1. The Color
The first tip to help you recognize good quality pasta is its color, which you can usually take a peek at through the boxes sold at grocery stores. When a dry pasta appears to be too yellow, that usually indicates that, during its preparation, it was dried with ultra high temperatures in a very short time: 248°F instead of the usual 176°F-194°F, and this will result in a bitter taste once cooked. This means that it wasn’t left to dry naturally. Good quality pasta’s color should be a pale yellow, which indicates that the pasta was dried naturally, from a few hours and up to 24 hours, at the right temperature aforementioned.
2. The Texture
The second trip that’ll have you become an expert like Italians on pasta is to check for the uncooked product’s texture. Excellent quality types of pasta are bound to have a slightly rougher surface, which is given to them by a bronze dice during its preparation; such texture ensures that once cooked and seasoned with its sauce, this will stick better to the pasta, ensuring a tasty and flavorful dish at each bite you take. Dry pasta that is too smooth will make it harder, during cooking, for the entire dish to blend together, ruining the overall eating experience. So, if you want to have a full Italian dining experience when cooking and serving pasta, make sure to look for bronze-cut qualities of pasta.
