On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1086

ofwaterinit.
—Decameron,Day8,Tale3
Aftertheingredientsaremixedandbriefly
kneadedintoahomogenousbutstiffmass,
pastadoughisrestedtoallowtheflour
particlestoabsorbthewaterandthegluten
networktodevelop.Withtimethedough
becomesnoticeablyeasiertowork,andthe
finishednoodlesendupwithacohesive
consistencyratherthanacrumblyone.The
doughisthenrolledgentlyandrepeatedlyto
formaneverthinnersheet.Thisgradual
sheetingpressesoutairbubblesthatweaken
thedoughstructure,andorganizesthegluten
network,compressingandaligningtheprotein
fibers,butalsospreadingthemoutsothatthe
doughbecomesmoreeasilystretchedwithout
snappingback.
Egg Pasta and Fresh Pasta Noodles made
from standard bread wheat and eggs are
preferred in much of northern Europe, and


mostfreshpastassoldintheUnitedStatesare
of this type. Eggs perform two functions in
noodles.Oneistoenhancecolorandrichness.
Heretheyolkistheprimaryfactor,andyolks
alonecanbeused;theirfatcontentalsomakes
the dough more delicate and the noodles
tender. The second function is to provide
additionalproteinformoderate-proteinflours

used in both home and industrial production.
The egg white proteins make the dough and
noodles more cohesive and firm, reduce the
gelation and leaking of starch granules, and
reduce cooking losses. In U.S. commercial
noodles, dried egg is added at 5–10% of the
weightoftheflour.InItaly,Alsace,Germany,
andinspecialtyandhomemadenoodlesinthe
United States, fresh eggs are used, and in
larger proportions. They may be the only
source of water in the dough. Some pastas
from the Piedmont region in northwest Italy
contain as many as 18 yolks per pound of
flour/40yolksperkg.