Pesto, Carbonara, Alfredo, Alla Routa… Whatever, Who Doesn’t Like Pasta?

People who know a tiny bit about cooking say that preparing pasta is the easiest thing to do. Yet, I see that not everyone dares to try it. Back in Mexico I remember buying fresh pasta sporadically only when I went to the adequate store, normally at an outrageous price… 90 to 95% markup, most probably. Then, I found that fresh pasta at a really convenient price could be found in pretty much every supermarket in France and on top of it, I thought it was of decent quality. I mean, it’s not restaurant-quality, but it tastes much better than the dry Barilla or the once beloved Mac n’ Cheese by children of a vast range of ages.

Evidently, once I started to get trained in culinary arts, I not only wanted to learn how to cut a chicken in a fricassee, a.k.a. in the 8 pieces it is supposed to be divided in traditional French dishes, but also some staple foods that any cook should know how to prepare like pasta. I have to admit that in my thoughts this lesson would arrive earlier in the journey, yet it found its way towards the Demonstration Classroom at the perfect moment… or better said, when I couldn’t wait any longer, hahaha! And so, the Chef started to explain the procedure, which, yes, it IS very easy to follow. I have to say that even though I knew semolina could and would be added to pasta, I never stopped to reflect on the ratio. Chef Vaca, my professor, said an Italian Chef he worked with in the past recommended him to use a 50% flour – 50% semolina mix. This would make it lighter and easier to digest.

But the Demo Class was just half of the learning experience, now it was time to prepare it. Unfortunately, and for some reason I am not going to speculate about, when we arrived to our Practical Class there was no “Pasta Machine” available, which meant we were going to have to do some kind of noodles which were most probably going to end up being too thick and irregularly cut -one starts to be so perfectionist and detail-oriented to achieve a beautiful plate full of flavors. I felt like a child doing magic, delicious magic. The preparation came out even better than I expected. Yes, a bit thick, but not too much. Tasteful. I felt them melt in my mouth… and this was only the side dish.