Does adding salt to pasta water really do anything to the flavour or is that just an inside joke passed on by chefs?

Does adding salt to pasta water really do anything to the flavour or is that just an inside joke passed on by chefs?

it makes the flavour salty. is this thread a joke

Yes user and make sure you add a bit of the pasta water to your sauce

;)

The NaCl dissolves into Na+ and Cl- ions, solute in the water, which then migrate into the pasta as it hydrates. Na+ at adequate concentrations provides a salty taste that is generally regarded as pleasant.

>Breaking news: Salt has flavour!

>does salt make the food more salty

Did you really just ask that?

There is already salt in every single thing you would ever put on pasta

as long as you don't overdo it with the salt, it enhances the intrinsic flavour of the pasta. also cooking without any salt usually tends to bland the intrinsic taste as the pasta looses its own salt content during the cooking process.

there's also salt in the pasta. but not very much

you should never use salt while cooking

t. someone who has never made potato soup

is this a new meme?

memelord detected

>not understanding the difference between infusing flavor and just dumping flavor on top of it.

Most chefs believe in adding salt at every step. Say you're browning some beef to make spaghetti sauce, add a pinch of salt, then when you add the onion to sweat it down, add a pinch of salt, tomatoes go in, pinch of salt, etc. So if you're entire recipe requires 1 tsp. of salt, divide it for each step.

I've done it both ways, and I find that adding salt at the very end just doesn't produce the same results. You've used the same amount of salt, but you haven't seasoned every layer. I was very surprised at the results.

>being this dense

makes the water boil faster.

Salt attacks the noodles and makes them gross and slimy.

No, it doesn't.

It does make the water boil at a slightly higher temperature, but not enough to matter.

it actually does the opposite

Well, actually, salt and other shit that's in the water is the reason water actually can boil (or water vapor can condense). For more information, see the Kelvin equation. So in a sense, it makes the water boil faster, since it wouldn't boil in a long time without salt :^)

this