Rolling in the Deep

The restaurant,located in Amanora Town Centre,serves fresh spaghetti,fettuccine,lasagne and stuffed pastas such as cannelloni. “Fresh pasta is a different deal. The texture and the taste are both better than dried pasta,” says Grover.

A lot depends on what kind of pasta you’re using,says Mayank Tiwari,Executive Chef at Olive Bistro,Poona Club. “While a lot of better varieties have come in the market,most of what you can buy in stores tends to split and break when you’re cooking. We use a dough combination of fine semolina and a high-gluten flour that makes it possible to work with different shapes and fillings,” says Tiwari.

When making fresh pasta,minute details make all the difference. “Making pasta is a very organic process,very touch-and-feel. It also widens the possibilities of what you can do with flavours,” says Tiwari,who incorporates other ingredients and flavours in his pasta. “While making fettuccine,I use combinations of saffron,basil and spinach,rose and carrot. So the pasta is different,both in terms of taste and colour. We can then combine the pasta with our trademark sauces and other elements,which will work well with the base flavours in the dough itself,” he adds.

While making fresh pasta might sound like a lot of work,it’s actually not that hard,says Saurabh Pawar,Senior Sous Chef at O Hotel. “It’s not rocket science but I have a few tips that can help first-timers. Once you’ve kneaded the dough,make sure to leave it to rest for 30 minutes or so. Otherwise,when you begin rolling it flat,the dough will begin to crack,” he says. He suggests that while the kneading and initial rolling should be done by hand,a machine should be used for the final rolling. “The machine can roll pasta with an even finish and make the sheets thin enough,” adds Pawar.

Tiwari recommends two different mixes for flat pasta and stuffed pasta. “One combination is 10 to 12 eggs to a kilo of flour and 80 grams of semolina,and another is 20 to 22 egg yolks to a kilo of flour and 120 grams of semolina,with two whole eggs. I would use the first for stuffed pasta because of the extra protein with more binding powers,and the second one for flat pasta,” he says. One final note by Tiwari that might make amateur cooks happy: it’s actually possible to keep fresh pasta for a couple of days if it is blanched and then shocked in cold water and then kept in the fridge.