Foodtalkers on Summer Pastas
August 27, 2002

1. In your opinion, what is the oddest pasta shape?
Lynne Rossetto Kasper: A winged rocket ship with strings and funnels stringing out from a tubular base, called Dinamicommestibile. It was created in 1910 in response the the Futurist Movement of the time and of course was nearly impossible to manufacture and definitely impossible to eat.

Donna Tracy: Probably the Heinz Star Wars ones. Favorites for beauty Lapiani Gigli. Ballerine is lovely and graceful and evocative of its name.

Miss Capri's Chef: I love farfalle and sea shells. They are cute and fun and actually cook well, too. Fusili are funky too.

2. Fill in the blanks:
LRK: Pasta is good when it is served in a bowl, but even better when it is hot and not drowning in sauce.

DT: Pasta is good when it is smothered in sauce, but even better when it is lightly dressed. Pasta is good when I make it, but was even better when my father made it.

MCC: Pasta is good when it is with olive oil, but even better with hazelnut oil or butter.

3. White sauce or red sauce?
LRK: Definitely red.

DT: I like them all. If I had to choose, I'd say white. I even like my red sauces with a little cream.

MCC: Depends on the "backbone" of the recipe, i.e., the main meat or vegetable in the sauce. I believe cooking is mostly a matter of harmony, so that categorical distinctions like this are mostly useless and one should just take each cooking experience separately and individually. You always start from scratch and there are precious few universal rules, chief being (and paraphrasing Duke Ellington), if it tastes good, it is good.

4. Favorite cheese to add to a pasta dish:
LRK: Parmigiano-Reggiano.

DT: Parmigiano-Reggiano, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

MCC: See above. Sometimes I prefer Mascarpone, sometimes Pecorino or Parmesan, sometimes feta, others, Manchego.

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