This is wild. I even thought lasagna was worth the minimal effort before, but I just got KitchenAid attachments for Christmas and it’s insanely easy. You mix the dough in the bowl, and then flatten a couple times, run through the slicer, put in the water and it boils way faster than dried. It’s also so so much better than dried.
I’m with you on like, ravioli though. Also we occasionally made wide rice noodles from scratch for Thai cooking and while they’re not technically hard, they’re very labor intensive and time consuming. The problem is the difference between them and dried is night and say - dried wide rice noodles arent even really worth eating. Finally found a shop that sells them fresh though so we are golden.
Fresh pasta and dried pasta are two different ingredients that serve different purposes. It’s impossible to get a fresh pasta al dente and unlikely that most home chefs have an extruder to get round shapes. The tougher texture allows it to stand up against hearty sauces.
Fresh pasta, however, has it’s own merits such a delicate texture that pairs well with delicate sauces. That delicate, silky texture isn’t achievable with dried pasta which would become mushy when trying.
I agree that they’re two different ingredients, but most Italian pasta dishes require dried pasta. The biggest exception is probably gnocchi, they’re always fresh.
It’s hard for me to say what is most dishes. I’ve never been to Italy and haven’t studied pasta making deeply, so it’s hard to say. From my limited understanding you pair cream sauces with fresh egg pastas. And in my opinion, stuffed pastas are also enjoyable when fresh.
Okay. First, apologies. I see my intent wasn’t clear in my initial posting. I posted that under your response because I saw many responses that confused fresh pasta as being a direct replacement to dried pasta. Instead of replying to each instance of confusion, I figured I’d put a response under your initial reply. I should have been more clear when responding.
It’s surprising to hear that there’s not too many dishes that use fresh pasta. I always assumed there would be a fair amount of both dried and fresh. Thanks for the info.
I appreciate the link to the playlist. I really like Alex’s videos.
No worries, we’re just having a civil discussion here (:
As for dried pasta popularity, according to many internet sources, it became popular somewhere around 14th and 15th century, I guess Italians had plenty of time to adjust their cuisine. Dried pasta also has a benefit of long storage, which was important in their warm climate before the invention of an affordable domestic refrigerator in 20th century.
I remember coming across an early (either 12th or 13th century) pasta recipe. It was a simple fresh noodle in a delicately spiced broth, and, importantly, delicious.
What facinstes me is the status of fresh pasta in the American gastronomical context. It has achieved an ascendent status as demonstrated in this video. I’m sure many of the shapes are dried and I see this video as primarily entertainment and not necessarily an achievable thing for most home cooks. But it shapes an ideal for the viewing population.
I suspect that pasta will become one thing in America and another in Italy if it hasn’t already. I think looking at pizza in America, NYC in particular, vs pizza in Italy could provide an anthropological template.
Dried pasta is superior to fresh pasta. It is impossible to make it at home.
You must be trolling, it’s 45s to make the dough in a food processor and the sauce actually clings to the noodles.
Fresh pasta doesn’t have proper al dente chew, it gives a cheap instant noodle mouth feel. The sauce clings the same. To any pasta.
You are making it wrong then.
What do you mean wrong? It’s just a fact.
This is wild. I even thought lasagna was worth the minimal effort before, but I just got KitchenAid attachments for Christmas and it’s insanely easy. You mix the dough in the bowl, and then flatten a couple times, run through the slicer, put in the water and it boils way faster than dried. It’s also so so much better than dried.
I’m with you on like, ravioli though. Also we occasionally made wide rice noodles from scratch for Thai cooking and while they’re not technically hard, they’re very labor intensive and time consuming. The problem is the difference between them and dried is night and say - dried wide rice noodles arent even really worth eating. Finally found a shop that sells them fresh though so we are golden.
Fresh pasta cannot be al dente, it’s useless for most traditional Italian pasta dishes. And it is near impossible to make dry pasta at home.
Fresh pasta and dried pasta are two different ingredients that serve different purposes. It’s impossible to get a fresh pasta al dente and unlikely that most home chefs have an extruder to get round shapes. The tougher texture allows it to stand up against hearty sauces.
Fresh pasta, however, has it’s own merits such a delicate texture that pairs well with delicate sauces. That delicate, silky texture isn’t achievable with dried pasta which would become mushy when trying.
I agree that they’re two different ingredients, but most Italian pasta dishes require dried pasta. The biggest exception is probably gnocchi, they’re always fresh.
It’s hard for me to say what is most dishes. I’ve never been to Italy and haven’t studied pasta making deeply, so it’s hard to say. From my limited understanding you pair cream sauces with fresh egg pastas. And in my opinion, stuffed pastas are also enjoyable when fresh.
Well, I’ve been to Italy many times and I have Italian friends, one of them actually worked in a restaurant in Italy. Most Italian dishes use dried pasta and they use it for a reason. You can learn more about dried pasta here https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLURsDaOr8hWXz_CFEfPH2wFhIbJn9iHJY&si=5jl6Z2vwxFX4sVXF
Okay. First, apologies. I see my intent wasn’t clear in my initial posting. I posted that under your response because I saw many responses that confused fresh pasta as being a direct replacement to dried pasta. Instead of replying to each instance of confusion, I figured I’d put a response under your initial reply. I should have been more clear when responding.
It’s surprising to hear that there’s not too many dishes that use fresh pasta. I always assumed there would be a fair amount of both dried and fresh. Thanks for the info.
I appreciate the link to the playlist. I really like Alex’s videos.
No worries, we’re just having a civil discussion here (:
As for dried pasta popularity, according to many internet sources, it became popular somewhere around 14th and 15th century, I guess Italians had plenty of time to adjust their cuisine. Dried pasta also has a benefit of long storage, which was important in their warm climate before the invention of an affordable domestic refrigerator in 20th century.
I remember coming across an early (either 12th or 13th century) pasta recipe. It was a simple fresh noodle in a delicately spiced broth, and, importantly, delicious.
What facinstes me is the status of fresh pasta in the American gastronomical context. It has achieved an ascendent status as demonstrated in this video. I’m sure many of the shapes are dried and I see this video as primarily entertainment and not necessarily an achievable thing for most home cooks. But it shapes an ideal for the viewing population.
I suspect that pasta will become one thing in America and another in Italy if it hasn’t already. I think looking at pizza in America, NYC in particular, vs pizza in Italy could provide an anthropological template.
Much ranting, I know. But hopefully interesting!
Well, I’ve never been to US, so I don’t know much about American food and learning something is always great!
Do you have the right equipment to make fresh pasta? If you’re doing it manually then it may as well be impossible.
Fresh pasta cannot be al dente, it’s useless for most traditional Italian pasta dishes. And it is near impossible to make dry pasta at home.