Perhaps it is hard to imagine today, but until about ten years ago, pasta was absolutely banned from the golden realms of haute cuisine. Incredible, isn't it? On this subject, I have recently started reading a very interesting book: 'Pasta Revolution', by Eleonora Cozzella, which recounts the evolution and revolution of one of the dishes undoubtedly most loved by Italians and not only.
The book deals with the questions we most frequently find ourselves debating, in Italy and abroad, related to the staple food of our cuisine. When is it better to throw out the salt? Before or after the water boils? And how do we define "al dente" pasta? Try explaining this to a foreigner and you will realise that it is anything but easy! Whoever has lived abroad, even for a while, has never had a housemate who, in order to test the cooking, would throw a pen or a noodle on the wall to see if it 'stuck'? And have you never felt a genuine thrill of horror? You joke, but not even that much!
Besides, it's easy to say pasta: do you prefer short or long pasta? What kind of sauce do you associate the different types of pasta with? Which flavour do you associate with penne rigate and which with trofie? (This last one is an easy question)! And that's not all: when it's time to serve, do we reheat the dish? And how much? And finally, an age-old debate (but not in Italy, thankfully!): is it permissible to use a spoon to eat spaghetti? To us the mere idea makes us smile, but travelling in more or less distant countries it is always good not to take anything for granted.
Then of course there are the chefs. How do today's great chefs interpret pasta? How do they serve it? What is their research around one of the simplest, yet at the same time most complex dishes? At the back of the book you will also find a series of excellent recipes. I have to say that the pasta dish I love most is first of all cannelloni cooked by my mum... mum is always mum, you know! And then the spaghetti with courgettes cooked by Alfonso Iaccarino. The recipe? Actually, it is a secret that I cannot reveal... but what I am most curious about at this point is: what is your favourite pasta dish?
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