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A new
ISO standard offers the ingredient of objectivity to the delicate
debate on the cooking of pasta which is so dependent on subjective
taste: what is nice and firm for one is undercooked for the other,
too this or too that...
Now, ISO
7304-2:2008 - Alimentary pasta produced from durum wheat semolina -
Estimation of cooking quality by sensory analysis - Part 2: Routine
method, describes a test method for laboratories to determine a
minimum of cooking time for pasta.
This
International Standard specifies a method for assessing, by sensory
analysis, the quality of cooked alimentary pasta in the form of long,
solid strands (e.g. spaghetti) or short, hollow strands (e.g.
macaroni) produced from durum wheat semolina, expressed in terms of
the starch release, liveliness and firmness characteristics (i.e.
texture) of the pasta. It does not apply to pasta in the form of
small strands usually consumed in soups.
The method
has been specifically developed to provide a procedure for the daily
evaluation of pasta samples based on the use of reference samples.
The test result does not express a preference, but gives an estimate
of the cooking quality of the pasta after it has been cooked for the
optimal time.
A test sample
of pasta is cooked by a standard procedure and the starch release,
liveliness and firmness are assessed. The operation has to be
repeated until the continuous white line, visible at the centre of
the crushed strand or the cut section as specified in the method,
disappears. The test sample is then rated in accordance with the results.
ISO 7304-2
comes to complete ISO 7304-1, published in 1985, which is used by
laboratories throughout the world to estimate the cooking quality of spaghetti.
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