Loading…
17
The old line cook in Austin told me to stop salting my pasta water like the sea, and my dishes got better
I was working a busy Saturday at a spot on East 6th in Austin and this guy who had been cooking for 30 years watched me dump a handful of salt into the pasta pot. He stopped me and said the water should taste like a soup you would actually eat, not ocean water. I always heard the old saying about salting it like the sea, so I argued with him for a second. He had me taste the water before and after and the difference was huge, the too salty version made the sauce taste flat. Now I use about 1 tablespoon per gallon instead of the big pours I used to do. It sounds small but it changed how my pasta dishes come out. Has anyone else been taught the sea water thing and switched to a lighter hand?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
perez.mia26d ago
The sea water thing is one of those ideas that sounds tough and cool so it spreads around kitchens like a rumor. But most of cooking is like that, the loud advice is usually wrong and the quiet advice from someone who has done it for 30 years is right. Too much salt anywhere just covers up what you are trying to taste, same as pouring hot sauce on everything or drowning a steak in sauce. The best cooks I know are the ones who pull back instead of piling on. One tablespoon a gallon sounds about right to me.
3