Baru melihat salah satu program di tv kabel yang membahas tentang masak memasak dan makanan, sang chef menyebutkan kata al dente untuk pasta yang dimasaknya. Tiba-tiba saya teringat suatu hari di sebuah cottage tempat saya pernah bekerja dulu, saya diajari tamu arti kata al dente. Sepasang tamu yang baik asli dari belgia, meminta pasta mereka dimasak al dente, artinya dimasak pas tidak terlalu lembek atau terlalu matang tetapi juga jangan terlalu keras. Bahkan mereka memberi petunjuk cara memasaknya, setelah air mendidih, masukkan sejumput garam atau butter lalu masukkan pasta (saat itu mereka minta spaghetti) selama kurang lebih 8-11 menit, menurut mereka tergantung jenis pasta, pan dan besar api. Kemudian untuk mengujinya, ambil sehelai pasta, pencet sedikit atau gigit, still firm but not too hard.. that's al dente.
Sebenernya apa sih al dente itu?
menurut Wikipedia : In cooking, the Italian expression al dente (
/ælˈdɛnteɪ/; Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]) describes pasta and (less commonly) rice or beans that have been cooked so as to be firm but not hard. "Al dente" also describes vegetables that are cooked to the "tender crisp" phase - still offering resistance to the bite, but cooked through. Keeping the pasta firm is especially important in baked or "al forno" pasta dishes, where the pasta is cooked twice. The term "al dente" comes from Italian and means "to the tooth" or "to the bite", referring to the need to chew the pasta due to its firmness.
/ælˈdɛnteɪ/; Italian: [al ˈdɛnte]) describes pasta and (less commonly) rice or beans that have been cooked so as to be firm but not hard. "Al dente" also describes vegetables that are cooked to the "tender crisp" phase - still offering resistance to the bite, but cooked through. Keeping the pasta firm is especially important in baked or "al forno" pasta dishes, where the pasta is cooked twice. The term "al dente" comes from Italian and means "to the tooth" or "to the bite", referring to the need to chew the pasta due to its firmness.
Tetapi ada juga yang memahami : al dent is is still stick to teeth.
Perhaps the most common misconception about the term is the idea that "to the tooth" means the item should stick to the teeth
The term is also occasionally used in reference to cooking vegetables, such as green beans or brussels sprouts, though this is often misunderstood as meaning that instead of being cooked all the way through, they still have a raw taste to them, generally undesirable in cooking. It should be interpreted as cooking them just until they lose their raw taste, as a way to avoid overcooking them.
Apapun itu, terimakasih pada sepasang tamu tadi yang memberikan petunjuk buat saya jadi tambah deh pengetahuan :)
