t shop at walmart or target for pasta so I can’t say for them. I haven’t noticed any shortage of it. I guess it also depends on where you live. Not true though where I live.
I'm italian, I always boil my pasta 2 minutes less than it says on the package, then toss it in the pan with the sauce for another 1-2 minutes. I have a real hard time eating overcooked pasta so I tend to be on the al dente side. As per favorite ways to cook it, I prefer very simple sauces, my favorite are Spaghetti al Limone (Lemon zest and butter), Burro e Salvia (butter and sage), Cacio e Pepe (Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper) and Aglio e Olio (Garlic, Olive Oil and Parsley)
Aside from some minor texture differences, I've never found any particular enhancing characteristics in expensive pasta. I've found that the right shape of pasta for your dish is the most important factor in the end.
Im really happy to see that theres more "acceptance" for not having your pasta al dente these days. I stopped even trying after watching Jacques Pépin say "I dont really like it that way, you should have it the way you like it". Theres alot of wiggleroom between al dente and mushy.
Absolutely. If there is one thing I could have everyone test it would be the textures and paying attention to how it changes along the way as it absorbs water. You will never learn what “over” or “undercooked” pasta means to unless you actually test it for yourself.
I like my pasta TENDER, several minutes passed al dente. Idk, I just don't like the taste and texture of pasta when it's made at home with a firmer texture. It's like the flavor of whatever sauce I add to it after just doesn't get in there as much.
I am so glad you mentioned that Jacques Pépin said "I dont really like it that way, you should have it the way you like it" because I look up to him as authoritative on this subject. Ethan started the conversation about thinking al dente was too firm. I am of the same mind. I am 68 and have yet to run into anyone that really prefers al dente. I know of a few people who cook their spaghetti pasta until when thrown on a wall it will stick and then they say it's done. I never relied on that method.
totally worth it. i can't eat regular pasta after trying de cecco, molisana or rummo. de cecco is my fav. prices at italian grocery stores in spain are around 2 euro. in regular spanish supermarkets it's about 2.4 euro.
The thing is… de cecco and la molisana are on the cheaper side (have no idea how much rummo costs). They aren’t the cheapest of all pasta, but ones of the cheapest bronze-cut
@@Blabla_bloblo Well, it's all about finding the balance. Rummo is on the same price range. I can buy at around 1,5 or 2 euros here in Portugal. These are amazing prices for good quality pasta to use at home. I don't need it to be the best pasta of all time, just to have a good consistency and starchy water for the sauces and reheating. They're all fine for homecooks.
I didn't understand the shape part at all. You just said 'it feels wrong' but the taste and aroma were fine. No comments about texture or anytime else. How did the shake really matter then? Human biases makes is feel something is strange or wrong but that's doesn't mean the dish was bad or when not as good as with the original pairing. Can you please elaborate on that part Ethan ?
Because it's a long spaghetti noodle mixed with a kraft cheese sauce. In your brain when you're eating a cheddar based cheese sauce you expect a specific noodle to pair with it, it's shape affects the outcome of the dish
I’m glad someone else admitted that they don’t really care for al dente either. I like my pasta a little softer. Al dente is fine, but I do usually cook my pasta a little longer than the directions say.
I learned something new, bronze cut and Teflon cut. I never heard of that difference. I’ll look more thoroughly next time I shop for pasta. My go-to pastas have been Prince and Pastene brands. Thank you for doing this video. Food for thought on my next grocery shopping trip.
For me personally I find how much I deviate from the box instructions when it comes to cook time depends on the shape of pasta. Something low and thin like Spaghetti I prefer on the al dente side, but some of the thicker/more complex pasta I often cook a little longer because I don't like how they come out a bit too firm in the middle. The biggest offender for me are the red lentil pasta. The box says 8 minutes, but the pasta is still straight up crunchy after that period of time. I usually have to cook it closer to 15 minutes.
My secret is have 3 different pasta shapes and put them in the same bowl together. One of my favorite pasta shapes is Farfalle, but if you just use that shape they lay very flat together, and I find that very boring. But if you introduce any other shape suddenly the bowties are lying in a bunch of different directions and the bowl looks much more full. You can even have multiple shapes in your pantry and combine them differently each time. Makes a simple sauce become a lot more interesting to look at. Give it a try!
Cheapest pasta, the flavour will be the sauce. Cooking 2 minutes over the recommended time (I use 11 minutes or longer for all my pasta). Spaghetti, and tagliatelle are my favourites. I break the spaghetti into 2" (50mm) lengths for my blind friend to handle easily. I prefer tagliatelle for my carbonara, and have to make my own due to an egg intolerance.
In the past few years the biggest discovery I've made was white pasta with fiber. Normal white pasta has little fiber, while whole wheat has more but doesn't taste quite the same. There are some brands that sell a "smart" white pasta with fiber that seems to be the best of both worlds. If you're eating a whole bunch of it, the added fiber will help with the digestive aspect of it (you'll be thankful when you visit the bathroom later). In the US Barilla has one, while in Canada we have a brand called Catelli that makes it.
Most grains in North America and other locations outside Italy 🇮🇹 are treated with GLYPHOSATE, a widely used, and highly controversial weed killer. Growers do this to speed their crops to market. For this reason, I only buy pasta made from 100% Italian grown wheat or organic pasta from wheat grown in other areas. This is a key driver in the price of pasta and well worth it in my opinion.
My 2 cents. As a person of Italian descent where food is quite a focal point of family interaction and therefore important, it was explained to me this way: Pastas where youre just adding a sauce (any) a more rough cut or textured pasta is preferred as it allows the sauce to stick to it better because of increased surface area. For baked dishes that will include soft cheeses and other ingredients a flatter pasta will do. (think baked ziti, very smooth noodle as opposed to a penne or rigatoni which usually has grooves). If youre doing a pasta salad or something with light oil and herbs/spices, again, flat is fine (rotini, bowtie or elbow, although that tri color stuff is popular if only for the visual aspect of it). For the thin guys, like spaghetti/linguini, since theres no grooves, a rougher texture to the noodle helps make up for it. The rougher texture is usually found on more expensive brands, however, for the couple of dollars more it usually is, its not really a huge issue. We're not talking $20 vs $2 for the most part, more like $2 / box vs $4 maybe $5. Anything more than that is kind of a waste. And the al dente thing... this is a preparation thing and personal preference. An overly soggy noodle is kind of gross to me (and just about any Italian) and an undercooked noodle is at best slightly more preferable as if its in sauce, it will eventually even out if it continues to be heated. Favorite unconventional pasta dish(es). EASY MODE: Cold pasta salad. Great for a warm summer day. Pasta is cooked and cooled. Olive oil, basil, little oregano, salt, pepper and garlic to taste just to coat the noodles and served cold. I prefer a bowtie for this as the pinch in the middle helps to trap that herb mixture for a little flavor blast. HARD MODE: Really unconventional and a pain in the butt to make, fried stuffed rigatoni. Noodles are cooked to al dente, cooled, filled with cheese mixture that youd use for say a rollatini or something. if you want to get fancy you can add a cooked pea in the middle. Its easier to use a frosting piping bag with a wide tip. The ends get pinched and fork pressed closed. After an eternity of doing this, the pastas are refrigerated and left to cool further. But dont let them dry completely out, they need to remain somewhat sticky. Then they are dredged in flour or a fine bread crumb mixture and deep fried just for a few seconds to brown. This is more of an appetizer/finger food kind of thing and not meant to be eaten as a dish. Kinda like a mozz stick but with pasta.
This is an excellent video! Packed with great info and explanation, yet concise enough. Love all the actual photos using the camera and lens you are talking about. I have watched several videos on the 100-400mm and yours explained it perfectly.
I once spent a huge amount on some 2 foot long artisinal spaghetti that came nicely wrapped in tissue. To cook it i had to snap it into thirds, basically back to normal spaghetti length, to fit in my pan, and i put a good but basic store sauce on it every time i ate it since i was a broke student at the time. Ever since then, I've realised that im perfectly happy with the 'premium' own brand pasta from my grocery store of choice, no matter how tempting the fancy cottom bagged pasta look!
This video mostly concerns with the taste, odor, texture, or the subjective experience of eating the pasta. How about the nutrion differences, are there any? Does the human body absorb the the pastas similarly with their different structures?
I definitely prefer bronze cut, but they are almost always more expensive, so other factors are probably different too. I boil pasta longer than stated as I prefer it that way. I actually had four of your special shaped ones already in the cupboard, but it's mostly because I love to change things regularly. Thanks for another great video!
I just recently stopped buying pasta and instead started making it myself and although you lose that variety of shapes(since i do everything by hand) flavor wise it is a big step up and the 40 more minutes it takes to make it(most being rest time) are definitely worth it, even more so as it is the time it takes to do the rest of the dishes and clean calmly. It is also way cheeper and more starchy than any other pasta i've cocked. Either way thanks for the video it is always a plasure and informing to watch, keep it up:)
Yeah big difference between fresh and dried pasta. Though you can buy fresh pasta in the store it's just in a different part usually and doesn't store for nearly as long.
Ok, I checked you profile to gauge how open you are to reasonable arguments. No woo stuff (as far as I cen tell), follower of cody's lab, which is a plus. Glyphosate is basically a witch hunt, based on naturalistic fallacies and lobbying by organic farming. Glyphosate has a lower toxicity than most pesticide, but is extremely efficient in plants. Glyphosate was almost never found in the samples going through the news (some of them even 'found' amounts below testing threshold) instead they were testing for AMPA, which glyphosate degrades into, but it has plenty of other sources aswell, plus often using the ELISA testing method, which is prone for false positives. The IARC study is basically meaningless, because it only takes into account if a study is carcinogenic, not at which threshold. The WHO, parent organisation of IARC vehemently disagreed with the finding in the JMPR report of 2016. Cristopher Portier, who led the IARC meta study on glyphosate has accepted meetings and *money* from anti-GMO lobby groups during the study (an absolute no go) and included several studies that have been long before the IARC study started (speak: they've been called out for manipulating their studies, he included them anyway.) And Monsano hate. 'Agent orange' wasn't used by the Monsanto in war crimes, bit by the US Government, alongside several other agents from different companies. And no, Monsanto never sued someone for accidental polination, but deliberate crossbreeding against contract and destributed the money from the lawsuit in the community local to said farmer.
@@barrychancey2028 The Durum wheat is diferent though, The American Durum wheat is more intense for people with celiac compared to European Durum wheat
Actually, here's a question - are expensive *pepper mills* worth it? Or is it more than enough to stick with the basic mill with plastic parts - or is going with ceramic-burr mills meaningfully better? Because we all know that fresh ground pepper is miles better than pre-ground... and very few people will use mortar/pestle.
For me, grind quality and consistency only really matters if you're concerned about how compounds are extracted from the ingredient and the process of doing so. With Coffee, having a uniform grind profile matters when wanting quality extraction at a consistent rate. With Espresso machines this is especially important when how fine and consistent the grinds are will affect how you pull shots. With black pepper, or any pepper you are trying to grind, I'm having a difficult time justifying a better grinder. Provided the grinds don't look 'ugly' it should be fine to use a cheaper grinder. Maybe if you want better ergonomics when handling? Maybe something that has a better feel when grinding. Or you just want something you can keep on the table while eating because an ugly grinder would make the dining experience look messy. Yeah, higher quality grinders seems to be more for improving your infusion/extraction game than anything else.
I think the only meaningful difference in the final product would come from the coarseness of the grind, and of course you might prefer it finer or coarser based on preference or the specific application. Maybe it would be worth paying for an expensive grinder if you can precisely control the grind, and that's actually important to you? I think most people would be fine with a cheap one, or else buying based on aesthetics.
this video was excellent! i have a phillips pasta maker (extruder) and didn't like the rough texture as i was used to smooth teflon edges on cheap pasta, but now i have a greater appreciation, and also will try various types of wheats or other additives (beet powder, kale powder and spirulina, activated charcoal, and turmeric are some great colours to add which I've tried). Homemade is still the best, lol! Would love to see a video about the homemade options, but that would require buying a few (some expensive) pasta makers
This largely confirms my intuitions that for my typical pasta, the pasta itself is more or less a commodity. But it also helped clarify use cases where I might want to spring for the more expensive stuff. Mostly for specific shapes or textures, or in the rare case where the sauce isn’t doing all the work re flavor. Great video.
Yes, it is. Alex has been my pasta guiding light for about 2 years now and I LOVE the difference, even if it's "quite minor" Edit: I have to say and shoutout, this video truly shows the best strengths of this series. There have been many other ingredients where there were highly interesting observations (eg. vanilla), that yet didn't really make me feel completly engaged with the framework that we have been using for awhile now, but this video is the exact opposite, because of the many biases I've (obviously) had when thinking about "pasta quality". Taste not being "taste" has been a huge revelation to me ever since you've first pointed it out many, many videos ago, but especially in this discussion it comes through the most.
Agree, midrange is the best one! I spent half the series almost screaming at the screen to just use De Cecco, Molisana, Voiello or Garofalo, until he finally said that. (however I found a bit annoying that he felt compelled to push the sponsorship pontlessly high end pasta, but since it's how he lives I took it as any ad and been thankful for the series being possible)
Love these style videos of yours, I think I watched them all so far. One I’d like to suggest is Japanese Curry roux cubes. You have done a lot of staple ingredient comparison, but what about something a little different? Keep your the entertaining and informative work!
Awesome video, as always. I used to only buy the cheap stuff, then went for the bronze cut, to now Delverde. I found that it took at least 4 minutes longer to cook (spaghetti) than the bottom shelf, but the texture that came with it was top notch, 1,80 Euro for it in DE.
I’ve been really playing with different shapes for different dishes and it really is wild how the shape can change how much I like it. My favorite is bow tie with a light fresh tomato sauce with a lot of garlic and diced mushrooms. My least favorite is a red meat sauce with Cesarece. It’s just weird. Too thick to settle in the crannies.
Great video! I love the level of detail in your content. My only minor gripe would be, could you include Celsius (in addition to Fahrenheit), or have an on-screen overlay, for the majority of the world who doesn't use or have any reference point for degrees Fahrenheit. Keep up the awesome work.
Pasta is my favorite food. When I went to Italy a decade ago, it changed everything in my pasta cooking. First and foremost use a good quality pasta. There's plenty of it around these days. They go on sale all the time and only cost $1 - $3 more a pound. I buy Rummo & Molisana for $2 - $3 a pound. I buy Cocco for $5 a pound if I'm in the mood(which is always). There is no need to spend more. Dececco, Rao and Red Barilla Box are pretty good too and always on sale for $2 a box/bag. Many supermarkets also import and private label some decent stuff for a good price.
I use funghetto or trotolle for my mac and cheese and so far it's always been a hit. They're extremely fun shapes that hold a ton of sauce, and the thickness of the noodles means the texture is just uneven enough that you can get some bite and some squish in every noodle. They work well enough for pesto and white sauces, too, for any curious, but I can't really recommend a bolognese as the meat will likely settle to the bottom.
I like the substantial feeling of al dente and the springyness of fully cooked pasta. The best way I have found to make it like that is to cook, chill overnight, then reheat. Also whole wheat pasta has amazing flavor.
I was perfecting spaghetti carbonara for some time, and let me tell you, the last thing I did to the dish was switching teflon cut pasta to bronze cut. The difference was night and day, better texture, better sauce, super creamy.
As an Italian man... yes Jokes aside, there's a lot of info that hasnt covered, pasta is so much more complex. Noodles in general, can extend from Italy to Japan authentically, so keep that in mind when you are working with pasta
As a general food lover... I say put at least some money into food. You do want those extra flavors and nutrients that come from foods that are more expensive than the cheapest brands (unless you are like my father and grandfather, who apparently do not have a sense of taste. Imagine not appreciating all the different subtle flavors of different cheeses. You still want the nutrients though). The most expensive foods however you do not need, those are just luxury foods. And even then, proper foods tend to taste much better when home made. Proper home made _fresh_ pasta does taste so much better than whatever you can get at the store, at least in my experience. And you get the satisfaction of having a _completely_ homemade lasagna if you even make the pasta yourself.
For the best tasting experience, try drinking some water between different products to cleanse your palate. And if you're dealing with strong aromas, smelling coffee can help reset your sense of smell!
I find the bronze pasta at my local discount grocery store. I’ve been lucky enough to get them for $1.50 since most people don’t really buy them there. Most of it comes from Sprouts. I think you’re spot on the texture, it really changes the dish.
id imagine that the liquid portion plays a pretty big part as well, like different grade eggs might have different taste profiles for the pasta and of course water based would have a different taste as well
I love farfalle cooked a little under because you get the chewier bit in the middle where the 'wings' connect. I use it in a caramelised onion pasta bake - basically, bake onions with tin foil covering them for a couple of hours, then add cooked pasta, spinach, chicken (optional) and coconut milk, mix it all together well and cover with cheese then breadcrumbs then bake until crispy on top.
I enjoy overcooked inexpensive spaghetti or penne pasta using about half the water with a good olive oil and sauteed minced garlic done in same pan. Haven't made any in years but watching this has brought back memories. How to store pasta? Pasta generally goes in fridge after shopping. I'll roll spag on counter with hand or let penne warm in plastic measure.
Leaving out the difference between something say Renzoni which is insanely cheap and ultra processed and something more expensive that is organic and not processed. Would love to see some more videos including comparisons between ingredients in that way.
So since I have a lot of pasta to get through…I’m going to need some recommendations for your favorite unconventional pasta dishes 👇
Or If you need some inspiration here are some recipes and the pasta shape gide:
www.cookwell.com/education/video-companion/a-guide-to-choosing-pasta-shapes
www.cookwell.com/discover/collection/weeknight-pasta
Favorite unconventional pasta is a gochujang + soy sauce pasta with garlic bacon and mozzarella cheese. I think it was Marion’s kitchen that had the original recipe but I always tweak it when I make it.
Gochujang sounds like a great base to use.
@@EthanChlebowski Cincinnati chile over spaghetti!
I’d love to see some baked options. Casseroles get a bad rap but are so convenient.
I make a scrambled egg pasta with Parmesan cheese. It’s kind of a “failed carbonara” as the point of it is to get the solid bits of egg folded into the pasta, not make a creamy sauce
As someone who worked in an artisanal pasta factory, I always told customers that fancy pasta is not really for weeknight dinners. Yeah, it will work and be great, but artisanal pasta is for when either the pasta has to shine front and center of a dish, or when you want to go all out to make the very best dish possible. Overall both cheap and fancy pasta have a role.
Agreed. When you artisanal, you're earing less to enjoy the dish. Whether its carbonara, marsala, cacio y pepe, enjoy the pairing
Which cheapish pasta you recommend? Currently my goto is De Cecco but am open to suggestions?
So my wife has once again been correct for many years, cheaper is fine in most of complex over sauced dishes we do.
@@hobblesofkarth3943 Even royals can digest ordinary pasta.
From the Internet:
"At Tullgarn Castle, during the reign of King Gustaf V of Sweden, a special pie was often prepared and eaten in connection with hunting and excursions.
The recipe for Tullgarnspaj (Tullgarn Pie) was composed by the French chef Paul Arbin, who served the king from 1926 until the king's death in 1950.
The recipe was published in Monsieur Arbin's cookbook "Royal Dishes" which was published in 1952 and contained a total of 400 recipes.
The recipe is calculated for 8-10 people
150 g puff pastry
400 g ordinary spaghetti
200 g melted butter
½ liter of heavy cream
150 g grated Parmesan cheese
150 g grated, salted meat
2 eggs, beaten with 2 dl heavy cream
250 g sweetbread, stewed in cream and meat glaze
200 g boiled or fried chicken, chopped or diced
2 tablespoons braised tomato
1 egg yolk
salt, pepper, nutmeg
Place a thin slice of puff pastry in the bottom of an ovenproof dish or a metal dish, approximately 15 cm high and 20 cm wide. Cook the spaghetti in salted water until just cooked. Pour off the water and then cook it until cooked together with 100 g of the butter, the heavy cream, salt, pepper and a pinch of grated nutmeg. Place some spaghetti in the bottom of the pan and sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese. Add grated, salty meat, a few spoons of the egg mixture, veal tenderloin and a little melted butter on top. Then add spaghetti and grated cheese on top. Fill the pan in this way in turns. The last turn should consist of chicken and tomato. On top is placed a slice of puff pastry and brushed with egg yolk.
Bake the pie in the oven for 20-30 minutes at 200°. The filling can be varied with small veal or pork fillets, steaks, various minced meats, meatballs and all kinds of poultry."
@@greenhat7618 De Cecco in the light blue box? thats mine too. shows up everywhere barilla does but better mouthfeel, bulkier shapes.
People misunderstand the 'al dente' rule. You should cook/boil pasta until you reach al dente, then you transfer the pasta to a pan with the sauce for about a minute or so. This will take your pasta just past the al dente stage, which is perfect.
Yes! Thank you!!
Whaddayamean you just don't just dump the jarred sauce on your spaghetti?
Exactly!
@@johnleo2668 Rao's jarred sauce is a good start. But to make it semi-good you have to add mushrooms, garlic, onions, and some mixed italian herbs. Cook it for about 30-45 minutes and it makes a good quick-sauce. A real tomato gravy takes about 3-4 hours to make so I often take this shortcut when time is short.
I always feel like I'm taking crazy pills for thinking this. It's not like some massive conspiracy where every pasta brand puts the wrong cooking time on the package on purpose.
re: al dente pasta... it's normal to like it more cooked than al dente!! It's typical that you're supposed to finish cooking the pasta *in the sauce*, which lets especially more water-based sauces soak into the noodles. The reason why it's traditional to cook pasta al dente is so that you don't end up overcooking it if you finish it in sauce; but for more oily sauces, a longer boil is better (because the sauce will coat the noodles rather than permeate them).
EDIT: I cosign you on the whole wheat pasta!! I especially like it for simpler sauces.
Came here to say this exact thing lol
Me too
Solid information complete with reason.
Not really, a lot of Italians like the pasta to be al dente as the finished product. They would recommend taking it off even earlier so that after it's cooked in the pan it is al dente.
I normally cook it earlier than the package instructions suggest, because my whole family likes slightly chewy pasta. So it really depends on personal preferences
I find that teflon-cut pasta sticks together way more than bronze cut. The rough initial texture stops smooth surfaces from gluing together as the starches start to hydrate.
100% for linguine and fettuccini. Teflon cut, I always end up with some double layered/stuck. It never happens with Bronze cut.
Yes!!! That's true!!!
Either will not stick together if you stir them after you throw them in the water. That stir breaks up the initial stickiness, after that you're good. If they do stick again you have way too little water in the pot.
I wish you would have made a compete dish with the expensive and inexpensive same shaped pasta. That way you could see how all the individual tests come together. Great video though!
I m italian and i live in Italy, whit zero doub i can distinguish commercial pasta ( from 0,89€ to € 2,50), the smell and the texure are totally different
@@Lorre982I agree. I used to own a small pasta manufacturing business in the US, and could tell pretty easily. But I also learned to have the pasta as the star of the dish…not the sauce.
@areyoureally123 i trust you, i also made fresh pasta for my old parets, i use two and somtimes 3 different type of Flour to reach the best TASTE
We have 2 diabetics at our house. It turns out that the cheap $1 Krogers pasta has a much lower glycemic index than whole wheat pasta or other more substantial expensive pasta. We proved this with continuous glucose monitors and a bunch of brands.
Also the composition of the whole meal significantly impacts glucose/insulin response, it can be somewhat counterintuitive at times. Experimentation reveals the truth.
real sourdough bread actually drops my mom's blood sugar too on her continuous glucose monitor too, definitely worth trying!
Wow, that's the opposite of what I would expect.
Goes to show that not everything is as simple as you think.
if the two diabetics also have too much body fat, i can recommend the following breakfast:
3 cooked eggs plus 150g of full fat cheese (like gauda) plus 3 tee spoons of butter + a good amount of salt. no carbs added, no juice with carbs etc.
eat that meal as soon as possible in the morning after falling out of the bed to lower the cortisol hormone (this is the reason to add butter). it switches the body into fat burning mode, is protein sparing and comes with enough protein for a half day.
@ definitely! We also expected the opposite. It’s allowed them both to eat pasta dishes, especially if there’s not too much tomato. Modern tomatoes are far sweeter than the ones I grew up with in the 50’s.
Kamut (which is a brand of khorasan wheat) is a VERY different type of wheat, one with which I'm currently experimenting.
It has higher protein but a variance in the glutenin/gliadin ratios, which results in lower gluten formation.
Uses of ancient grains forms of wheat and similar grains, such as einkorn, rye, khorasan, buckwheat, polonicom, mamut, and so forth, including their suitability for celiacs and how well they make breads, might be an interesting topic for a future deep dive.
Celiacs cannot have any gluten at all, so Kamut, Einkorn etc aren't an option. I've been working on a farm years ago and one of my jobs was baking bread, rolls and sheet cakes for market days. The "bakery" was my bosses' baby so we did quite a few experiments.
Kamut bread tends to be a bit crumbly, but we managed to bake a very decent whole grain Kamut butter toast bread and the customers liked it as much as we did.
I also have a feeling that the carbs in Kamut must have shorter chains than modern wheat or spelt, because I remember a slightly sweet and nutty flavour, not exactly like Cashew, but something in that direction.
I used to get kamut pasta and it was a favorite for me: higher protein and cooked up similarly to "white" (semolina) pasta. FWIW: grains other than wheat have completely different textures, and often go from undercooked to mushy in a matter of seconds (some even end up both mushy and undercooked at the same time!) This was a _major_ issue with whole wheat pasta 45 years ago; production methods have much improved since then. Another issue with non-wheat pastas is that sauce does _not_ often adhere properly (this may be an issue of the amount of starch in the pasta - and by extension, in the pasta water). One of my old favorite pastas (hasn't been manufactured in over 40 years) was Prince "Superoni", which was 70% durum semolina and 30% soy. It cooked up the same as regular pasta, with a slightly nuttier taste and 1/3 more protein than regular pasta.
I LOVE your “is expensive X actually worth it?” style videos, but I saw a comment on one of your old videos that had a great idea and I want to reiterate it:
“What I buy at the grocery store and how I use it”
This would be SUCH an informative series. Explaining why you pick X rather than just “it tastes good” would be amazing. This could also divulge into a “These items are ALWAYS in my pantry” which would be super informative. Love your content, Ethan! Now I want to have a pasta date night!
I am just starting your Cook Well video and am just now realizing it will be perfect for what I am looking for.
Didn't he make a pantry video a few years ago?
@@inkenhafner7187 ye, but within the last 3 years he also put out extremely informative deep dives
Loved that test with the pulling one noodle out every minute. That was pretty cool and tying in another video of yours about strictly following recipes. If you know what you like then go for it!! Same with the macaroni and meatballs, ngl that looked good lol
With smaller sized meatballs, the macaroni and meatballs combo would be pretty solid IMO.
@@EthanChlebowski yeah, I was curious - was it really that bad with the shapes switched up?
@@unit--ns8jh I imagine the spag n cheese would be way weirder than macaroni and meatballs.
@@levischorpioen I like the idea of a mac and cheese but with spaghetti, we do have Cacio e Pepe
@@levischorpioen Spaghetti n cheese is EXTRA cheesy. Macaroni meatballs needs extra garlic and basil. It boils down to the proportions, one holds more sauce.
*Video idea:* How does _homemade_ pasta compare to _dried_ pasta made in factories? - What are the ingredient differences? (Wheats, flours, eggs, etc?) - How do you achieve certain shapes? (tools, machines, etc) - How do the tastes, textures, aromas, etc all change in a blind test?
Short answer: you can't make dry pasta at home.
Long answer: there's an entire Alex series about why you can't
@@mattia_carciola ^THIS^ Alex takes about 17 episodes to answer this question in excruciating detail. Short Answer: for home situations, dried pasta will always be better. Leave fresh pasta to resturants.
A big difference: Eggs!
You can buy dried egg noodles, but it's usually just a single simple variety. The from-scratch recipes I've seen use only eggs as the liquid.
@@mattia_carciola I have made pasta and air-dried it at home. It's not dry like the boxed stuff, but it's dry enough to not stick and keeps in the fridge for a long time.
@@JohnDlugosz Read the ingredients on a box of pasta. Flour, water and that is it. No eggs. Eggs are a northern german addition to noodles. Egg-noodles are not really pasta.
Search for a playlist from Alex: "Dry Pasta : The Unsung Hero of the Pasta World" 17, 30 minute episodes on how to (not) make pasta at home.
I think the pasta really depends on what you're making. For instance, if I'm making a carbonara, cheap pasta isn't starchy enough to make the sauce.
Can't we add some extra starch to the water?
@@altrunox5703 Yeah I imagine a starch slurry added to the simmering sauce would fix that.
Or use way less water, I've never had a problem with cheap pasta boiling in just enough to cover it in a pan.
then thicken the sauce instead lol, just flour and water and add, or use maysena
@@thehoblit2267 exactly! This whole needing a giant pot for one package of pasta is insane!
My favorite shape is Racchette (De Cecco). For a tomato sauce pasta dish I like to undercook the pasta in water by a few minutes, then cook it to its final texture IN the sauce so some of the moisture of the sauce absorbs into the pasta itself. I don't salt the cooking water but the sauce is well seasoned so some of that salt must be getting into the pasta in the finishing process. I do prefer al dente overall, but not so al dente that it feels like there is a firmer or undercooked layer in the core.
I agree with you here on not salting the water. I actually saw another scientific cooking video on pasta where he concluded it's basically never worth it if you're putting a sauce on anyway and it's easier to control the amount of salt if it's all in the sauce. Also that pasta doesn't need to be boiling hot to be cooked so you can bring your water to the boil, pop the lid on and turn it off then stir and reheat at 5 minutes and turn it off again until it's cooked. Been doing it that way for over a decade now and I wonder how much energy it's saved me haha.
Agreed with your conclusion; I do think it is worth it for me, since I noticed that textural difference (albeit via following the box instructions). But I did also notice the difference with salting the water as well tasted noticeably more improved (and required noticeably more salt than I’d have thought).
I may not be sold on wheat pastas (the texture just felt “off”) but I do feel sold on bronze cut pastas.
Your supposed to salt the water before you put the Pasta in or it will be bland and tasteless. I find if you cook your pasta a little under it will continue to cook while your tossing it in the Sauce and Don't forget to save some of that Pasta water as it will Rehydrate the sauce if it gets too dry and act as thickener since there is Starch from the pasta in the water itself.
From my understanding the coarser grind of semolina also makes it possible to hydrate the pasta dough with less water, which in turn makes it easier to dry it later.
Indeed. If you did this with flour you'd get an incredibly stiff dough instead of "wet sand".
I usually stock up on De Cecco pasta when it is on offer. A lot of my sauces really work better with the additional starch. And, when I make pasta al forno the bite left in the pasta feels better to me.
My favorite brand as well. 👍🏻
I love De Cecco - easily my favorite brand.
How much did they pay you for all these Ads in the comments?
I mean it's just the typical global industry junk you can get at every discount store.
@@miskatonic6210he's saying that it's the best you can buy in stores. no one has time to make stocks of fresh pasta themselves, nor the money to always buy it fresh. but, if we wanna buy store pasta, then I'm sorry but Rummo is way better than De Cecco to me, just not sure how common in is in the US
I very much appreciate the design you are adding to your videos. Matching it with your website. The content is great as always, and now it’s looking even better. Thank you for this deep dive on pasta, I loved it
The research aspect of it is so proper. I've taken away that I have to consume more mindfully. This makes me wish all manufacturers and producers would give information about their process. A lot of that production cost will add into the pricing because if it's handmade, airdried etc, they don't produce as quickly as a factory process. It then depends on whether you're willing to pay for that human labour or not. Thanks Ethan!
Omg the research that goes into your videos is fantastic, I love them!
Honestly, I think what you’re making the pasta with makes most of the difference. I regularly switch back between a bronze dye and barilla or even great value brand pasta. Nothing is really registering as better when I switch back-and-forth even with the great value brand. I know it’s the cheapest but I really like paying $.98 for pasta, especially when I’m paying $4 for the ground beef or heavy cream or getting the best parmesan reg I can find.
This is kind of the same way I cook. While more expensive ingredients do tend to have a better taste/texture, once a whole dish is completed, a lot of that difference is negated - not completely, but it's not nearly as noticeable as just comparing those differences for that single ingredient alone.
When you have the entirety of the dish completed, however, the difference often just isn't worth the extra expense, IMO. Comparing a $3-4 dish of pasta with a $15-20 dish, the more expensive version is almost never worth that multiple-100% difference in cost. The mor expensive dish is better, yes, but usually only by like 20-30%, not 300%+. It is very rare, in my experience, to find something that is truly worth anywhere near the extra cost.
As an occasional splurge, or for an event where you want things to be a bit fancier, sure. But for everyday cooking? I would much rather make 3 or 4 times the amount of a cheaper dish that is still perfectly good.
Beyond that, in all honesty, most people just aren't able to judge and enjoy more expensive ingredients properly. I've literally been able to placebo-effect people, by swapping out ingredients in their boxes, so they think they're being served much more expensive stuff, when what they're actually getting is the cheapest store-brand items available.
I highly recomend dichting Barilla. It's not really better then the great value pastas. In fact, you can find some great value pastas that will exceed Barilla.
@@AeriFyrein He didn't mention that the Bronze cut pastas have a rougher texture that helps more of the Sauce stick to the pasta and not sit at the bottom of the pan and the Brand too, Some brands are better than others. But it's all in the persons experience with the ingredients it's like people who have fancy Japanese knives and don't know how to properly care for them because they though more expensive is better.
@ Not exactly sure what this is referring to, since it seems pretty different than what I was commenting on.
But regardless, he actually did mention in the video about the texture & sauce stuff. IIRC, he actually found they were similar, or even that the non-bronze cut pasta had sauce sticking to it better. I believe there was also mention (though this could have been from a comment, rather than the video) that the type of sauce makes a difference, for which type it will stick to better - a sauce that is heavier on water will work better on one type, compared to a more oil-based or properly emulsified sauce. Since people using cheaper pasta will tend to also be using cheaper sauce - which is going to have a lot more water content typically - then those sauces definitely *would* benefit from the bronze-cut pasta.
I often cook with bucatini, as my spaghetti replacement. I also cook with Orchiette, casarecce, and cavatelli. Orichiette is wonderful with broccoli rabe and italian sausage
The best pasta is cheap priano from Aldi. I's better than anything else in the price range, 100% durum semolina, bronze cut, and it's like $2
Fully Agree. It's great pasta and even Imported from Italy too.
100%. Now in Aldi they also have the "specially selected" pasta which is actually a white label version of Monograno for around $3. I think for $1 more per box its really worth it, especially for simple sauces.
100% I’ll be cooking some up in just a few hours
Aldi make their producers produce at cost, they refuse to pay any of their suppliers decent rates to keep their prices low. This affects the workforce who make the stuff they sell. Fuck Aldi
I hate that I have yet another Aldi product that I like.🫥 The Aldi stores where I live are so inconsistent on fresh goods (produce, out of date refrigerated items, out of stock…always out of stock) that it’s becoming more of a chore to go there.
Good tip though! I can buy a bunch to have on hand
As an italian born and raised in italy, the big differeces between bronz cut pasta and teflon cut pasta are 3
1- thanks to the rougher surface bronze cut pasta sticks mutch less than teflon cut pasta wile cooking
2-thanks to the rougher surface bronze cut pasta release more starch wile cooking wich helps a lot if you cook the sauce with pasta and pasta water resulting in a thicker and smoother sauce.
3-better texture
So YES bronze cut pasta (or more expencive pasta) is better both on the tecnical side and the texture side.
P.S. the pasta isn't actualli cooking but rehydrating, and the denaturation of the protein that give texture begin around 80°C (176° F)
I'm Italian and I don't like al dente either. I like it cooked perfectly. Not too hard, not too soft. The problem with cooking it right in the middle is, if you mix the pasta and sauce together and put the leftovers in the fridge, the pasta will get mushy. Don't mix the leftovers.
That's why I usually make more sauce, reserve the amount I'm not needing and put it in the fridge. It's worth cooking the pasta again. When I had a microwave sometimes I just saved another dish, but not always.
Also, what many people call "al dente" is undercooked, especially here in Italy.
Thats exactly what I do as well!
@@mattia_carcioladepending on the pasta i dont even cook it again, i just mix the cold pasta and cold sauce, i actually prefer my spaghetti that way
Yup, that's why I never want anyone to prep dried pasta for me... it does not work especially with the smaller kinds of pasta. The leftovers will always be overcooked as soon as they are heated up again, even if they were absolutely perfect. I much prefer them fried.
Let the pasta dry first before you mix the sauce
Thanks for another fascinating video. I love how you point out that shape and cooking time make more difference than die and drying time.
I'm a big fan of whole wheat pasta, to the point that "white" pasta lacks flavor and texture compared to what I'm used to. I'm also a fan of penne and spiral pastas that grab more sauce than smooth types. That way, I get more flavor and chew without spending more money.
Ethan, I genuinely love your analysis of food as a general rule. Thanks! With that, I also find that your review matches what I have found. There are pasta dishes that you can adjust cooking time etc. with a lesser expensive pasta cooked correctly. Overall, I (as a matter of aesthetics) like bronze cut - largely because of the 'fuzzy' texture, AND I simply like the flavor of the wheats used in these. Ditto on whole wheat pasta. It has a savory roasted flavor that benefits many dishes - especially salads, and fresh adjunct ingredients. Anyway, great job dude!👍
Man, I love your channel. Really going into detail on foundational cooking stuff and keeping it interesting, scientific and relevant is no mean feat.
Go with the cheapest pasta that has a pale yellow colour and rough exterior. I find De Cecco to be pretty good for a mass market brand thats available everywhere
That's ok in US since it is made with grain from US. In Italy La Molisana is much better.
@@LiefLayer grain from the US is actually awful, and, unless organic, will most likely contain high levels of glyphosate and other horrible things.
@@spacelegos4964 De Cecco use good quality grain so that's not an issue... the main thing is if you are in us and you get us pasta it will travel (and pollute) a lot less, I'm in Italy and for the same reason I want pasta with grain from Italy... I want to avoid to produce too much CO2.
@@LiefLayerfrench here, molissana is my favorite pasta! We got several shapes, but only the basic ones, i miss shopping in italy for the variety! And alternate shapes are only found in speciality shops with insane prices (more than 5€ for a 450-500g package)
De cecco is ok, i don't like Rumo (feels very cheap don't know why). I use Barilla for sauces that don't require pasta water like ragu, or for lasagna
I agree, when i am not in Italy, De Cecco is the bare minimum that makes me comfortable with my choice. I am not gonna touch anything that has piss-yellow colour to it.
I just can't tell you how much I appreciate these more science/experiment approach videos. You're answering questions I've had for years. I just don't have the time to test them like you are. THANK YOU!!!
This is my favorite video series of yours Ethan. Keep up the great work!
As a former Texas resident, after watching this I’m currently yearning for central market. That and HEB are the only things I really miss after moving to California.
Same. Safeway simply does not compare.
You're a rare person who moved FROM Texas TO California? LOL.
I hope it was for work, cuz there's reason no other good reason. You can't even really say weather anymore, cuz they've been getting their share of heat. You can find great food in any major city in Texas. Texas is still way more affordable even with all the Californians now jacking up real estate prices.
@ Texas is undoubtedly more affordable than California, no argument there. But the access to scenery, culture, and food are unparalleled (at least in the Bay Area). And despite what some media outlets love parroting, it's not nearly as violent as some of Texas' larger cities. To be clear, California has its problems but Texas does too.
@ Austin/Hill Country has some magnificent scenery which a lot of Californians compare to being back home. Houston in particular has just as much amazing food and culture as any city in California, being that it's a major port city which a lot of refugees came to. Houston and Dallas have the largest Vietnamese communities outside of Vietnam itself. It's actually the 3rd most spoken language in Texas.
Bay Area oysters were the only thing I remember wishing we had here. Gulf oysters are not the same.
9$ for pasta is crazy!
Sure if you’re making Mac and cheese.
Bowl of pasta costs about $25 here. Where do you eat? $3 Jollybee noods?
Pedro, I think he implied $9 for a box of pasta to cook as a homecook. You can have pasta cost $100 in restaurants but that's not the point. @@pedro72246
@@pedro72246that's a dish. Not just the pasta, without a sauce. $9 for just pasta is absurd.
@@HH-le1videpends on the box size but a small box will at least serve two so still expensivd but with sauce it isnt that expensive compared to a restaurant that will charge 30 bucks.
1:15 the Italians are coming 😂
Guess bro doesn’t have an Italian bone in his body
And here we are. Overcooked pasta it's the same of a well done steak. Sure, you can like it, but you're declaring you're a savage, a diabolical beast, a walking blasphemy
I’m French and I was also judging really hard at that take
Al dente is for before you put it in the sauce and cook it a little more.
🤌
I pretty much just go for the cheapest bronze cut I can find
Which used to be La Molisana from Amazon, but the price has increased by 50% _at least,_ in the past couple years, so now I only buy Fiorfiore from Walmart
The thing we eat the most at my house with pasta is homemade Cincinnati chili 3 ways! We usually use whole wheat (higher fiber, less spikes in blood glucose).
I sooo agree with the point on shape of the pasta. Maybe it's just a psychological bias or a matter of taste (like an artistic type of thing) but you actually experience eating differently when you fork differently - you know what I mean? I love switching up spaghetti with penne or fusilli for the same tomato sauce from time to time, just to experience it in a more variate way. It's same for me with onion cut or herbs I add to same basic sauce, just make it different to the taste of a day.
By the way, isn't cooking pasta al dente a reason for finishing it up in the sauce? 😅Always though it was the intention behind it. Great vid as always, Ethan.
It's not just psychological imo. Different shapes have different mouth feels and different ways it picks up sauce. I love adding shape variety into my dishes calling for a specific type.
After buying more "mid range" pasta I cant realy use barilla etc anymore. I just notice the difference in texture and that it holds the sauce better and I make pasta like 3+ times per week :)
20:39 "This might be the first time in history anyone's used bronze cut spaghetti with a store bought mac and cheese sauce, wouldn't recommend making this one at home." Ethan still eats it because it's pasta with cheese and he is a professional.
While expensive pasta can enhance the experience with better texture and flavor, cheaper pasta is sufficient for many meals. Whole wheat pasta offers a distinct, earthy taste worth considering.
i switched to whole wheat pasta last fall, and the store was out one day so i was forced to get the white pasta. the white one didn't have any flavour and tasted bit wierd to be honest, because it's blander tasting than whole wheat. for the added bonus that whole wheat is healthier i'm pretty glad i made the switch because i love the stuff now, it's way better than regular! i was just so picky as a kid, whole wheat tasted kinda granular as a kid but i don't taste it anymore, it just has more flavour
free tip: cook a small amount of weird pasta and try it. don't waste a whole meal on inedible wheat pasta that your dog would not eat
Al Dente, in my opinion, allows for additional cooking time with the sauce. I am also not a huge Al Dente fan either, but nothing is worse than mushy Azz pasta. Lol
Same here. I always make a triple batch of spaghetti so I leave it al dente than finish cooking it in the sauce when I want a serving.
I've overcooked pasta before and it's never been mushy, how does one get that?
One of the things that makes us eat pasta every day is that we are not limited by the link between pasta shape and condiment. We make macaroni with meat sauce(because meatball pasta is an american thing) all the time. That's the fun of having so many different shapes and different sauces(gricia, amatriciana, carbonara, puttanesca, etc) to have fun with.
A couple of years ago, there was a pasta shortage, shelves were empty...and the pasta came back, but with regular wheat instead of durum. I'm apparently the only one who noticed this. My local Walmart has exactly one pasta with durum, the Rao's brand. All the others are regular wheat.
My theory is the war in Ukraine plus a crop failure in Canada caused a winter wheat crisis in the US. Manufacturers switched supplies, and now, they just sell us inferior product as if nobody would notice. Nobody but me, apparently.
Oh wow, what a bummer! If you don’t mind sharing: Whereabouts do you live??
Then, people must like their pasta well cooked past Al dente. I do sense the difference because the protein is usually lower, and sugar levels spike sooner. So, with cheaper pastas I find that aiming for a firm al dente slow the sugar spikes, but proper durum I can cook longer.
Depends on where you shop. I can find durum wheat pastas in many giant eagle branches. Don’t shop at walmart or target for pasta so I can’t say for them. I haven’t noticed any shortage of it. I guess it also depends on where you live. Not true though where I live.
I’m not sure where you live, but you can’t generalize for ALL of Canada. This is definitely not true for Toronto.
I'm italian, I always boil my pasta 2 minutes less than it says on the package, then toss it in the pan with the sauce for another 1-2 minutes. I have a real hard time eating overcooked pasta so I tend to be on the al dente side. As per favorite ways to cook it, I prefer very simple sauces, my favorite are Spaghetti al Limone (Lemon zest and butter), Burro e Salvia (butter and sage), Cacio e Pepe (Pecorino Romano cheese and black pepper) and Aglio e Olio (Garlic, Olive Oil and Parsley)
Your mustache is majestic I love it 😂
Aside from some minor texture differences, I've never found any particular enhancing characteristics in expensive pasta. I've found that the right shape of pasta for your dish is the most important factor in the end.
Im really happy to see that theres more "acceptance" for not having your pasta al dente these days. I stopped even trying after watching Jacques Pépin say "I dont really like it that way, you should have it the way you like it". Theres alot of wiggleroom between al dente and mushy.
Absolutely. If there is one thing I could have everyone test it would be the textures and paying attention to how it changes along the way as it absorbs water. You will never learn what “over” or “undercooked” pasta means to unless you actually test it for yourself.
@@EthanChlebowski Cooking is so fascinating, I love falling in love with it from time to time.
I like my pasta TENDER, several minutes passed al dente. Idk, I just don't like the taste and texture of pasta when it's made at home with a firmer texture. It's like the flavor of whatever sauce I add to it after just doesn't get in there as much.
food is much like cocktails, if the food you like is on your plate then you made it right.
I am so glad you mentioned that Jacques Pépin said "I dont really like it that way, you should have it the way you like it" because I look up to him as authoritative on this subject. Ethan started the conversation about thinking al dente was too firm. I am of the same mind. I am 68 and have yet to run into anyone that really prefers al dente. I know of a few people who cook their spaghetti pasta until when thrown on a wall it will stick and then they say it's done. I never relied on that method.
I just wanted to say I'm obsessed with that cook well cutting board. Awesome video :)
totally worth it. i can't eat regular pasta after trying de cecco, molisana or rummo. de cecco is my fav. prices at italian grocery stores in spain are around 2 euro. in regular spanish supermarkets it's about 2.4 euro.
The thing is… de cecco and la molisana are on the cheaper side (have no idea how much rummo costs). They aren’t the cheapest of all pasta, but ones of the cheapest bronze-cut
@@Blabla_bloblo for me personally there's no reason to get more expensive pasta, really(: idk about u
@@Blabla_bloblo Well, it's all about finding the balance. Rummo is on the same price range. I can buy at around 1,5 or 2 euros here in Portugal. These are amazing prices for good quality pasta to use at home. I don't need it to be the best pasta of all time, just to have a good consistency and starchy water for the sauces and reheating. They're all fine for homecooks.
@olenka-f9m that’s what I am saying, expensive pasta isn’t worth it:)
@@SterbenCyrodill yeah, I agree - and the balancing point is on a cheaper side, which is amazing
Ethan! I’m obsessed with your videos! i would love a video on the different types of rice!! jasmine, basmati, sticky etc.. 🍚🍙🖤
I didn't understand the shape part at all. You just said 'it feels wrong' but the taste and aroma were fine. No comments about texture or anytime else. How did the shake really matter then? Human biases makes is feel something is strange or wrong but that's doesn't mean the dish was bad or when not as good as with the original pairing. Can you please elaborate on that part Ethan ?
Because it's a long spaghetti noodle mixed with a kraft cheese sauce. In your brain when you're eating a cheddar based cheese sauce you expect a specific noodle to pair with it, it's shape affects the outcome of the dish
different shapes hold the sauce differently.
Seriously love the deep downs you do. Keep up the great work!
I’m glad someone else admitted that they don’t really care for al dente either.
I like my pasta a little softer. Al dente is fine, but I do usually cook my pasta a little longer than the directions say.
I learned something new, bronze cut and Teflon cut. I never heard of that difference. I’ll look more thoroughly next time I shop for pasta. My go-to pastas have been Prince and Pastene brands. Thank you for doing this video. Food for thought on my next grocery shopping trip.
For me personally I find how much I deviate from the box instructions when it comes to cook time depends on the shape of pasta. Something low and thin like Spaghetti I prefer on the al dente side, but some of the thicker/more complex pasta I often cook a little longer because I don't like how they come out a bit too firm in the middle.
The biggest offender for me are the red lentil pasta. The box says 8 minutes, but the pasta is still straight up crunchy after that period of time. I usually have to cook it closer to 15 minutes.
My secret is have 3 different pasta shapes and put them in the same bowl together. One of my favorite pasta shapes is Farfalle, but if you just use that shape they lay very flat together, and I find that very boring. But if you introduce any other shape suddenly the bowties are lying in a bunch of different directions and the bowl looks much more full. You can even have multiple shapes in your pantry and combine them differently each time. Makes a simple sauce become a lot more interesting to look at. Give it a try!
Cheapest pasta, the flavour will be the sauce.
Cooking 2 minutes over the recommended time (I use 11 minutes or longer for all my pasta).
Spaghetti, and tagliatelle are my favourites. I break the spaghetti into 2" (50mm) lengths for my blind friend to handle easily.
I prefer tagliatelle for my carbonara, and have to make my own due to an egg intolerance.
You’re a good friend 🥺
@@rarrano no he’s a horrible friend. Real friends blend pasta into a smoothie so the rough edges don’t scrape the palate
In the past few years the biggest discovery I've made was white pasta with fiber. Normal white pasta has little fiber, while whole wheat has more but doesn't taste quite the same. There are some brands that sell a "smart" white pasta with fiber that seems to be the best of both worlds. If you're eating a whole bunch of it, the added fiber will help with the digestive aspect of it (you'll be thankful when you visit the bathroom later). In the US Barilla has one, while in Canada we have a brand called Catelli that makes it.
Most grains in North America and other locations outside Italy 🇮🇹 are treated with GLYPHOSATE, a widely used, and highly controversial weed killer. Growers do this to speed their crops to market. For this reason, I only buy pasta made from 100% Italian grown wheat or organic pasta from wheat grown in other areas. This is a key driver in the price of pasta and well worth it in my opinion.
My 2 cents. As a person of Italian descent where food is quite a focal point of family interaction and therefore important, it was explained to me this way: Pastas where youre just adding a sauce (any) a more rough cut or textured pasta is preferred as it allows the sauce to stick to it better because of increased surface area. For baked dishes that will include soft cheeses and other ingredients a flatter pasta will do. (think baked ziti, very smooth noodle as opposed to a penne or rigatoni which usually has grooves). If youre doing a pasta salad or something with light oil and herbs/spices, again, flat is fine (rotini, bowtie or elbow, although that tri color stuff is popular if only for the visual aspect of it). For the thin guys, like spaghetti/linguini, since theres no grooves, a rougher texture to the noodle helps make up for it. The rougher texture is usually found on more expensive brands, however, for the couple of dollars more it usually is, its not really a huge issue. We're not talking $20 vs $2 for the most part, more like $2 / box vs $4 maybe $5. Anything more than that is kind of a waste. And the al dente thing... this is a preparation thing and personal preference. An overly soggy noodle is kind of gross to me (and just about any Italian) and an undercooked noodle is at best slightly more preferable as if its in sauce, it will eventually even out if it continues to be heated.
Favorite unconventional pasta dish(es).
EASY MODE: Cold pasta salad. Great for a warm summer day. Pasta is cooked and cooled. Olive oil, basil, little oregano, salt, pepper and garlic to taste just to coat the noodles and served cold. I prefer a bowtie for this as the pinch in the middle helps to trap that herb mixture for a little flavor blast.
HARD MODE: Really unconventional and a pain in the butt to make, fried stuffed rigatoni. Noodles are cooked to al dente, cooled, filled with cheese mixture that youd use for say a rollatini or something. if you want to get fancy you can add a cooked pea in the middle. Its easier to use a frosting piping bag with a wide tip. The ends get pinched and fork pressed closed. After an eternity of doing this, the pastas are refrigerated and left to cool further. But dont let them dry completely out, they need to remain somewhat sticky. Then they are dredged in flour or a fine bread crumb mixture and deep fried just for a few seconds to brown. This is more of an appetizer/finger food kind of thing and not meant to be eaten as a dish. Kinda like a mozz stick but with pasta.
Advice from someone who hates cooking: just don't buy THE CHEAPEST one and you should be fine. You want some consistency on it.
This is an excellent video! Packed with great info and explanation, yet concise enough. Love all the actual photos using the camera and lens you are talking about. I have watched several videos on the 100-400mm and yours explained it perfectly.
Looking at quality/cost, I go with De Cecco.
How much do they pay you for your ads?
@@miskatonic6210 probably less than they pay this guy.
I once spent a huge amount on some 2 foot long artisinal spaghetti that came nicely wrapped in tissue. To cook it i had to snap it into thirds, basically back to normal spaghetti length, to fit in my pan, and i put a good but basic store sauce on it every time i ate it since i was a broke student at the time. Ever since then, I've realised that im perfectly happy with the 'premium' own brand pasta from my grocery store of choice, no matter how tempting the fancy cottom bagged pasta look!
This video mostly concerns with the taste, odor, texture, or the subjective experience of eating the pasta. How about the nutrion differences, are there any? Does the human body absorb the the pastas similarly with their different structures?
I definitely prefer bronze cut, but they are almost always more expensive, so other factors are probably different too. I boil pasta longer than stated as I prefer it that way.
I actually had four of your special shaped ones already in the cupboard, but it's mostly because I love to change things regularly.
Thanks for another great video!
I just recently stopped buying pasta and instead started making it myself and although you lose that variety of shapes(since i do everything by hand) flavor wise it is a big step up and the 40 more minutes it takes to make it(most being rest time) are definitely worth it, even more so as it is the time it takes to do the rest of the dishes and clean calmly. It is also way cheeper and more starchy than any other pasta i've cocked. Either way thanks for the video it is always a plasure and informing to watch, keep it up:)
Yeah big difference between fresh and dried pasta. Though you can buy fresh pasta in the store it's just in a different part usually and doesn't store for nearly as long.
I think you forgot one difference to mention: quicker dried pasta contains less nutrition than slowly dried pasta, due to the heat involved.
Pasta from Europe doesn't have glyphosate.
Pasta from America doesn't have glyphosate either. I don't think you know how that works.
@@barrychancey2028 I'd say the same to you, google "glyphosate levels in American blood tests vs Europe"
Ok, I checked you profile to gauge how open you are to reasonable arguments. No woo stuff (as far as I cen tell), follower of cody's lab, which is a plus.
Glyphosate is basically a witch hunt, based on naturalistic fallacies and lobbying by organic farming.
Glyphosate has a lower toxicity than most pesticide, but is extremely efficient in plants.
Glyphosate was almost never found in the samples going through the news (some of them even 'found' amounts below testing threshold) instead they were testing for AMPA, which glyphosate degrades into, but it has plenty of other sources aswell, plus often using the ELISA testing method, which is prone for false positives.
The IARC study is basically meaningless, because it only takes into account if a study is carcinogenic, not at which threshold. The WHO, parent organisation of IARC vehemently disagreed with the finding in the JMPR report of 2016.
Cristopher Portier, who led the IARC meta study on glyphosate has accepted meetings and *money* from anti-GMO lobby groups during the study (an absolute no go) and included several studies that have been long before the IARC study started (speak: they've been called out for manipulating their studies, he included them anyway.)
And Monsano hate. 'Agent orange' wasn't used by the Monsanto in war crimes, bit by the US Government, alongside several other agents from different companies.
And no, Monsanto never sued someone for accidental polination, but deliberate crossbreeding against contract and destributed the money from the lawsuit in the community local to said farmer.
@@barrychancey2028 The Durum wheat is diferent though, The American Durum wheat is more intense for people with celiac compared to European Durum wheat
@@202adr is quite irrelevant. Both are high gluten wheat and celiac disease requires a strict no gluten diet.
This video was so informative and interesting. Pasta used to be a cheap dinner option but it's just not always the case anymore.
Actually, here's a question - are expensive *pepper mills* worth it? Or is it more than enough to stick with the basic mill with plastic parts - or is going with ceramic-burr mills meaningfully better? Because we all know that fresh ground pepper is miles better than pre-ground... and very few people will use mortar/pestle.
For me, grind quality and consistency only really matters if you're concerned about how compounds are extracted from the ingredient and the process of doing so. With Coffee, having a uniform grind profile matters when wanting quality extraction at a consistent rate. With Espresso machines this is especially important when how fine and consistent the grinds are will affect how you pull shots. With black pepper, or any pepper you are trying to grind, I'm having a difficult time justifying a better grinder. Provided the grinds don't look 'ugly' it should be fine to use a cheaper grinder. Maybe if you want better ergonomics when handling? Maybe something that has a better feel when grinding. Or you just want something you can keep on the table while eating because an ugly grinder would make the dining experience look messy. Yeah, higher quality grinders seems to be more for improving your infusion/extraction game than anything else.
I think the only meaningful difference in the final product would come from the coarseness of the grind, and of course you might prefer it finer or coarser based on preference or the specific application. Maybe it would be worth paying for an expensive grinder if you can precisely control the grind, and that's actually important to you? I think most people would be fine with a cheap one, or else buying based on aesthetics.
this video was excellent! i have a phillips pasta maker (extruder) and didn't like the rough texture as i was used to smooth teflon edges on cheap pasta, but now i have a greater appreciation, and also will try various types of wheats or other additives (beet powder, kale powder and spirulina, activated charcoal, and turmeric are some great colours to add which I've tried). Homemade is still the best, lol! Would love to see a video about the homemade options, but that would require buying a few (some expensive) pasta makers
Yes. Texture matters.
This largely confirms my intuitions that for my typical pasta, the pasta itself is more or less a commodity. But it also helped clarify use cases where I might want to spring for the more expensive stuff. Mostly for specific shapes or textures, or in the rare case where the sauce isn’t doing all the work re flavor. Great video.
Yes, it is. Alex has been my pasta guiding light for about 2 years now and I LOVE the difference, even if it's "quite minor"
Edit: I have to say and shoutout, this video truly shows the best strengths of this series. There have been many other ingredients where there were highly interesting observations (eg. vanilla), that yet didn't really make me feel completly engaged with the framework that we have been using for awhile now, but this video is the exact opposite, because of the many biases I've (obviously) had when thinking about "pasta quality". Taste not being "taste" has been a huge revelation to me ever since you've first pointed it out many, many videos ago, but especially in this discussion it comes through the most.
Agree, midrange is the best one! I spent half the series almost screaming at the screen to just use De Cecco, Molisana, Voiello or Garofalo, until he finally said that.
(however I found a bit annoying that he felt compelled to push the sponsorship pontlessly high end pasta, but since it's how he lives I took it as any ad and been thankful for the series being possible)
Love these style videos of yours, I think I watched them all so far. One I’d like to suggest is Japanese Curry roux cubes. You have done a lot of staple ingredient comparison, but what about something a little different? Keep your the entertaining and informative work!
I’ve noticed that one pot pastas are better with cheap pasta because the sauce doesn’t get too gloopy from the starch
Awesome video, as always. I used to only buy the cheap stuff, then went for the bronze cut, to now Delverde. I found that it took at least 4 minutes longer to cook (spaghetti) than the bottom shelf, but the texture that came with it was top notch, 1,80 Euro for it in DE.
Wow. you like your pasta super overcooked? I'm honestly not sure how serious I can take this video if that's really what you like.
I’ve been really playing with different shapes for different dishes and it really is wild how the shape can change how much I like it. My favorite is bow tie with a light fresh tomato sauce with a lot of garlic and diced mushrooms. My least favorite is a red meat sauce with Cesarece. It’s just weird. Too thick to settle in the crannies.
I don't need to watch the video. If I can eat 9 lbs of pasta for the cost of 1 lb, I'm going to eat 9 lbs of pasta.
Great video! I love the level of detail in your content. My only minor gripe would be, could you include Celsius (in addition to Fahrenheit), or have an on-screen overlay, for the majority of the world who doesn't use or have any reference point for degrees Fahrenheit. Keep up the awesome work.
Pasta is my favorite food. When I went to Italy a decade ago, it changed everything in my pasta cooking. First and foremost use a good quality pasta. There's plenty of it around these days. They go on sale all the time and only cost $1 - $3 more a pound. I buy Rummo & Molisana for $2 - $3 a pound. I buy Cocco for $5 a pound if I'm in the mood(which is always). There is no need to spend more. Dececco, Rao and Red Barilla Box are pretty good too and always on sale for $2 a box/bag. Many supermarkets also import and private label some decent stuff for a good price.
I use funghetto or trotolle for my mac and cheese and so far it's always been a hit. They're extremely fun shapes that hold a ton of sauce, and the thickness of the noodles means the texture is just uneven enough that you can get some bite and some squish in every noodle. They work well enough for pesto and white sauces, too, for any curious, but I can't really recommend a bolognese as the meat will likely settle to the bottom.
25:23 Skip the yapping
But you're skipping all the good stuff
I like the substantial feeling of al dente and the springyness of fully cooked pasta. The best way I have found to make it like that is to cook, chill overnight, then reheat. Also whole wheat pasta has amazing flavor.
Love your videos! So helpful and informative!
TW for misophonia at 12:50, mouth sounds. Skip like 2 seconds and you'll be fine :)
I was perfecting spaghetti carbonara for some time, and let me tell you, the last thing I did to the dish was switching teflon cut pasta to bronze cut. The difference was night and day, better texture, better sauce, super creamy.
Damn, Just what I needed to send to my partner who claims Barilla is the best pasta despite our cabinet full of the cheapest pasta we can find.
Barilla in considered quite bad here in Italy. Not the worst but surely not one of the good brands.
@@malatesta177It's a global brand. No global brand would get enough high quality raw materials to keep up a REALLY good standard.
Great video! We need more channels asking the simple questions
As an Italian man...
yes
Jokes aside, there's a lot of info that hasnt covered, pasta is so much more complex. Noodles in general, can extend from Italy to Japan authentically, so keep that in mind when you are working with pasta
As a general food lover...
I say put at least some money into food.
You do want those extra flavors and nutrients that come from foods that are more expensive than the cheapest brands (unless you are like my father and grandfather, who apparently do not have a sense of taste. Imagine not appreciating all the different subtle flavors of different cheeses. You still want the nutrients though).
The most expensive foods however you do not need, those are just luxury foods. And even then, proper foods tend to taste much better when home made. Proper home made _fresh_ pasta does taste so much better than whatever you can get at the store, at least in my experience. And you get the satisfaction of having a _completely_ homemade lasagna if you even make the pasta yourself.
For the best tasting experience, try drinking some water between different products to cleanse your palate. And if you're dealing with strong aromas, smelling coffee can help reset your sense of smell!
TLDW: _Is Expensive Pasta Worth It?_
A: No.
I find the bronze pasta at my local discount grocery store. I’ve been lucky enough to get them for $1.50 since most people don’t really buy them there. Most of it comes from Sprouts.
I think you’re spot on the texture, it really changes the dish.
id imagine that the liquid portion plays a pretty big part as well, like different grade eggs might have different taste profiles for the pasta and of course water based would have a different taste as well
Bronze cut linguine is absolutely divine it’s not too thick not too thin and not too fat. I love it with lemon sauces.
I love farfalle cooked a little under because you get the chewier bit in the middle where the 'wings' connect. I use it in a caramelised onion pasta bake - basically, bake onions with tin foil covering them for a couple of hours, then add cooked pasta, spinach, chicken (optional) and coconut milk, mix it all together well and cover with cheese then breadcrumbs then bake until crispy on top.
I enjoy overcooked inexpensive spaghetti or penne pasta using about half the water with a good olive oil and sauteed minced garlic done in same pan. Haven't made any in years but watching this has brought back memories. How to store pasta? Pasta generally goes in fridge after shopping. I'll roll spag on counter with hand or let penne warm in plastic measure.
Leaving out the difference between something say Renzoni which is insanely cheap and ultra processed and something more expensive that is organic and not processed. Would love to see some more videos including comparisons between ingredients in that way.
My current favorite pasta is a brand that uses chickpeas to increase the protein to carb ratio.
Thank you for making my shopping less stressful as I question the many choices I have and wondering if it's truly worth it!