[Sca-cooks] Pasta Experiment (long)

[Barbara Benson]

Greetings,

I am working on a new feast with a realitively close turnaround. Right
now I am in research mode. This is an unusual situation for me in that
it is a region and time period where there are no culinary
manuscripts. By preference I tend to stick very late period and work
with existant manuscripts.

Because someone else selected the theme for this feast I find myself
in unfamiliar waters. Specifically Norman Sicily at the end of the
reign of Roger II. One of the texts I have been reading for clues as
to what to serve is "Pasta" by Serventi and Sabban. It states that
Sicily during the 12th and 13th centuries was the primary exporter of
Dried Pasta. So I thought that would be a logical foodstuff to serve.

So, further in the text they discuss the different manuscripts that
have directions for preparing the pasta. Apparently the general
Medieval/Rennisance concensus is that pasta, dried or fresh, needed to
be cooked for between 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. And the concept of al
Dente is decidedly OOP.

So, today I abused some pasta. The only thing that I keep in my house
is Whole Wheat Pasta, so I do not know how that imitates possible
period pasta - it might hold up better than others. I used fettuchini
because that is what I had.

I put a pot of salted water on to boil and tossed the pasta in (I did
not wait for the boil) and set the timer for 30 minutes. Considering
that these same recipies usually call for boiling the pasta in fatty
broth or almond milk I decided that the - gallon of water per pound of
pasta - concept is most likely modern also. I had enough water in the
pot for the pasta to swim a bit, but no more than 3/4 inch headroom.

Stirring occasionally I removed some pasta at 30 min to try it out.
Suprisingly it still had some body and did not tend to fall apart as I
assumed it would. By no stretch of the imagination was it "al Dente"
but it had some tooth resistance.

I kept the pot going for another 30 minutes to see what would happen.
I stirred occasionally and had to add more water to prevent the pasta
from becoming un-submerged. After the second 30 min I removed
additional pasta for taste testing. This pasta provided no tooth
resistance, but you could pick a single piece up with tongs without it
falling completely apart. The noodles had a silky mouth feel but
retained their noodle shape.

Pushing on to the third 30 minutes I started to see some significant
changes. I had to add more water because much of it was boiling off
and being absorbed. About 5 - 10 minutes past the 1st hour I started
to see a skin forming on the surface of the water. I stirred it back
in. After a little while longer there started to be clumps of starch
forming in the water independantly of the noodles. I allowed it to go
for the final 30 minutes until the water had boiled down until the
noodles were almost exposed.

The taste test on this was significantly different. It was almost
impossible to pick up a single piece of pasta with tongs, they just
fell apart. But strangely they maintained their identity as noodles.
They fell apart into small noodle chunks, but they did not turn into
bowl of mush as I had thought they might. The mouth feel  was even
softer than before, with the starch being a definite presecence.

I saved the pasta water to see what had happened. I walked away and
when I returned a skin of gelatinous stuff had formed on the top (like
pudding). I stirred it in with my fingers and the water itself was
goopy. Lots of starch.

So, I just went to the market and purchased regular old linguini and
will repeat my experiment with the different pasta. I have no idea
what, if anything, will be different.

If anyone else has experimented with this I would love to hear your
results. Also, if anyone has any suggestions as to places I might look
to find more info on the Cuisine of Norman Sicily I would love to hear
it. I will append a list of books I am currently working with.

Glad Tidings,
--Serena da Riva

books I am reading for Norman Sicily inspiration:
Pomp and Sustanance - 25 Years of Sicilian Cooking - Simeti
Pasta- Serventi and Sabban
Celebrating Italy - Field
The Norman Kingdom of Sicily - Matthew
Roman Cookery - Grant
Taste of Ancient Rome - Giacosa
A Book of Middle Eastern Food - Roden
The Anon Andalusian Cookbook
Siren Feasts - Dalby