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[Haspen]

Salt is super important for some things to taste good.

You sound as if the only spice you use is salt

Which is worst cooking crime ever!

[Capntastic]

Pasta that hasn't been salted is a travesty.

[Osmosis Jones]

What about adding oil to water while you cook the pasta, then?

That's been covered pretty heavily here already, but I guess like Sirius suggested earlier, it could reduce boiling over? Dunno really. I still add salt and oil when I cook pasta

[FearfulJesuit]

The Breakfast of Champions: pickled herring on rye toast with yogurt and Earl Grey with milk.

[nenjin]

Salt is there to flavor the water and by extension the pasta. I used to think it decreased the boiling point too, but apparently that's flat out wrong.

Oil will just sit on top of the water, so how will it prevent pasta clumping? I've never understand that.

When I strain my pasta out, and look at the inside of the pan, it's covered in a film of oil. Having tried cooking pasta without oil to see if it really makes a difference, it does to me.

[palsch]

The way I've always gone with for pasta is salt for taste. No oil in the water. For filled pasta raw olive oil goes on top after cooking rather than sauce. Olive oil should never be cooked.

Rice is another matter. This is my preferred method, with changes depending on the use of the rice. For egg fried, less salt, no prior flavours; you add everything else in the wok.

[Skyrunner]

For me, I like the short-grained, sticky rice. 'Tis more traditional where I came from, and its also less smelly and more sweet than most long-grained rice.

[nenjin]

I hate Uncle Ben's. Got fed so much of it as a kid, I'd rather just pass entirely on starch in a meal if UB is my only choice.

Wild Rice is pretty amazing though, especially with onions, mushrooms and almonds.

[G-Flex]

Salt is there to flavor the water and by extension the pasta. I used to think it decreased the boiling point too, but apparently that's flat out wrong.

Actually, it raises the boiling point (not sure why you'd want to lower it), but not by enough to matter whatsoever.

When I strain my pasta out, and look at the inside of the pan, it's covered in a film of oil. Having tried cooking pasta without oil to see if it really makes a difference, it does to me.

When you dump the water out of the pan, the surface of the water winds up touching the side of the pan; maybe that's why the oil is getting there. Really, I'm not sure what the deal is here, but it would be interesting to test.

[Interus]

Basically, on account of what I mentioned earlier, I skip the oil too.  With spaghetti, I never had trouble to begin with, and I quit using noodles that stick together before I quit adding oil.

That rice recipe confused me a couple times because it either left out minor details or I skipped them.  When it mentioned adding boiling water, my mind immediately panicked.  "I was supposed to have boiling water?!"  I'm thinking, as though I'm actually making the stuff right now and this detail snuck up on me after the rice was already cooking in the oil.  Also, the comment about chicken stock cubes overpowering the flavor of the rice was odd to me, since I'm used to thinking of rice as flavorless.  Because I use crappy white rice.

[palsch]

I'm thinking, as though I'm actually making the stuff right now and this detail snuck up on me after the rice was already cooking in the oil.  Also, the comment about chicken stock cubes overpowering the flavor of the rice was odd to me, since I'm used to thinking of rice as flavorless.  Because I use crappy white rice.

Yeah, you just coat with the oil rather than cooking in it. Only put on the heat once the boiling water has been added. It does seem to assume some familiarity with the basics, but isn't as bad as some recipes I've tried to use before going off to research exactly what you have to do to prepare a certain ingredient.

As for rice being flavourless, good basmati rice (long grain, non sticky) in mildly salted water is delicious. I pre-cooked some for egg fried rice and ended up just snacking on it while I was preparing the rest of the meal.

[Osmosis Jones]

I honestly used to hate rice, until I discovered basmati and jasmine. If you ever get the chance, go for jasmati, a hybrid between the two, it is a truly amazing rice. Delicate flavour, amazing aroma, forms fluffy yet seperate grains on cooking... perfect really.

[Sirus]

We always cook basmati at home. It doesn't need much more than salt and pepper, and is perfectly edible without anything at all.

*braces for cries of "heretic!" at the mention of using salt*

[palsch]

We always cook basmati at home. It doesn't need much more than salt and pepper, and is perfectly edible without anything at all.

*braces for cries of "heretic!" at the mention of using salt*

I'm more confused by the need for pepper myself...

[Sirus]

We always cook basmati at home. It doesn't need much more than salt and pepper, and is perfectly edible without anything at all.

*braces for cries of "heretic!" at the mention of using salt*

I'm more confused by the need for pepper myself...

Not a lot, just a few grinds. Trust me, it works.