I heard people don't add salt to the wather when they cook spaghetti?
By lorelai
@lorelai (1558)
Italy
December 1, 2007 8:10pm CST
Can it be possible? I live in Italy and I know that you have to add salt when you cook spaghetti because they taste much better. I know that salt is not very healthy but you trow away the water anyway. This summer I have been talking to some english people and they said they didn't put salt in their pasta. They even gave me one of those bags with all the ingredients, spaghetti includes, to make a meal in 5 minutes and there were no instruction to add some salt. I tried to eat that pasta without salt and I had to put some salt on it. They likes it much better that way too. So do you put salt when you cook pasta?
4 people like this
18 responses
@zigzagbuddha (4601)
• United States
3 Dec 07
He was wrong, xboxboy, unless you just remember it wrong! Because adding salt to the water causes it to boil at a HIGHER temperature.
And it definitely improves the flavor of whatever you're boiling in it!
1 person likes this
@lorelai (1558)
• Italy
6 Dec 07
About other tips...it depends, I don't know what people usually do that can be FIXED (I hope you get the allusion to certain post) When you finally taste pasta cooked with salt please let me know if you liked it better. Just don't add too much salt, a soup spoon would be enough on some 1/5kg of pasta. So please let me know.
1 person likes this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
4 Dec 07
Whenever I make pasta, I let the water boil and then i add the salt.It adds flavor.But here in the States, people are afraid of too much salt in their diet. Little they know that if you add the salt to the pasta water, you won't have to add it at the table.And you will use less salt.
1 person likes this
@tazpromote (965)
• United States
2 Dec 07
First I'd like to say that Italy is a beautiful place!! I was stationed in Sardegna for 3 years and I loved it.
Anyway, I have always added salt to my water when cooking spaghetti because it's just better that way. If you don't add salt, it seems like the noodles are too bland and not very tasty.
Regards,
Taz
2 people like this
@jannijanni (866)
•
27 May 08
i do!!! pasta is indeed tastier when it's boiled in salt. i thought i was the only one who thinks so since my mum said that cooking pasta in salt makes it saltier which is harmful to our health.
1 person likes this
@lkbooi (16070)
• Malaysia
4 Jul 08
Hi lorelai, different people like different taste when eating. I believe to add salt to the boiling water really would make the spaghetti to taste better. It’s a good idea to eat only the spaghetti without taking the soup together. In the way you could cut down taking too much salt which is believed not healthy to take much for our body. It normally depends on whether the ingredient added to it is salty enough to suit my taste. Salt will only add in case the taste of the pasta or spaghetti is too plain.
@ky1119 (698)
• United States
11 Dec 07
I don't put salt on my pasta. I never knew that you should! I just made spaghetti last night. Next time I make it, which will be next week I'm sure,(it's my favorite)I'll be sure to put a pinch of salt in the water and see how it turns out. Thanks for the advice!
@maximax8 (31046)
• United Kingdom
9 Dec 07
I really like to eat pasta. I eat long spaghetti and pasta shapes. I read about some people having too much salt in the diet. So I cook the spaghetti and then add just a tiny amount of margarine. When I have cooked pasta shapes I add some carrot sauce to it. I think salt does add nicely to many foods. However I am trying to cut down the amount of it I have. So I like to always cook pasta without salt.
1 person likes this
@makingpots (11915)
• United States
11 Dec 07
Hi, lorelai.
Yes, I put salt in the water when I cook my pasta. I also add a tiny bit of oil to the water. I have to have a little bit of salt in pasta dishes and I have read somewhere that it is healthier to add it to the water while cooking than it is to add it to the finished product.
1 person likes this
@katykat (46)
• United States
27 May 08
I suppose it's a personal preference, and ALL of us are different, so if you like the salt go for it. Personally though, I go without the salt, although midway through cooking add either olive oil or vegetable oil to prevent over boiling and to give the pasta that Italian al'dente taste. 20 minutes at a full boil WITH the added oils, keeps your water from spilling over and you get perfect pasta EVERY time! Guaranteed!
Good luck and enjoy!
CIAO :)
@snowy22315 (180470)
• United States
3 Jul 08
Some of the time I add salt other times I dont. It just depends on whether I think about it or not. I tend to add sea salt becasue I think it is lower in salt and beter for
you. There's salt in the spaghetti sauce so I dont think the pasta necessarily needs salt.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
3 Jul 08
loreli I have had to cut salt out of my diet completely so am usedd to not adding salt to my water for spaghetti and I like
it that way.I have high blood pressure and am salt fast so cannot eat any salt at all. I soon got used to that and now a salty dish makes my mouth hurt,too salty for my taste.salt is not all that good for one any way.
@3lilangels (4639)
• United States
11 Dec 07
yes i always add salt to my pasta.and Yes salted water boils at a higher temperature. However, you have to season the pasta or it's just bland no matter how seasoned the sauce is, the focal point of the dish is the pasta. You taste the pasta much longer as your chewing, than the sauce it's masked with. Another example you should add salt in the stages of cooking to bring out the flavor adding salt at the end of cooking just adds a layer of obscurity to the food.
@luvstochat (6907)
• United States
16 Dec 07
I put salt in my water when I boil spaghetti I was told that it helps keep the noodles from sticking. I don't know if that is true or not but I have always dont it.
@mrsjbelle (1640)
• United States
12 Dec 07
I have never added salt I do always add oil so the noodles don't stick together. I bet you guys have some delicious food in Italy:)
@RowenaTheWitch (947)
• Italy
19 Dec 07
I'm italian too so I agree 100% with you :D
Pasta without salt is tasteless, that's probably the number one reason why pasta cooked abroad doesn't taste so good. To people on this thread I recommending using not only salt, but salt with big grains, it's even better ;)
