Sound Principles

Well, now that I posted an italian recipe, I can comment a little on italian cuisine. I will be listing others, don't worry, but I feel some things about italian cooking should be understood first.

Italian food is simple, delicious, and easy to make. In my experiences helping out in italian kitchens I found that italian food is based on principles, not really rules. (However, it is never a good idea to argue with an italian on the subject of food) I never saw an italian swiftly cube a potato with a super sharp knife like all the fancy chefs on TV. The best food I ate in italy was prepared by hand, IN hand, what I mean by that is I rarely even saw an italian use a cutting board. Potatoes were peeled in hand. Vegetables chopped with a small knife over a pot. So don't get caught up in technique. Also, if a sauce doesn't taste quite right, add a little olive oil and cook it for another 10 minutes. It sounds strange but it seems to fix most minor problems. I have no idea how.

A few things to remember:

1. Ocean water-- GENEROUSLY salt your pasta water. It's not to make it boil faster, the point is to SEASON your pasta. A good rule of thumb is it should taste almost like the ocean.

2. Uncooked tomatoes are raw. This sounds funny, and obvious, but I never realized the difference between a RAW tomato sauce and a COOKED tomato sauce until I was in italy. Even tomato puree' from a jar is RAW. The flavor completely changes once you cook it, and so does the color. So don't just dump in some tomatoes and heat them up, unless you WANT it to taste raw, or ''fresh''

3. Baking soda and sugar: If you make a tomato sauce and it tastes too acidic (this can especially be common with canned tomatoes) you can try two things but BE CAREFUL! First, add just a tiny pinch of baking soda. It will bubble up as you stir. Try this a little bit at a time because if you add too much the sauce can taste overly salty. If your sauce tastes flat you can add a pinch of sugar, it brings out the flavor.

4. Olive oil is raw too! If you add it to a sauce towards the end, give it some time to cook out unless you are looking for a fruity flavor.

I'm sure I will think of more as I start posting more italian yummies. Buon appetito!