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[theinevitable]

when my dad was a kid, his mom was such a bad cook that... he often wondered why restaurant food was so good. He finally decided they must have to go to chef school for a really long time to learn to make food that didn't taste like buttery cardboard.

when my parents were dating, my mom declared she was going to make dinner for his family. She found the spice rack... full of spices which had hardened into solid blocks, since they had not been used ever in the time since they were given to my grandma as a wedding present in the 40's.

[littlefallsmets]

Yeah, man, the spice must flow.

THE SPICE. MUST. FLOOOOOOOOOOOW!

[theinevitable]

speaking of which, the other day I bought stuff to make spaghetti! I am hell of excited. I bought a jar of Zia's pasta sauce (Zia's is a fantastic Italian restaurant in St Louis) and 2 boxes of "De Cecco" spaghetti (this is the kind my mom gets). Is there anything else which would make this better? i think my mom puts a little olive oil in the noodles before adding the sauce. I did not buy any parmesan because they only had big ol' things of it.

[AugustWest]

Garlic.  Red Wine. Onions and/or mushrooms.

[KeithHernandez]

Garlic.  Red Wine. Onions and/or mushrooms.

I have to second all of those, especially garlic and onions.  Also, as far as I know, ALWAYS put salt in anything you are boiling.  At least that is what one dude told me (this dude owns a restaurant, to be more clear.)  I really only boil potatoes, pasta and rice, and only put salt in the pasta, but apparently that is what you are supposed to do.  It stops it from lumping together?

[iron_felix]

I really only boil potatoes, pasta and rice, and only put salt in the pasta, but apparently that is what you are supposed to do.  It stops it from lumping together?

I always thought it was just to save time by lowering the boiling point.  I may be mistaken.  Anyone else have any clue?

[Victoria Waterfield]

I always thought it was just to save time by lowering the boiling point.  I may be mistaken.  Anyone else have any clue?

I think it also allows the salt to infuse throughout whatever it is you are boiling, rather than just remaining on the surface of the boiled foodstuff. Not that big a deal with pasta, but it makes quite the difference with potatoes.

[CortJstr]

I always thought it was just to save time by lowering the boiling point.  I may be mistaken.  Anyone else have any clue?

I've been told it's just for seasoning. I think the amount of salt one adds to a pot of pasta water only lowers the boiling point by like an eighth of a degree.

[wombat]

I think it also allows the salt to infuse throughout whatever it is you are boiling, rather than just remaining on the surface of the boiled foodstuff. Not that big a deal with pasta, but it makes quite the difference with potatoes.

No, it really makes a big deal with pasta too. Unless you're loading so much crap on the pasta that you can't taste it anyway.

[Popegeorgeringo]

The addition of a TBSP of oil to the boiling water keeps the pasta from clumping together.  Actually cooking it the right amount of time helps too.

[wombat]

The addition of oil to the water keeps the sauce from adhering to the pasta properly.  If your pasta is clumping while you are cooking it, your problem is that you are not using enough water and/or letting it boil hard enough.

[littlefallsmets]

As far as I've ever heard, the only advantage to adding oil is adding just a little little little bit, to break the surface tension of the water and fight boilovers and stuff like that. Only for the mechanics of cooking, not for any flavour reasons and... yeah... too much of it and you're just suffocating the pasta from being able to absorb anything else.

[side_show]

Ooh man, when I was at red lobster once, the boyfriend went to the can, and the waitress, just slid into the booth next to me and started chatting it up about her day.  Since she totally screwed up our order and was totally shittious, it was a really bad idea on her part.  I wanted her to die.

Also, I saw a Mythbusters style show that was not Mythbusters where they showed that the salt in pasta to speed boiling & oil in pasta to prevent boil over were both not true.

[CortJstr]

Ooh man, when I was at red lobster once, the boyfriend went to the can, and the waitress, just slid into the booth next to me and started chatting it up about her day.  Since she totally screwed up our order and was totally shittious, it was a really bad idea on her part.  I wanted her to die.

Also, I saw a Mythbusters style show that was not Mythbusters where they showed that the salt in pasta to speed boiling & oil in pasta to prevent boil over were both not true.

Alton did an episode called Mythsmashers with things like oil in pasta water and not washing mushrooms. On an early episode he said no oil in boiling pasta ever. But in at least two later episodes he said he was wrong before and oil is good.

Also, who doesn't wash mushrooms?

[Drastic Action]

There has been some grungy stuff on my mushrooms.  Who wouldn't wash them?  You can't say water is bad for fungus!  I would be frightened of cooking unwashed mushrooms.

But yeah, I was going to come in here earlier and say how a teaspoon of solute, no matter what it is, is going to do basically nothing for the boiling point -- but everyone's already gotten to that.  Salt to slightly season the pasta or whatever does make sense, and it's not like it hurts.  But honestly, I've never seen a difference one way or another.  Just stir it occasionally and keep the heat at the right temperature and you'll be making A+ pasta.  I always just cook it until it has the right consistency, but some people swear by specific cooking times, and I don't understand why.  Different amounts of pasta will cook differently, and even the quality of the pot can affect it.

But pasta + sauce cooking suggestions?  There's a million things you can do.  Try every conceivable combination of vegetables and fungi, such as onions, shallots, peppers, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, cucumbers, portobellos, etc.  Fresh parsley makes so many things better, but you've got to figure the right amount.  Personally, the greatest thing you can do is sautee peppers and onions in a creamy vodka sauce with radiatore pasta and a bit of cayenne.  I could have that every night.