Stop! Don't throw away that pasta water

Italian culture has seen a massive spillover. From clothing to cuisine, a lot of Italy’s tradition and lifestyle has been adopted in many countries. One of the most popular cultural influences is the Italian cuisine, with pasta even becoming a staple in many countries. Pasta is a dish most commonly made of dough from durum wheat, mixed with water, which is then cooked, baked or boiled into many shapes and sizes. Some popular pastas are spaghetti, macaroni, penne, rigatoni, and fettuccine.

Water has become a scarcity in many parts of the world, which is why people have started making a conscious effort to use water judiciously. Keeping that in mind, it might be a good idea to preserve the residual water left after preparing a delicious dish of pasta. Most top notch restaurants serve pasta by utilizing the left over water. Not many people know that it is the utilization of the remaining pasta water that makes the dish stand apart from other pasta dishes. So why and how should you preserve pasta water? Let’s take a look.

Pasta water might not appear clean, but don’t be fooled by its appearance. The water actually contains the goodness of starch and salt from the pasta, and is used by many a culinary expert to offer a more delectable pasta dish. So how does a touch of starch and salt add a richer flavour to the sauce? The starch helps in thickening the sauce and binding it to the pasta, leading to a creamier texture, while the salt acts as a flavour enhancer.

There are many hacks to make your cooking better, and using pasta water to make a more exquisite pasta dish is one of them. A lot of chefs incorporate this method to make pasta sauce, and it is one of the key factors that distinguishes a ‘good’ pasta dish from a 'bad' one.