The Italiano Speaks

One of the perks of my job is the access to the knowledge of our chefs, whenever I have problems cooking at home. I showed our Italian chef the picture of the tagliatelle I made last night. For the record, I actually called him while I was at the supermarket, asking him whether 250g of tagliatelle was enough for 2 persons. Si, he said.

Upon looking at the picture, he commented that the pasta looked slightly overcooked. I peered at him. Italians' idea of "al dente" is certainly not what we Chinese have in mind. We Chinese like them soft and cooked. "Al dente" actually means "stick to the teeth" - and pasta sticking to the teeth is considered uncooked by us Chinese.

Haha, in any case, I did pick up some useful tips:

• The recipe starts off with frying the bacon and chopped garlic with some olive oil. He recommends that you fry the bacon for a bit longer first, and add the garlic slightly later. This is the same for most other frying - this ensures that you won't end up with burnt garlic, as they brown very fast.


• Instructions on the pasta packet would indicate cooking time for the pasta. Always minus 1-2 minutes from the recommended. For example, if it says 7 minutes, you can boil the pasta for roughly 5-6 minutes. Reason being, after you drain off the water, the hot pasta continues to cook by itself. So between draining, and serving onto plate - the additional couple of minutes will add up to the recommended time - ensuring that you serve your pasta at just the right consistency.


• CREAM IS FATTENING! He suggested that I can try without using the cream. Just fry the bacon, garlic and spinach with more olive oil. And add in the boiled tagliatelle. Sprinkle with some finely grated Pecorino cheese and you're ready to serve!

Well, I would have to try the recipe out again, this time, without the cream. It will certainly make me feel less guilty eating it!