Food - Drink
Does The Shape Of Pasta Impact Its Taste?
By KATIE LENHARDT
You might find yourself using a certain shape of pasta every time you make your favorite recipe, and there’s a reason why you favor some pastas over others. Different pastas are made with different ingredients, but there are other factors that make pasta shapes taste unique, even if they're made with the same ingredients as others.
Flour and eggs are the most important ingredients in pasta; Japanese soba is made with buckwheat, traditional Italian pasta is made with wheat, and fresh, not-dried pasta is made richer with eggs. These are the factors that actually change a pasta's flavor, but its shape can cause the overall flavor of a dish to be perceived differently.
The shape and texture of pastas hold sauce and condiments differently; think of spaghetti and linguini paired with lighter sauces like cacio e pepe or tomato sauce, compared to pappardelle or tagliatelle with Bolognese or ragu. Pasta can taste lighter or heavier depending on how it is paired with and interacts with sauces and other ingredients.
Certain shapes of pasta also carry more flavor in each bite, whether it be the inherent flavor of the pasta or the flavor of sauces, which also makes it seem like pastas taste different from each other. A thick noodle with a large surface area will carry a more intense "grain" flavor, compared to a smaller pasta with a less intense starchy flavor.