Durum wheat semolina is an essential ingredient in the production of Italian dry pasta. The skill of the millers to blend different grains, so improving the distinctive qualities of each grain, is the fundamental and most essential aspect in the production of high-quality pasta. The quality of the raw material also plays a significant role in the final product. The crops of Italian origin are marked by a high protein content, which contributes to the end product’s nutritional value as well as its resilience to cooking.
Pasta of high quality is not only easy to digest but also abundant in a variety of necessary nutritional components. Numerous characteristics, including as aroma, subtle flavour, precise thickness, vivid yellow colour, consistency, and flexibility after cooking, contribute to the overall quality of Torquay pasta. To select pasta of the highest possible quality, one must pay careful focus to the following considerations:
- The pasta of the highest quality should always have the appropriate thickness, which will enable it to cook uniformly and in the appropriate length of time, which will not be for an excessively long period. In addition, pasta of high quality retains its elasticity, remains compact and sturdy, and the top of the pasta does not develop a starchy film.
- Because good-quality pasta is simple to make and may be cooked in just a few minutes, the cooking water is kept as clear as it can be throughout the cooking process. One notable exception to this rule is whole wheat pasta, which, despite the longer cooking time required, is superior to its refined counterparts in terms of nutritional value.
- Pasta of high quality is always porous; the greatest pasta manufacturers strive to develop a porosity that enables each piece to equally absorb water, which not only ensures that the pasta cooks correctly but also doubles the volume of the cooked pasta. However, its quality changes depending on how the pasta is dried.
- A genuine sign of high-quality pasta is that it maintains its shape and elasticity while being chewed; this is one of its defining characteristics. Before and after cooking, pasta of high quality has a warm golden colour. This colour remains consistent. Referring to the yellow index is one way to determine the quality of whole wheat semolina.
Cooking Times
Cooking pasta in the traditional Italian style, known as “al dente,” brings out the grain’s natural flavour and also makes the meal easier to digest and gives it a low glycemic index. When the pasta has a very rapid cooking time or when it readily overcooks and gets rubbery, this indicates that the wheat was exposed to forceful grinding, which damaged the main protein (gluten) in the grain. Furthermore, the proteins prevent the leaking of a lot of starch when the semolina is being cooked; hence, if the water that is used to boil the pasta does not become cloudy, then the grain is of a high grade.