This is interesting and brilliant and explains something I have thought about often. In Top Foodies Choose Their Favorite Recipes of All Time (The Guardian 29 January 2006), Ruth Rogers of London's River Cafe chose Sugo Fresco di Pomodoro (Simple Tomato Sauce) from Marcella's Italian Kitchen by Marcella Hazan (Page 122). as hers. She said this is what she most often makes when guests come to her home for dinner.
In the cookbook Marcella says "The special taste of the sauce depends largely on the way the garlic is handled. It must be sliced very thin, sautéed only until it becomes just faintly colored, and then allowed to simmer slowly in the tomato so that it can release all its sweetness. Raw basil at the end contributes a fragrant fillip. Make sure the basil does not undergo any cooking." Additionally, the sauce, which has six ingredients, cooks for 20 minutes WITHOUT salt or pepper, which are added then, and the sauce continues to cook only for 2 or 3 more minutes.
In the summer when my upstate NY garden is filled with fragrant basil, this is a dish I make often. I serve it without cheese on Pastaficio Setaro spaghetti chitarra, which I order from Buonitalia. The deliciousness of this dish with salt, pepper, and basil added at the end still surprises me. Now I understand!
The quote you shared from Flavorama is one of the best, and most poetic, explanations I've read of the relationship between smell and taste. Also a useful explanation of why it's best to add lemon juice at the end of cooking.
Thank you, I read your response avidly and immediately but didn’t have the time to comment until now! It’s definitely both 1 and 2, though more 1 at the moment. Salt shouldn’t be tricky but salting gradually requires more patience and attention to intuition than many of us are used to dedicating to anything at all in our lives these days. I’ll keep at it! And let you know the results
Wise words, oh shrink!
This is interesting and brilliant and explains something I have thought about often. In Top Foodies Choose Their Favorite Recipes of All Time (The Guardian 29 January 2006), Ruth Rogers of London's River Cafe chose Sugo Fresco di Pomodoro (Simple Tomato Sauce) from Marcella's Italian Kitchen by Marcella Hazan (Page 122). as hers. She said this is what she most often makes when guests come to her home for dinner.
In the cookbook Marcella says "The special taste of the sauce depends largely on the way the garlic is handled. It must be sliced very thin, sautéed only until it becomes just faintly colored, and then allowed to simmer slowly in the tomato so that it can release all its sweetness. Raw basil at the end contributes a fragrant fillip. Make sure the basil does not undergo any cooking." Additionally, the sauce, which has six ingredients, cooks for 20 minutes WITHOUT salt or pepper, which are added then, and the sauce continues to cook only for 2 or 3 more minutes.
In the summer when my upstate NY garden is filled with fragrant basil, this is a dish I make often. I serve it without cheese on Pastaficio Setaro spaghetti chitarra, which I order from Buonitalia. The deliciousness of this dish with salt, pepper, and basil added at the end still surprises me. Now I understand!
The quote you shared from Flavorama is one of the best, and most poetic, explanations I've read of the relationship between smell and taste. Also a useful explanation of why it's best to add lemon juice at the end of cooking.
A completely brilliant piece about salt and why it’s SO Important for things to taste good!
Yeah, for expectations; as in, "more perfect union."
Thank you, I read your response avidly and immediately but didn’t have the time to comment until now! It’s definitely both 1 and 2, though more 1 at the moment. Salt shouldn’t be tricky but salting gradually requires more patience and attention to intuition than many of us are used to dedicating to anything at all in our lives these days. I’ll keep at it! And let you know the results