from the air and get soft; moist, chewy
cookies lose moisture and become dry.
Cookies are therefore best stored in an airtight
container. With their low moisture and high
sugar levels, they are not very hospitable to
microbes, and keep well.
Pasta, Noodles,
and Dumplings
One of the simplest preparations of cereal
flour gave us one of the most popular foods in
the world: pasta. The word is Italian for
“paste” or “dough,” and pasta is nothing more
than wheat flour and water combined to make
a clay-like mass, formed into small pieces,
and boiled in water until cooked through —
not baked, as are nearly all other doughs.
Noodle comes from the German word for the
same preparation, and generally refers to
pasta-like preparations made outside the
Italian tradition. The keys to pasta’s appeal