[Sca-cooks] Pasta Experiment (long)

[Vladimir Armbruster]

Keep us informed as to the futures of this, this missive was a very
interesting read!

30 minutes to an hour and a half.  Wow, I would've thought it'd be mush by
then as well.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Barbara Benson" <voxeight at gmail.com>
To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2005 2:52 PM
Subject: [Sca-cooks] Pasta Experiment (long)


> 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
>
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