the salt molecules aside and escape from the surface. In effect, adding salt forces the water
to boil at a higher temperature, which means the pasta will cook more quickly.
The water should be boiling furiously before you add the pasta so that it can penetrate
the pasta’s starch granules as fast as possible. Add the pasta slowly so that the water contin-
ues to boil and the pasta cooks evenly.
What Happens When You Cook This Food
Starch consists of molecules of the complex carbohydrates amylose and amylopectin packed
into a starch granule. When you boil pasta, water molecules force their way into the starch
granules. When the water reaches a temperature of approximately 140°F, the amylose and
amylopectin molecules inside the starch granules relax and unfold, forming new bonds
between atoms on different molecules and creating a network inside the starch granule that
traps water molecules. The granules bulk up and the pasta gets thicker. In fact, the starch
granules can hold so much water that plain flour-and-water pastas like spaghetti, macaroni,
and lasagna will actually double in size.
The longer you cook the pasta, the more likely it is that the starch granules will absorb
too much water and rupture, releasing some of their starch and making the pasta sticky. One
way to keep the pieces of pasta from sticking together is to cook them in a large pot, which
gives them room to boil without hitting their neighbors. Or you might add a tablespoon of
olive oil to make the pasta slick enough to slide apart. If you plan to refrigerate the cooked
pasta, drain it, rinse it in warm water (to wash off the starch on the outside), and toss it with
olive oil.
How Other Kinds of Processing Affect This Food
Canning and freezing. When pasta is canned or frozen in sauce, its starch granules continue
to absorb the liquid and the pasta becomes progressively more limp.
Medical Uses and/or Benefits
A lower risk of some kinds of cancer. In 1998, scientists at Wayne State University in Detroit
conducted a meta-analysis of data from more than 30 well-designed animal studies mea-
suring the anti-cancer effects of wheat bran, the part of grain with highest amount of the
insoluble dietary fibers cellulose and lignin. They found a 32 percent reduction in the risk
of colon cancer among animals fed wheat bran; now they plan to conduct a similar meta-
analysis of human studies. Pasta made with whole grain wheat is a good source of wheat
bran. NOTE: The amount of fiber per serving listed on a food package label shows the total
amount of fiber (insoluble and soluble).
Early in 1999, however, new data from the long-running Nurses Health Study at
Brigham Women’s Hospital/Harvard University School of Public Health showed that women
who ate a high-fiber diet had a risk of colon cancer similar to that of women who ate a
Pasta