"Ergonomic" is Latin for "impossible to use."

[Magrittes Pipe]

Discuss.

[asthmaticeog]

1. "Al Dente" is Italian for "Not Cooked Yet."

[Fenris]

2. "Al Hedges" is Latin for "unpleasant odor"

[Magrittes Pipe]

3. "Fenris" is Welsh for "I wank to pictures of Morrissey."

[Fenris]

4. Now that's just rude.

:P

[Magrittes Pipe]

5. "Rude" is French for "Hedges is a smoking lay."

[Fenris]

6. Really? They don't find smoking during sex offensive?

[asthmaticeog]

9. The French don't find smoking offensive ever.

[tridim]

7. One of my Food Network pet peeves

I agree that Al Dente is uncooked pasta, although every chef say to cook pasta Al Dente, even at home. I think this term comes from a common restaurant shortcut.. The pasta sits around after the al dente stage and is fully cooked when it's reheated prior to service. Yet, they tell us to cook it al dente and quickly put it under running water to stop the cooking. It's just wrong, uncooked flour tastes like crap.

Edit: A Roux is made with flour and fat (just like pasta), there's a good reason that you cook a roux prior to using it as a thickener. Taste. You can certainly thicken a sauce with raw flour, but it's not a good idea as far as taste goes.

[Kellanved]

8. actually no: "Al Dente " means "with bite"

Ok, literally "for the tooth".
And it really is how pasta should be cooked & served .

[tridim]

10. Right, and when you bite into the noodle

you can see a ribbon of uncooked flour. I cook it 2 minutes longer than al dente.

[Magrittes Pipe]

11. Pasta prepared al dente has no uncooked flour.

Al dente is firm, but NOT crunchy.

And if you EVER hear anyone tell you to run your pasta under cold water, do not take that person's cooking advice ever again.

[jukes]

12. most correct!

pasta shd be firm enough to "snick" under incisors!

any more heat than that, it's library paste.


cold water blanche requires it to be heated again; hence, o'cooking it!

st. louis' "dogtown" abuts "dago hill"; i grew up dining/working true italian restaurants!

[tridim]

13. Bite into an al dente noodle and take a look next time..

You'll see the white, uncooked dough in the center. I'm not making this up! :)

[Magrittes Pipe]

14. Then it's not al dente. It's undercooked.