The kids are fine.
According to a new survey, most Gen Z home cooks are making spaghetti fit for an Italian family dinner — while most babies are hopelessly lost to a pot of pasta.
Barilla commissioned the starchy study to better understand America’s relationship with the Sunday favorite—revealing a surprising generational divide in kitchens across the country.
The pasta maker found that a scant 33% of boomers know they should salt their pasta water – compared to 56% of Gen Z and 51% of millennials who do.
The finding left chef Lorenzo Boni feeling a little salty — saying in a written statement that four teaspoons of table seasoning should be added to every gallon of boiling water.
Chef Silvia Colloca took the salty directive one step further, insisting that true Italians add salt to pasta water “by the handful.”
“That’s because salt is actually part of your overall seasoning,” Colloca told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“No matter how spectacular the sauce is, if you don’t salt the water enough, the pasta will be bland and, therefore, the whole dish will be bland. Your pasta cooking water should taste almost as salty as the sea.”
Colloca also explained that it matters very little to salt before or after the pasta water boils. It can even be done in cold water if you stir it enough, she added.
Salt is not the only thing that makes the young and old generations mix like water and oil.
The next issue is, therefore, oil.
Although Boni stressed that there is no need to add olive oil to the pasta boiling water, a whopping 65% of young people commit the sin of spaghetti.
According to Barilla, roughly half of Gen Zers know better.
“If you do this, the oil will float to the top, rendering it completely useless, then when you drain the pasta, the layer of oil will prevent the sauce from sticking properly,” according to Colloca.
“The only way to prevent pasta from sticking is to boil it in plenty of salted water, making sure to stir as you toss it and a few times as it cooks.
And finally, addressing another Nonna no-no, 62% of young adults think it’s acceptable to snap spaghetti in half – compared to 45% of Gen Z amateur cooks.
“The length of the pasta plays a critical role in how it interacts with the sauce. The longer strands improve retention of the sauce, creating a more flavorful and cohesive bite,” explained the pasta professionals at Barilla in a written statement.
“Breaking it breaks this harmony,” they warned gravely.
Other chefs have called spaghetti too thin for the dishes where it is commonly used, such as bolognese. Instead, they say, look to thicker strands like tagliatelle for the meaty meal.
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