Tonight I was listening to a podcast on molecular gastronomy on my drive home and they happened to address this very issue. They said that the field of molecular gastronomy has been making great strides at using chemistry to solve problems like these and debunking common cooking myths in the process.
The myth in question was adding olive oil to the boiling water to prevent pasta from sticking - which they say does not work at all (though it sounds like serenitaet's method very well might work if you are looking for a post-cooking cold pasta solution). They did not go into the chemistry of why but the molecular gastronomy solution to the problem of pasta sticking together while cooking is to add... vinegar. I haven't tried it myself (having just heard this half an hour ago) and they didn't mention specifics about amounts, etc. but apparently everything else is bunk and the thing that works via science (SCIENCE!) is vinegar. They said red wine vinegar, cider vinegar and the like will all work basically the same if you're looking for a particular flavor.
So funny that you mention this dilemma and I happen to hear a podcast that talks about it a few days later. The world, it is coincidentical.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2011-04-13 04:33 am (UTC)The myth in question was adding olive oil to the boiling water to prevent pasta from sticking - which they say does not work at all (though it sounds like serenitaet's method very well might work if you are looking for a post-cooking cold pasta solution). They did not go into the chemistry of why but the molecular gastronomy solution to the problem of pasta sticking together while cooking is to add... vinegar. I haven't tried it myself (having just heard this half an hour ago) and they didn't mention specifics about amounts, etc. but apparently everything else is bunk and the thing that works via science (SCIENCE!) is vinegar. They said red wine vinegar, cider vinegar and the like will all work basically the same if you're looking for a particular flavor.
So funny that you mention this dilemma and I happen to hear a podcast that talks about it a few days later. The world, it is coincidentical.