[Sca-cooks] handmade pasta

[Edouard de Bruyerecourt]

Before I got my pasta machine, either I rolled the pasta sheet like a 
jelly roll and cut it with a sharp knife (you unroll the strips), or 
took a nice long straight edge and a pizza cutter, which has the 
advantage of not tearing/pulling at the pasta. Pizza rollers are useful 
for cutting losens, too.

For drying pasta strips, I have a couple of coat hooks that hang over 
the tops of door. The type that have about six inches for hangers, then 
a hook on the end. I found a closet dowel (or 1 1/4" Schedule 40 PVC 
pipe!) fits nicely into the hook area, making a nice rod between the 
hooks for hanging. Or you can use 3/8" dowels where the hangers go, 
which usually has handy spacers to keep them apart.

I've seen one Chinese cook make noodles by hand by doubling. I seem to 
recall they stretched the dough, dusted it slighly on a floured board to 
keep it from sticking, and then doubled it. The flour allowed them to 
keep each strand seperate as they keep doubling and stretching. I did 
the math for Mark Pi's record of 4096 strands, and it was 12 doublings 
to produce that number.

>

-- 
Edouard, Sire de Bruyerecourt
bruyere at jeffnet.org
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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, 
while bad people will find a way around the laws." 
- Plato (427-347 B.C.)