The day I stopped over-salting my pasta water and it clicked

So I've been cooking professionally for about 8 years now. Always did the whole 'salty like the sea' thing for pasta water. Then last month at this Italian spot in Portland, the sous chef watched me dump a fistful of salt in and just shook his head. He pulled me aside and had me taste the water after a normal amount. Then he had me taste it at what I usually did. I mean, I always thought more salt = better flavor right? But he explained that if the water is too salty, the pasta absorbs that salt and then your sauce just tastes like salt no matter what you do. Realized I had been screwing up my cacio e pepe for like 2 years because the pasta itself was already salted to hell before it even hit the cheese. Has anyone else had that moment where a simple adjustment made a huge difference?

2 comments

2 Comments

daniel1409d ago

Man, @seth_shah nailed it with that swimming pool comment, haha! That's exactly what I was doing wrong for years too - I thought more salt was always better, but it just makes the pasta itself taste like brine before you even add sauce. I started doing the same thing you did, using way less salt, and it changed my weeknight dinners completely. The trick for me was to taste the water after I add a little salt, then adjust based on what kind of sauce I'm using - a heavy tomato sauce can handle a bit more salt, but a light cream sauce? Forget it, you gotta go easy. It took me getting the same kind of wake-up call you got from a chef buddy, but once you learn that balance, everything just clicks.

seth_shah9d ago

Oh man, the first time I oversalted pasta water I made my kids eat it and my five year old looked me dead in the eye and said "this tastes like a swimming pool, dad." That was humbling. I started measuring my salt with a little pinch instead of a big scoop and suddenly my weeknight spaghetti was actually edible. I still mess it up about once a month because I get distracted by a toddler meltdown and just dump salt in without thinking. But now I know that less is actually more and my cacio e pepe is no longer a salt lick. I will say your mileage may vary depending on the sauce.