JOIN USA look at the shelves of any of the small, big, indifferent departmental stores across the City, and you are sure to catch a range of different shapes, flavours and colours in pastas just waiting to be picked.
The Italian dish - which can also be one of the simplest to prepare, has become one of the most popular foods today for it also lends itself to be served in many different ways. Primarily, it is the sauce and the flavour of olives that distinguishes pasta’s taste.
Long pastas like tagliatelle, spaghetti and linguine work best with olive-oil-based sauces which coat the pasta completely without drowning it. Thicker strands, like fettuccine and tagliatelle, can stand up to cream sauces whereas fusilli (twists) go well with all sort of sauces. With so many types of pastas available in the market today, Metrolife speaks to a few chefs as to how each of these can be prepared.
“No Rules apply to food today and it is the same with pastas,” says chef Naval from Under One Roof Hotel Consultants. “There are no hard and fast rules as to a certain pastas can only be accompanied by a certain sauce.
However, pastas which use a meat component or ingredient are preferably done in red sauce. It helps bring out the flavours of the meat better and make for filling meals.”He further adds, “Pasta types such as penne and rigatoni are best served in red sauce. It envelopes the pasta better, giving it a rounded flavour. On the other hand pasta such as fusilli is done in light sauces which are usually white sauces with cream and cheese with a hint of pepper to bring out the flavours.”
However, Chef Sachin Verma of Hinglish restaurant believes in experimentation. “Pastas make for great fusion dishes. Today, apart from the regular red and white sauces, pesto sauce-based pastas are also being liked by people. The various ingredients to a sauce can alter the nature and taste of pasta completely.”
The chef prepares pasta in a special sauce, “We make our speciality sauce with makhani gravy and cream added into it. It brings in a desi flavour to the pasta and is quite enjoyed by our guests,” says Sachin.