- I'm Matt Abdoo and I'm a pasta expert.
It's good.
All right, I'm ready.
[gentle music]
[bell dings]
[swoosh]
In front of us here, we have
two types of dried pasta.
What makes dried pasta
unique is that it's simply
flour and water mixed
together to create a dough,
which is then extruded or
rolled, sheeted cut and dried.
We're looking for primarily two things
that we're going to be talking about,
elasticity, the stretch in the dough
and plasticity, that sort of bite
that you're gonna be having.
So, let's talk about these two pastas.
When purchasing a pasta,
one of the first things
that I'm looking for is
going to be the color.
What does the pasta look like?
Typically speaking, when
you're buying a dried pasta,
you want the color to be
that of a warm yellow.
If it looks artificial,
it's probably artificial.
If it looks too pale, it
might be being made with
a flour that isn't as superior
as a natural yellow hue
of that which is within durum flour.
When you're comparing these
two pastas side by side,
we can see that pasta A is a
little bit more pale in color.
The second thing that I'm looking for,
after color is going to be the texture.
What does the pasta feel
like on the outside?
Typically speaking, the artisanal pastas,
the ones that are going to
cost you a little bit more
are made with bronze dies.
The bronze dies results in a more
textured outside of a pasta.
The texture is going to allow to have more
little nooks and crannies
and grooves on it
that are going to hold the sauce better.
Lesser quality pastas are
extruded through Teflon dies.
Teflon is, as hopefully many of you know,
is a non-stick surface.
It's very smooth and allows
for the pasta to be extruded
much faster without any sort
of adhesion to the die itself.
So, when I look at pasta
B and I pick this up
and I start to feel pasta B,
immediately, it has a very
very smooth texture to it
with no rigidity and
it's almost kind of got
like a little bit of a shine to it,
which kind of is an indication to me that
this was made with a Teflon die
on sort of, a more of a
mass production level.
So, something's that's also
really interesting on these
artisanal or potentially
more expensive pastas is that
they're going to come with
this sort of, light dusting,
which is a residual effect
from the drying process,
which is also an indication
of, typically a better quality.
When you can see it next to pasta B,
that really doesn't have any of that
and it has a super smooth exterior
and none of that at all,
is kind of an indication of
a mass-produced Teflon
extruded pasta shape.
We'll see what happens,
let's cook these guys up
and find out for sure.
[upbeat music]
Alright, so here we have our
two cooked pastas side-by-side.
First out of the gates, pasta A.
So, when I take this pasta penne shape
and I give it a little press on it,
it immediately bounces back.
To me, that's a great
indication of the texture
and the integrity of
that pasta shape itself.
Let's give it a bite.
These pastas have been cooked
and they've been sitting
already for a few minutes
and what will happen within
the process of a cooked pasta,
it will continue to sort of cook itself
within moisture absorption.
Better quality pastas,
after they're cooked,
will still maintain their al dente texture
versus lesser quality pastas,
which over time as they sit,
will turn really mushy and
potentially could get slimy
and just have a really
strange texture to them.
To clarify with the term al dente,
it literally translates "To The Tooth."
So, in Italian language,
they're basically meaning that,
when you bite into cooked pasta, not raw,
it's still going to have
that "to the tooth" texture
that has a bite to it.
This pasta is cooked perfectly
but yet it still has a bite to it.
But there will be this
sort of ever so slight
white little line within
the inside of the pasta.
That's sort of to me is
just a quality indicator
of the way the pasta was made
from the flour and the dough,
the kneading and the
extrusion that creates
that sort of texture and
that sort of white line
within the inside of the pasta noodle.
So, moving on to pasta B,
I'm immediately looking
at this and seeing that
the pasta noodles are
kind of sticking together.
That to me is an indication
of a less expensive,
less quality pasta product
because the starches
that are on the outside
aren't as maintained as the ones
on a better quality product.
This is still holding
its shape pretty well
after it's been cooked,
but it doesn't bounce back
as aggressively in my hand as pasta A did.
Through all these
calculations of the visual,
the aroma and taste and the texture,
I would have to say that pasta A
would be the more expensive
pasta on this table.
Moment of truth.
[drum roll]
Oh, look at!
Wow, that's $9 a pound!
I would say, the proof is in the pudding.
Man, $9 a pound is a lot of
money to spend on a pasta.
I think it's important to know
that even though that this
cost sixty seven cents a pound
and this cost $9 a pound,
this still gets the job done.
It's still going to be
delicious and eat really well.
If you're trying to do
something really artisanal
and have like a really special
occasion and a special event,
certainly go out and spend the
money on the special occasion
sort of pasta things, but
it still tastes really good,
it still eats really
well and I guarantee that
my two-year-old son would
absolutely love this.
In front of me here, we have fresh pasta.
Now, something that's
very important to note
about fresh pasta is that,
comparing it to dry pasta
is really like comparing
apples to oranges.
Fresh pasta definitely eats differently.
It has different flavored
textual qualities to dry pasta,
but it's a little bit more
delicate than dry pasta will be.
So, it stands up better to sauces that
might be a little less dense in nature
and more often than not, fresh
pasta has egg added to it.
So, the better quality
eggs you're able to find,
local, organic, will also result
in a better quality texture
and mouth feel to the
pasta that you're eating.
As fresh pastas are made,
since they're not dried,
the pasta will begin to oxidize
and that you'll be seeing
representative of these
tiny little black specks
that could be potentially
on the noodle itself,
within the noodle itself and
all over the noodle itself,
which is simply an indication of age.
It's not going to get you sick,
it's not going to taste bad
but it will be an indication
that the pasta noodle
has probably been made
a few days in advance.
Looking at these two pastas,
they immediately look very
similar to me in color.
Pasta B looks a little
more yellower than pasta A
but it certainly does look
like it's been bundled
but more of in flat sort of layout.
That may not have any sort
of indication on quality
or price point to be very honest with you,
but think of what you would do
if you're at a grocery store.
If something visually looks
more appealing to you,
you might be more inclined to
pay a little bit more for it.
Pasta A also has this
sort of gorgeous artisanal
bundle to it, coated
with a lot more flour,
so it's kind of hard to
tell just out of the gates.
My hunch for these two pastas
is that, I would say, the more
expensive one would be the
one that's in these bundles.
What we're looking for when
we're biting into a fresh pasta
is we still want to
have that gorgeous chew.
When you're buying and cooking
and eating fresh pasta,
the term al dente, the term "to the tooth"
which is indicative for the dried pasta
doesn't typically apply to fresh pasta.
You will get a slight
bite from any sort of
additional protein like
egg that's added to it,
but it's never that al dente texture
that you'll get from dried pasta.
I think the next thing we
need to do is cook them up
to really get a deeper look at what
might cost more than the other.
[upbeat music]
So, here we have it, both of
the pastas have been cooked.
Something that's very important
to note about fresh pasta
is that they will take half
the amount of time or less
than what it would typically take
to cook a dried pasta of the same shape.
I can see that this pasta
A has a little bit more
of a yellow hue to it, which
again could be indicative
of maybe a better egg that's been used
and the better quality egg that you have,
the more indicative of
a color that will be,
both in its raw state and its cooked state
but something that's really
important, that the fresh pasta,
a good note that it's cooked properly,
it will still have an elasticity to it,
where you should be able to tug on it
and it will have a really great sort of
rubber banding effect
without breaking right away.
It should stretch and then eventually
pull and break like that.
So, that's a really good
indication of a good quality pasta
that's not really mushy
or starchy or too tacky
and is falling apart within that test.
Let's give it a taste.
This to me is a great fresh pasta noodle.
It has a really good sort of
chew to it, mouth feel to it.
It's not overly starchy
or slimy on the outside.
It's got really great flavor.
I get that sort of nuttiness of the flour.
I get that little bit of the
egg within the noodle itself.
Now, let's try pasta B.
Great flavor, great texture.
This one has a little bit more
of a chew to it than pasta A.
This is going to be tough
because these are both
really good pastas and
visually, they're very similar
and again guys, for me, this
is going to be the toughest one
because for all intensive purposes,
these are both very good noodles.
So, I'm gonna go with pasta A
is more expensive than pasta B.
Let's see what we got.
[drum roll]
Aha, I did it again!
The only reason I could really
justify the increased cost
on pasta A would be, potentially
if you were going over
to someone's home and you
wanted to present a gift
that had this gorgeous
beautiful bird's nest bundle.
I think that would be an opportunity
to justify the price point of pasta A
but if you're just going
home to cook the pasta
for yourself and eat
it, I would tend to go
towards buying pasta B for myself.
Moving along, the next
evolution of fresh pasta
would naturally be some
form of stuffed pasta.
When you're making a stuffed pasta,
you clearly can't make
it with dried pasta,
you have to make the fresh pasta first
and then, hopefully make some incredible
delicious filling to put inside of it.
Now that being said, all
of the quality indicators
for fresh pasta are still
present within a stuffed pasta.
When making a stuffed fresh pasta,
there will always be an egg in the dough
to help with the durability
of that dough when it's being
stuffed and filled with an
additional filling that could
potentially have more moisture to it
to help the pasta hold up to the weight
and the viscosity of that
filling in the cooking process.
Here today, we have what
looks to be two tortellinis.
These tortellini on my
B side look like they've
been made with some
form of green vegetable.
My guess would be, it be spinach,
since it's probably the most common
and the tortellini which are
slightly larger for pasta A
just looks like a really
great egg enriched pasta dough
stuffed with a filling that,
I can't really tell what
they are at the moment
and now, we're going to
give the pastas a smell.
That's got that same sort
of nuttiness and egg quality
and aroma which smells really really good,
smells nice and fresh, no
rancidity, all really great signs
and the same goes for pasta B.
If you happen to find a
stuffed pasta that isn't
completely uniform in its shape and size,
that could be an indication
of a higher price point
because it was potentially
made artisanally by hand
in a smaller specialty shop.
It's time to cook them up
and see what they taste like.
[upbeat music]
So, we have our stuffed
pastas all cooked up.
I'm looking at it the
way that they cooked up,
they're still all really
holding their shape very well.
None of them are falling apart.
None of them have turned to mush.
Moving on to pasta B,
after it's been cooked,
visually looking at it,
they all look really uniform
and consistent and really pretty.
To me, pasta A looks like
a more artisanal pasta
and pasta B looks like something that's
more commercially or mass-produced.
Let's give a bite into
this green tortellini.
Textural of the pasta tastes really great.
You get a small nuances of that vegetable
spinach flavor in the dough itself.
This filling, which is some
form of cheese filling,
has sort of a browner kind of color to it.
Flavor wise, it's still
really kind of bland,
but the color to me is
kind of an indication that
this might be a lower price point pasta.
Now, let's give pasta A a bite.
The quality of the pasta
itself tastes really great,
but the flavor of the filling
is kind of lackluster.
So, if I had to guess which of these
costs more than the other,
pasta A again, pasta A
has been my leader so far,
but this is tough for me because honestly,
all things being considered,
the pastas on both of
them are both very good.
I'm gonna stick with my answer,
final answer pasta A is
more expensive than pasta B.
Let's see what how we did.
[drum roll]
Oh my God, this is $14 a pound!
So, when purchasing stuffed pasta,
is the price differentials
can actually make a big
difference in the quality
of what you're buying.
Typically speaking, if I were
to be purchasing a stuffed
pasta that was made with,
let's say, a veal and Parmesan
Mortadella prosciutto filling,
that was really artisanal,
it would make sense that
it would cost a lot more
to purchase it because you're putting
inside of it much more
expensive ingredients.
The texture and the flavor of
the fillings are so similar,
that, I think it's
really indistinguishable.
I think for the home use,
I would go with pasta B
as your winner for what
I would buy for myself.
In front of us now, we
have more dried pasta
but we're going more
into the realms of those
specialty dry pastas that
may have been flavored
with some form of addition or additive of,
maybe a vegetable or maybe
some form of other puree
that might go into the
formation of the pasta.
Immediately in front of me,
we can see that pasta A is a green pasta.
Typically speaking, in
most grocery stores,
the green is indicative of spinach
and pasta B is this gorgeous
looking yellow pasta
that is really pretty.
It's got this really nice
bright yellow hue to it.
It has those specks within it
but those are not oxidation specks,
those are specks of whatever it was
that was made to flavor
and/or color the pasta.
If I think this one's
spinach, I'm going to go ahead
and say that I think this one is saffron.
It's known as something
that is a luxury ingredient,
which would be very indicative
of a higher cost price
point for the pasta.
More often than not, these
specialty pastas are simply made
by substituting out the water
with a specialty ingredient
that's being made to go within the dough
to give it its unique flavor and color.
You're not really going
to be able to flavor-wise
tell until you cook it and eat it.
So, let's cook these up and
learn some more about them.
[upbeat music]
They're visually both very very beautiful.
I love the bright yellow color on pasta B
and the green on pasta A, for me could be
a little bit deeper,
maybe a little bit darker,
that would probably be
an indication of a higher
price point pasta, if the green color
was more of a deeper darker spinach color.
The aroma of the pasta doesn't jump out
screaming, I'm spinach.
That being said, let's
check out the texture next.
I'm just gonna use my hands.
So, the pasta looks like
it's been perfectly cooked.
It still has a good degree
of elasticity to it.
It's not falling apart,
time to give it a taste.
Yeah, there's not much
flavor in the vegetable
region happening with
this particular pasta,
but as far as the pasta
itself, it tastes great,
the texture's beautiful,
it's a really good pasta.
This pasta actually has like,
a really beautiful aroma coming off of it.
You're getting this
beautiful slightly floral,
slightly almost like a lemony
aroma coming off the pasta.
We're gonna pick up pasta
B, let's give it a bite.
I can taste the saffron in this pasta.
It's absolutely saffron,
it's jumping out at me,
it's screaming that it's saffron.
Just because of that in itself
and knowing the price point
of what saffron costs,
I'm gonna go out and say
that pasta B in this round
is going to be the more
expensive pasta versus pasta A.
Let's see if I'm right.
[drum roll]
Oh my goodness!
If you're buying any sort
of luxury ingredient,
it's always going to cost more.
So, when you're going
out and you're wanting
to buy a specialty or flavored pasta,
bear in mind the cost of the ingredients
that are going into make it,
will certainly have a huge
influence on what the cost of the
product is ultimately going to
be when you're purchasing it.
Gluten-free pasta is a pasta replicate,
that is made with the absence of gluten.
Gluten is that incredible
protein that allows for the
elasticity or the stretch
in making any form of dough.
Many people have intolerances to gluten
and as such, pastas have been developed
and have made exceptional leaps and bounds
in the last 10 years or so,
within the quality parameters
of being able to produce
these gluten-free pastas.
The two most recognized gluten-free
pastas out on the market
are typically made with
either rice or corn
and I've even seen things made out of
nut flours for gluten-free pastas.
There are gluten free pastas
that are on the market
that actually cook up quite
delicious and really well
and aren't even that
costly anymore either.
Immediately in front of me,
we have two very distinctive colors.
Pasta B kind of jumps out at you, right?
It's like an orange-ish,
almost looks like a
Cheeto or Dorito colored.
That's going to say to me that,
that is a corn-based pasta
and then looking at pasta
A, this kind of looks more
of like a traditional style
rice or brown rice pasta.
Being that rice and brown
rice don't have that
sort of yellow hue to it,
it would make sense that
this wouldn't have a yellow
hue to it, it would be more
indicative of the grain of what
is being used to make with.
The only other way to figure this out
is to cook them up and try them.
[upbeat music]
So, here we have our
cooked gluten-free pastas.
Starting off with pasta A,
the visual that I'm getting out of it
is I can already see some
noodles that are starting
to break apart, which
could be an indicator
of a lower price point gluten-free
pasta since they're not
staying together as well
during the cooking process.
So, the next thing we're going to do is
we're going to take a
look at this for sort of
that elasticity component behind it
and what's really
fascinating to me with these
gluten-free pastas is that,
they're able to achieve
this sort of elasticity or
this little bit of stretch
without having the one thing in it
that should be creating it.
Let's give it a taste.
For me, it kind of has
this sort of interesting
mouth coating, from this
pasta, it's sort of like
creating a film over my tongue,
it's kind of drying out
my mouth a little bit
and the texture when you bite into it,
that interesting elasticity and the pull
isn't really translating
into my bite of this.
It's kind of more crumbling
and breaking apart versus chewing.
So, going over to pasta B
and originally just looking right at it,
it looks of being a good
quality, the color of that,
what is most likely corn,
really sort of pops.
So, I guess the last thing we need to do
is get on in there and give it a taste.
Pasta B has a little bit of a chew to it.
It's still almost even has
that sort of al dente texture
to it, which is really
kind of fascinating.
By no means is it traditional dried pasta,
but it's pretty close.
The one that I think costs
more would be pasta B.
Four dollars a pound for this gluten-free.
$14.53 for this gluten-free,
but I think the great thing
to take away from all of this
is that, if you can't or
don't want to eat gluten,
there are certainly some
incredible options out there
for you to try to cook up and eat at home.
The textural difference
between the low price point
and the high price point,
certainly was there
however the lower price
point for an everyday cook,
if you're eating at home
and you want to have
gluten-free pasta, I don't think you need
to spend $14.50 a pound
on a gluten-free product.
We've looked at, tasted and
tried a lot of different
pastas today and I think one
of the most important takeaways
is that, you don't
necessarily need to spend
a lot of money to have
a great quality product.
So, when you're out there buying pastas,
find what's right for you,
find what you like to eat,
that meets the means of your budget
and just keep on cooking
and keep on eating.
[guitar strums]
