| Americans and many other countries in the world | | | | Four quarts of water for one pound of Italian pasta, |
| have only recently warmed to term pasta. Having | | | | one tablespoon of salt, never add oil to the water, and |
| made only spaghetti and macaroni for generations the | | | | the pasta should still be slightly wet when drained. |
| term authentic Italian pasta recipes was truly a blank | | | | Of course cooking is a combination of objective |
| canvas. | | | | technique and subjective taste. |
| Home cooks and chefs today are becoming more | | | | Lets move now to Italian pasta sauces determining the |
| sophisticated about what really are authentic Italian | | | | best kind of tomatoes for making sauces, which is of |
| recipes. Well, Italian recipes are and can be simple or | | | | course the diced tomatoes packed in water, not puree |
| elaborate, practical or as foolish, store bought or made | | | | are best. When making "pesto" best is to pound the |
| at home. But even more today, Italian recipes had | | | | leaves to release the oil, blanch the garlic, and toast the |
| become the world's most important culinary art, and | | | | pine nuts. The range of Italian sauces goes well far |
| almost where ever you go you will find an Italian | | | | from simple cream sauces. Had you never tasted |
| restaurant on the corner of a road. | | | | those made with beans and lentils? Seafood? Poultry |
| In the beginning people didn't knew much about how to | | | | and meat? |
| boil pasta, missing some of the basic information. At | | | | Here is where I invite you for further investigations, you |
| the question: "How much water and salt does one | | | | will come across new Italian recipes learning the best |
| need for one pound of Italian pasta?" S/he wouldn't | | | | methods for preparing pasta dishes. From pasta |
| probably answer at all. | | | | soups, pasta salads, and filled pasta dishes, as well as |
| Instead today, there are more worse questions that | | | | the basic of pasta making from fresh egg pasta to |
| you could be asked to answer for: "Should you add oil | | | | pasta without eggs. All this and a long tradition had |
| to the cooking water?" "How thoroughly should the | | | | made that endless number of Italian pasta recipes. |
| pasta be drained?" Well, I know that for somebody | | | | I hope that you will enjoy the process of discovery as |
| might be tough to answer. So let me help you from | | | | much as the recipes themselves, made at home as in |
| the beginning, in the case that you still don't know | | | | an authentic Italian restaurant. |
| today. | | | | |