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According to Giada De Laurentiis.
Somewhere on their journey from one kitchen to the next, recipes become a little like a game of telephone. Ingredients get swapped, amounts are eyeballed, and before you know it, you’re eating something completely different from what was on great-grandma’s plate—even with the best intentions.
There’s nothing wrong with that—it’s actually a bit poetic, honestly. But it also means that some of the best food traditions that have made their way to the States have drifted a little from their origins.
Take Greek salad, for example. Did you know that in Greece, the original version doesn’t actually include vinegar, lemon juice, or even lettuce? Or that traditional Roman Alfredo isn’t made with cream at all—just butter, Parmesan, and starchy pasta water?
Giada De Laurentiis has spent plenty of time bridging the gap between Italian and American kitchens. As she gets ready to help Peroni bring one of Italy’s most charming traditions—buchette del vino, or wine windows—to the streets of New York City on July 24, she sat down to talk about another Italian tradition that’s taken on a life of its own stateside: pasta salad.
There are a few key differences in how Italians make pasta salad that set it apart from the mayo-coated noodles you might find at your next potluck.
Giada’s Tip for Authentic Italian Pasta Salad
In the summer, a steaming bowl of pasta might not be the first thing you think to serve, but that doesn’t mean you have to step away from pasta altogether. Enter insalata di pasta, or pasta salad.
“I think pasta salads are so underrated,” Giada explained. “And people don’t think we make them in Italy, but we do.”
Still, the pasta salads from pasta’s adopted homeland look a little different from what most Americans grew up with—especially the dressing. Instead of a rich, creamy dressing that coats every noodle—or even the bottled Italian dressing many of us grew up with—Italian pasta salad is usually dressed simply with pesto or good extra-virgin olive oil seasoned with salt, pepper, and, sometimes, lemon.
Then, instead of mix-ins, such as salami, pepperoni, cubed Cheddar, black olives, cucumbers, bacon, and pepperoncini, you’re more likely to find cherry tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olives, tuna, prosciutto, artichokes, basil, and arugula.
But according to Giada, the biggest difference comes down to how it cools.
“Never in the fridge,” she explained. “Just make it earlier in the day and serve it two or three hours later. Don’t put it in the fridge, only because the fridge hardens the pasta.”
It’s true. Through a process called starch retrogradation, pasta’s starches begin to firm back up as it cools. Refrigeration speeds up that process, making the pasta firmer and chewier than it was when freshly cooked.
Olive oil behaves differently in the fridge, too, turning cloudy and thickening up when chilled. And because many Italian-style pasta salads are dressed with olive oil, the effect matters even more, as it will leave you with a separated sauce rather than a silky one.
“It’s like cheeses,” she explains. “You want to pull them out in advance—once they come to room temperature, the palate can taste them a lot better.”
That said, you don’t want food sitting out too long, either. If you’re not planning to eat the pasta salad within three to four hours, a short trip to the fridge is still the best way to keep it safe to eat later.
Recipes are always going to shift and evolve as they travel—that’s part of what makes food fun. But every so often, it’s worth going back to the source. So next time you’re making pasta salad, skip the fridge, and see what you’ve been missing.
Read the original article on Allrecipes
