Fresh pasta is widely assumed to be superior to dried pasta. It is not: they are two different products, made for two different kinds of sauce, and knowing which is which changes the plate.
Two products, two traditions
Good industrial dried pasta is made from durum wheat semolina and water, extruded through bronze dies and then dried slowly at low temperature. It belongs to the south of Italy, where the climate allowed that drying and where durum wheat grows.
Fresh pasta combines soft wheat flour and eggs. It belongs to the north, above all to Emilia-Romagna, the region of butter, cream and Parmigiano. That is no accident: its tender texture calls for unctuous sauces.
Choosing between the two therefore means choosing a region and a type of sauce, not a level of quality. Both can be excellent, and both can be poor.
What texture does in the mouth
Well-made dried pasta gives resistance under the tooth, the familiar al dente, and a slightly rough surface when it has been bronze-drawn. That roughness catches thin sauces: tomato, oil, the juices of shellfish.
Fresh egg pasta is softer and more porous, and it absorbs sauce rather than holding it on the surface. It is at its best with rich preparations: cream, butter, a long-cooked ragù, gorgonzola, truffle.
Serving a carbonara on fresh tagliatelle, or linguine alle vongole on egg pasta, are two common mistakes, and both are noticeable at the first mouthful. Our article on truffle in Italian cooking covers the pairings where fresh pasta genuinely earns its place.
Gnocchi, a third path
Gnocchi belong to neither family. Made from potato, flour and sometimes egg, they have more in common with a dumpling than with pasta. Their success depends on a fragile balance: too much flour and they turn elastic, too little and they disintegrate in the water.
A good gnocco is recognised by its lightness. It should melt rather than resist. Ours are made in house and served, among other ways, with a cauliflower cream and truffle, a combination in which the sweetness of the potato carries the aroma instead of competing with it.
Cooking, where everything is decided
Three rules apply to both families. Plenty of water: a litre for every hundred grams, otherwise the temperature falls when the pasta goes in and the strands stick. Salt, and a serious quantity of it. The water should taste frankly salty, since this is the only moment at which the pasta itself is seasoned. And never oil in the water: it stops the sauce adhering afterwards.
The difference lies in the timing: eight to twelve minutes for dried pasta, two to four minutes for fresh, and a matter of seconds once gnocchi have risen to the surface.
One last gesture changes everything: finish the cooking in the sauce, with a ladle of the cooking water. The suspended starch binds the sauce and makes it cling. That is what separates a plate of pasta from pasta with sauce poured over it.
Water, altitude and cooking times
At 2,300 metres water boils at around 92°C. Cooking times lengthen by 15 to 25 per cent compared with sea level, and the instruction on the packet becomes useless.
This is a daily constraint in a resort kitchen, and a useful explanation for anyone cooking in a rented flat who finds their pasta still firm after the stated time. The product is not at fault; the altitude is. The same effect explains why boiled vegetables and rice also take longer here.
Recognising a good plate
Four signs. The sauce coats the pasta instead of forming a pool at the bottom of the bowl. The pasta keeps its shape, even when fresh. The cheese, if there is any, is grated at the moment of serving. And the portion is reasonable: a properly measured plate of pasta uses between 90 and 120 grams of dried pasta, not twice that.
In Italy this course is called the primo: it comes before the main course. The French portion, which turns it into a single dish, explains why the quantity can look modest in a serious Italian restaurant. Our lunch menu takes the middle line, generous but measured, and our pasta is made on the premises by an Italian chef, a few metres from the wood-fired oven.
Where to eat it in resort
Val Thorens sits at 2,300 metres, and the resort site and the Les 3 Vallées pages will tell you what the mountain is doing on any given day. What they will not tell you is which kitchen makes its own pasta. Our guide to eating out in Val Thorens is a better starting point, and a table can be booked through our contact page or on +33 (0)4 79 00 10 40.
Frequently asked questions
Is fresh pasta better than dried pasta?
Neither better nor worse, simply different. Fresh pasta suits creamy sauces; dried pasta suits thinner sauces based on tomato, oil or seafood. The mistake is treating one as an upgrade of the other.
Why should you not put oil in pasta water?
Because it coats the pasta and prevents the sauce adhering afterwards. To stop the strands sticking, all you need is enough water and a stir during the first minute of cooking.
Why does pasta cook more slowly at altitude?
Water boils at around 92°C at 2,300 metres instead of 100°C. Cooking times need to be extended by 15 to 25 per cent, and the packet instructions should be treated as a rough guide.
What makes a good gnocco?
Lightness. It should melt in the mouth without any elasticity. A rubbery texture points to too much flour, or to a potato that held too much water before it was worked.