turn off the heat while the pasta is cooking to save

In the context of the meteoric rise in energy prices throughout Europe, all the tips for saving are good. At the heart of discussions in Italy, the “passive” cooking of pasta. It consists in cutting off the fire or the plates after two minutes and leave the lid on to keep the heat in. The pasta would have the same texture and flavor. The first to have proposed it was Giorgio Parisi, Italian Nobel Prize in Physics. Barilla, the world’s largest pasta maker, has taken this idea by inventing a gadget to put on the lid to warn when the temperature is ideal.

The passive version is nothing new, it’s an old recipe that divides Italians. “I haven’t tried, but I don’t want to hear about it”, says a Transalpine. For Chef Nicola Marchesaniwho has experienced both firings, there is no difference between these two techniques. “It’s logical, it’s chemistry, cooks know it”, he says. According to some studies, this method of cooking would save up to 47% of energy. With an average consumption of 23 kilos of pasta per year and per inhabitant, this small gesture could make a difference.