FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Mario's hints linger long after class

By Wanda A. Adams
Advertiser Food Editor

During what I'll always remember as "My Weekend with Mario" — a hands-on cooking series March 21-23 on the Big Island featuring Mario Batali of the Food Network's "Molto Mario" show — his hints and tips flavored the days and rained down like grated parmesan on hot pasta.

Here are some of the gems:

• The four essential pantry ingredients for the Italian cook: High-quality extra-virgin olive oil (Capezzana from Italy, DeVero from California); ditto balsamic vinegar; Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese; some form of cured meat (prosciutto, coppa, pancetta).
• "With whatever fresh produce you pick up that day, some good breadcrumbs and a bag of spaghetti, you always have dinner."
• "Things that are grown underground are cooked covered; things that grow above ground are cooked uncovered." (Lots of exceptions to this one, but an interesting idea.)
• In making fresh egg noodles, the formula is 1 egg for every 100 grams flour (Italians weigh dry ingredients, rather than measuring them).
• Salt drives liquid from food; if you want something to hold its moisture, don't salt until the end of cooking. If you want it to give up its moisture, salt during cooking (or even before, as for eggplant).
• Knead pasta dough to develop the gluten, which gives the noodles a little stretch, but allow dough to rest 10 minutes or so afterward, to prevent rubbery texture or rolling up in the boiling water.
• Flavor homemade pasta with ingredients that are finely ground, liquid or paste — chunks create unpleasant texture, and cause pasta to break up.
• To elevate flavor and texture, finely chop or grate a bit of the raw ingredient and add at the end of cooking. You then experience the layered flavor and texture of both the cooked ingredient and the fresh. Examples: a little minced raw onion to a dish that contains carmelized onions, or a fresh herb in a dish flavored with the cooked herb.
• In pan-roasting steaks or fillets of fish or meats, one of the most important things you can do is to leave them alone. Home cooks have a tendency to repeatedly turn and check the food, which bruises it, allowing the moisture to leak out.
• Dry pasta is meant to "slither and sleep" with olive oil and chunky condiments. Fresh pasta absorbs and clings to butter or silky sauces.
• Never add oil to pasta while cooking or when drained ("it's a waste"). High-quality dried pasta or properly made fresh pasta will not stick together.
• If you're not using cooked pasta right away, as soon as it's done, drain it and shock it in a bath of ice and cold water, dry on kitchen towels and hold until it's time to reheat the pasta in the hot sauce.