Straight pasta or 'nests'...

[plaamook]

When I was a kid in NJ and NY all pasta was straight. Tagliatelle, fettuccine, capellini...all of it. Then the nests arrived...
Nests are hard to measure. You can grab 'half' of a bunch of talarine and it's about half a pack. Nests you either need to count or weigh.
Then there's transport and storage. It's way easier to transport and stop straight pasta.
So what's up with the nests? Maybe easier on the production end?
What is your preference?
Shed some light!

[MrFigg]

I want to work in the factory where they fold the tortellini.

[orthodox]

What is your preference?

Spaghetti and this thing on the picture, I don't know how it's called:

[plaamook]

Elbows. If you’re an Italian American.
Standard gear for soups and stews.
They never come in a nest.

[orthodox]

They never come in a nest.

They don't and that's good. Nests are bad. Too pretentious. Uneasy to eat. Often tasteless.

Are you pro or anti nests?

[MrFigg]

Linguine. Straight.

[motuscott]

Radiatore
Holds the sauce more better. Browser sucks tho

[rgdaniel]

My favourite pasta form factor is cavatappi, don't ask me why, I just like the shape. My wife finds the nests (not available in cavatappi, of course) handy for measuring how much to cook. One nest = one serving.

https://www.google.com/search?q=cavatappi&tbm=isch

[plaamook]

But the nests vary in size which is why I prefer straight for measuring.

As for actual shape...all depends on what I’m making.
I don’t generally eat spaghetti. I just don’t see the point. Its either capellini or tagliatelle for long stuff. That’s usually w clams or mussels or fresh porcini. Or putanesca.
Pasta w beans or ceci...something like conchigli or ditali or down here tiburones. Or orichietti.
Fusilli bucati for pasta w brócoli or thick meaty things.
I really like gigli/fiorelli but I can’t get it in Spain. That’s a great all rounder. Holds sauce well but is kind of springy so you can make it w lighter dishes. I really like it with cabbage etc but I can rarely get the right cabbage here any way. Savoy. Also springy.

Something like that. A short list.

[motuscott]

Your pasta knowledge base large. Respect

[rorystorm]

Gnocchi. Arguably not actually pasta but I use it for the same kind of thing. I like it fried instead of boiled.

[plaamook]

Well gnocchi is just past made from potato.
There’s rice noodles too. The Asians are no slouches when it comes to pasta, they just don’t go in for interesting shapes.
I’m down w all that.
The only Chinese dish I know how to make really well is a Hong Kong thing...pan fried noodles.
You boil up some wheat noodles and let them cool. Then fry then in a pan so they form a kind of omelette. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside. The stir fry up some whatever you like w oyster sauce. I’m partial to scallops myself, if I can get em. Cracking stuff. Ho fun too. That stuff is prob as good as Asian noodles get imo.

[stillifegaijin]

I had to Google pasta nests. Never had them. Never even seen them. They look like some attempt to make pasta high-brow. Not my thing.

[plaamook]

I had to Google pasta nests. Never had them. Never even seen them. They look like some attempt to make pasta high-brow. Not my thing.

The asians have been doing it for ages and the Italians...I'm not sure when they started...it might be quite old as well, but it's more a question of convenience. I just think they're inconvenient. It tastes the same really. I don't think it's some fancy attempt to tart it up per se.

[littlejam]

hello,

my understanding of pasta nests is mostly for people who make pasta at home
and don't have a pasta rack to hang the strands of pasta (takes up a lot of space)
i have heard once you make your own pasta you'll not buy store bought pasta anymore

and i've read that 'bronze die' extruded pasta is better than 'smooth' pasta
because the 'bronze die' pasta is rougher and holds sauce better

i like asian rice noodles

i also grabbed a bunch of different german pastas

cheers and eat well,

j

[littlejam]

hello,

just found this on chef jean pierre youtubechannel

pasta nests on the cutting board

cheers,

j

[Trefor]

Apparently Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China.

[plaamook]

Apparently Marco Polo brought pasta to Italy from China.

Sort of.
There have been versions of it all over down through the ages but China dried it and made noodles.

[plaamook]

Incidentally, when I say pasta nests I'm not talking about twirling it on a plate like some fancy pants chef. I'm talking about the dried nests of long pasta you buy as opposed to straight lengths of it.

That said, I'm not down with the foo foo chef twirls either. Pasta is meant to be eaten in bowls not single mouthfuls pre twirled on a big plate.

[motuscott]

I eat mine on a wooden slab with a spork

[plaamook]

I eat mine on a wooden slab with a spork

Why?

[motuscott]

It is the way of my people.

[Neo]

Saluti da Melbourne Australia!
straight Barilla for me lol
Just finished a plate of pasta penne with g̶r̶a̶v̶y̶ (sto scherzando) ...we have forever called it sauce* here (as an Italo-Australian). lol

[orthodox]

Spaghetti with cheese and home-made tomato sauce. Just now.

[fullforce]

When I was a kid in NJ and NY all pasta was straight. Tagliatelle, fettuccine, capellini...all of it. Then the nests arrived...
Nests are hard to measure. You can grab 'half' of a bunch of talarine and it's about half a pack. Nests you either need to count or weigh.
Then there's transport and storage. It's way easier to transport and stop straight pasta.
So what's up with the nests? Maybe easier on the production end?
What is your preference?
Shed some light!

I always crush the shit out of nests.