Whenever I cook pasta, I always add a dash of salt to the pot of water when I put it on the heat. Somewhere along the way, I learned that salt makes the water boil faster, so that was my impetus.
I started reading Francis Lam's blog on Salon recently, and I've enjoyed reading his posts on food facts, recipes, and philosophy. I tried his recipe for Pasta with Garlicky Peas and Mushrooms recently, and it was pretty good. There are a couple things I'll change the next time I try it. But more importantly, it will change the way I salt my pasta water forever.
Step one in the recipe is simple: "Set three quarts of water on to boil, and salt it so it tastes nearly like sea water." Salt it until it tastes nearly like salt water. Huh. So I did, and the change in the taste of the dish was surprisingly substantial: the salt brought a lot of additional flavor to the pasta itself and that flavor, in turn, enhanced the entire dish. I've got a heavier hand now with the salt (kosher salt, preferably), and I'll never go back (until my doctor tells me otherwise).
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