Welcome ladies and gentleman to the main event of the week! In the category of Culinary Boxing here at Chef’s Mandala, we have weighing in at 1.1 pounds from industrial factories, please welcome quick dry pasta! His opponent, also weighing in at 1.1 pounds from artisans everywhere, please welcome slow dry pasta!
LET’S GET READY TO RRRRR…….HAVE A SPIRITED DEBATE ON FOOD!!!
In the Red Corner – SLOW DRY PASTA
Today’s challenger is no stranger to household kitchens throughout the world. While back home in Italy slow dried pasta is a mark of status, here in the States….not so much. Remember that Italians consume twice as much pasta as their immigrant cousins. Both slow and quick dry pasta agree that to be the best in pasta, you don’t need to be fresh. Making and cutting fresh pasta dough might take a few minutes. But slow-dried pasta can take up to several days if properly done. How noticeable is our challenger’s level of quality vs. quickly dried pasta? Well, that depends on who the judges are. By Italian rules, Americans overcook, over sauce, and over serve (huge portions) the miracle that is durum wheat and water. Al dente pasta is necessary in order to truly appreciate what slow drying brings to the fight. Fans claim that slow dry pasta is less rubbery when served side by side against quick dry. This is because more pasta proteins are able to bond with the water when cooked then with quick dry pasta. Critics however point out, who the hell wants to pay 3 to 5 times as much money for a bag of pasta that took a little longer to dry and that I can barely taste under all that sauce?
In the Blue Corner – QUICK DRY PASTA
Our resident champ is one resilient pasta, being dried in a fraction of the time but at temperatures three times as high as slow dry pasta’s. He is affordable, and when smothered with other flavors less of a food and more of a delivery mechanism for the rest of your plate. The vast majority of pasta in the world is quick dry pasta. And a faster drying time doesn’t mean that the pasta quality is sub-par. There are cars that are cheap and get you to where you’re going. And then there are cars that are a joy to drive. If you are eating to survive, fans argue quick dry pasta gets you where you want to go (saving you money and time in the process)! Critics however feel that life is short, and a few cents more for an ingredient that takes up most of your plate is a better investment.
FIGHT!!!
- The Play-By-Play
Both fighters have wanted this championship bout for a long time! Quick dry pasta leads with repeated, lightning fast jabs, followed by solid hooks to the midsection. Slow dry pasta absorbs these blows with barely a grimace, focusing instead on the his opponent’s pretty boy face (the result of millions of dollars of marketing spent by industrial pasta giants).
AND THE WINNER IS….
It is a tie. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a first in culinary boxing history! Rarely has the sweet science tasted so bitter for the two fighters in the ring. The reality is that if you overcook pasta, slow drying is pretty much a waste of time (in more then once sense of the word). If however you are willing to cook pasta al dente, then you should absolutely give slow dry a chance!
