On day six of the Eater Advent Calendar, unwrap a hack to getting the perfectly salted pasta water, every single time
“Sciapo” means “unsalted” in Italian — and is probably the most common criticism I receive from my sous chef/mother anytime she’s over for dinner, inevitably babysitting my pasta while I prep the rest of our meal. I’ve cooked and eaten a ton of pasta in this life, and my biggest and most embarrassing cooking flub remains under-salting the water, typically out of fear of oversalting it to the point of no return. (You can always add, but you can’t subtract, etc.) After all, one person’s appropriately salted water is another person’s too-much or not-enough. Enter Jacobsen Salt Co.’s Disco Di Sale: pre-measured 10-gram salt discs ready for tossing straight into your pasta water, taking the guesswork out of what “a generous handful” of salt means from person to person. Not all handfuls are created equal! Snag these cute and handy salt bombs for a friend who’s got my same culinary Achilles’ heel — you’ll thank yourself for it at their next dinner party.
No peeking! But check out what the Eater Advent Calendar has already revealed. And check back each day for a new clutch condiment, gadget, or nibble that, yes, makes an amazing gift — but these surprises are just for you.
