Chef says we’ve been cooking ‘al dente’ pasta wrong

A chef has revealed the common mistake Brits make when cooking pasta – as what many refer to as ‘al dente’ is actually simply undercooked.

The phrase ‘al dente’ literally means ‘to the tooth’ in Italian. It’s meant to describe pasta or rice cooked just enough to retain a firm bite. Not too soft, certainly not crunchy, but with just a bit of resistance when you give it a chomp.

Christopher Kimball, the brains behind America’s Test Kitchen and Milk Street Kitchen cooking school, took to TikTok to point out the mistake, reports the Mirror.

In conversation with YouTube’s Alexis Ainouz, also known as @FrenchGuyCooking, Christopher explained: “A lot of people just undercook their pasta because they say that’s ‘al dente.'”

According to him, this mistake is not just prevalent; it’s downright “annoying”. Alexis chimed in with his culinary two cents: “Al dente is supposed to be just, some sort of a firm texture,” agreeing that the misuse of ‘al dente’ has gotten out of hand: “You are very right I think people are using and abusing that term […] When it gets stuck in your back molar, that’s the sign that you’re below al dente.”

Delving deeper, Alexis pointed out that the eating experience suffers when pasta isn’t done right: “The pasta has a different taste to it [when it’s undercooked]. It’s not enjoyable.”

According to Pasta Evangelists, there “is a scale of al dente” and it is very possible to both over and undercook pasta. To avoid reaching the stage where your pasta is chalky and hard to digest, they recommend cooking pasta for two minutes less than the recommended time.

At this juncture, it’s essential to have a quick taste. “If the pasta is firm but not chalky, then it’s ready to be drained,” they advise.

Notably, fresh pasta typically requires considerably less cooking time than your typical dried supermarket variety – with boiling time often lasting just two or three minutes.