An old line cook told me to stop salting my pasta water too early

I always added salt when the water went on the stove. Figured it dissolved better that way. He pulled me aside after service one night and said I was just wasting salt, the flavor cooks off before the pasta even hits the water. So I started waiting until the water was actually boiling, then salting it. Tastes way more seasoned now, and I use less salt overall. Have you ever had a basic kitchen habit get totally corrected by someone?

2 comments

2 Comments

rowan_kelly6427d ago

Jumped right into the deep end of the pool with that one. I had a buddy who was the same way with butter, always threw it in the pan at the start when making scrambled eggs. Then a chef buddy told him the butter burns and changes the flavor before the eggs even set, you gotta wait until the pan is medium heat and just melted, not sizzling. It's wild how one small tweak changes everything. Now he swears by it and won't touch a pan without that timing down.

martinez.karen27d ago

Oh man, that hits close to home. I was totally that person for years with garlic, throwing it in the pan first thing and wondering why everything tasted kind of burnt and bitter. A friend finally set me straight and now I add it way later in the cooking, like right before the end, and it made such a huge difference. It really is crazy how one little timing change can totally flip what you thought you knew. Have you ever had one of those moments where you realized you were doing something the hard way for way too long?