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Morsels

We're trying to build a wealth of kitchen know-how, but we realize it's not just about the recipes. Life in the kitchen involves working with a multitude of ingredients that can behave in very funny ways, and sometimes being armed with this knowledge brings new insight into a recipe… or, we hope inspiration for an entirely new recipe!

This page is devoted to what we are calling Morsels, delicious bits of information that may help/enhance your cooking experience. If you have a suggestion for something you would like to share with the Vino community, please send us a message. As goes for the recipes you enter, we only ask that if you got your morsel from a source, you should include that in your suggestions, as well.

Kaffir Lime Leaves

We all love Thai food, right? One very common ingredient, especially in soups, is kaffir lime leaves. It's generally one of those items that most of us treat as "good if we had it, but I'm not going… (more)
--adit

Pasta

Pasta is about as simple as it gets in the kitchen, but there are certain things one can/cannot do to make it taste decidedly better. These are a few tips that pretty much any Italian chef will preac… (more)
--adit

The Mushroom Myth

This is one of those self-fulfilling myths. When you buy mushrooms, they often have dirt on them, so what do you do? Of course you wash them in water! Then what happens? You saute them and... lots… (more)
--adit

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Morsels

Pasta

Pasta is about as simple as it gets in the kitchen, but there are certain things one can/cannot do to make it taste decidedly better. These are a few tips that pretty much any Italian chef will preach when they are making pasta.

First, the only chance one has to season the pasta is when it is boiling, so the water you use should be nice and salty. Remember that you are salting the water, not the pasta, so add enough salt for the amount of water you have, not for the amount of pasta. Mario Batali even believes that the water should taste "like the sea!" Since salt helps bring out other flavors, salting your pasta water will really enhance the overall quality of the dish.

Some people will put a tablespoon or so of oil in their pasta water to help keep the noodles from sticking. Unfortunately, since oil and water don't mix very well, you are pretty much just throwing away a tablespoon of oil. Most of it ends up going out with the water when you drain it and almost none of it actually sticks to the pasta. The Good Eats video below shows this. In order to keep the pasta from sticking all one needs to do is make sure and stir it every few minutes while it is cooking, and you will have nice tangle free pasta.

Lastly, some folks like to rinse their pasta after it has cooked. If you really want to reduce the amount of starch on the pasta, then go ahead. However, removing that starch makes it much more difficult for the sauce you are using to coat the noodles. The only time one might legitimately want to rinse their pasta is if they need to stop the cooking immediately and cool down the pasta for a cold dish.