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How to Improve Any Pasta

How to Improve Any Pasta

🚨 Big Announcement! + lacto fermentation & Mexican coke myths

Jess McIntosh, Ethan Chlebowski & Keith McBrayer
June 22, 2025

Exciting news! This coming Wednesday (6/25), we’re launching a Kickstarter and unveiling all the details of the project we’ve been working on.

We’ll send more information this coming week, but you can get a sneak peak now:

COOKING PROTOCOL 🍳

How to improve any pasta dish

In the past we’ve claimed that you should always spring for bronze-cut pasta. But after significant testing in the pasta deep dive video, Ethan discovered that you can actually make amazing pasta dishes with even the cheaper boxes if you give it the proper treatment. Here’s how:

1 — Proper pasta prep

Use a small amount of water to increase starch concentration in the cooking liquid.
Season the pasta water generously with salt.
Cook the pasta to YOUR desired texture.
Then, toss with an aromatic and appropriate sauce.

2 — Experiment w/ different pasta types

Bronze cut pasta does tend to be thicker and have a better chew, which a lot of people prefer. But beyond a few dollars a box, the differences become negligible.

What can make a huge difference is exploring other types of pasta grain: whole wheat, specialty durum, chickpea, corn, or even lentil based noodles. These can be great gluten free options and a way for you to mix up the flavor profile of familiar pasta dishes.

3 — Don’t underestimate choosing the right shape

Think about how wrong a mac & cheese sauce would feel with spaghetti noodles.

Think about pairing short noodles with chunky sauces or ingredients, or long noodles with simpler sauces, for example.
For a full pasta shape pairing guide, check out our recommendations on Cook Well.

RECIPE RECOMMENDATIONS ✅

Weeknight pastas

Put your new pasta skills to work and cook one of our weeknight pasta dishes:

FOOD TRENDS 🚀

Lacto fermentation

What is lacto fermentation?

Lacto fermentation is a process that uses just salt to preserve an ingredient. Over time, lactic acid develops through anaerobic fermentation, which creates that sour tang and some umami flavor (which is why they are so addicting).

Before canning and quick pickling, lacto fermenting was the original way to preserve vegetables.

This is the traditional process for kimchi and sauerkraut, and half sour pickles
The upside is you don’t need extra ingredients like vinegar, nor specialty canning equipment, although the process can be made more foolproof with modern fermentation containers.

So if you want to try out what pickles used to taste like, or experiment with other lacto-fermented foods, check out some of Ethan’s OG guides on the topic.

READER Q&A 🧠

Mexican coke myths

Question: “Does Mexican coke actually taste different than the standard cans?” - Ryer H.

Answer: Bottled Coke might taste different than canned Coke, but — supposedly, it’s no longer about the use of real cane sugar, even if it’s produced in Mexico.

We think the differences are more psychological when it comes to drinking from a glass bottle than from a can:

The human element: The glass feels more retro, plus you can see the drink through the glass. This matters — We experience food not just with our sight & senses but through our emotions, nostalgia, and cultural associations.
Thermal mass & the physical element — Glass bottles conduct & retain cold differently than aluminum cans do. Holding them in your hand feels different, plus the glass tends to hold the cold longer. These small, perceptible differences in temperature increase the enjoyment of the drink for longer.

Of course, in blind taste tests, these differences don’t really come across in the flavor of the liquid itself. But that’s not how we experience food & drink in the real world — in real-life settings, our brain takes cues from our surroundings and the little details as it forms a perception of flavor.

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