| Absolutely. I'm not in Italy but in China. 'Lamian' or literally 'pulled noodles' are a staple dish for my own and colleagues lunches on most days. Staples in North China are largely wheat or corn based. Dough is usually pre-kneaded to the consistency the chef prefers. 'Cut' is then done by pulling, doubling-up, re-pulling, etc, until reaching the right thickness that the stand desires. The article mentions su filindeu as being thin and stretched, with drying into a web-like layered structure. This is certainly going to be interesting and a bit different. But this process of pulling and cutting varies chef-by-chef. Arguments break out a lunch between colleagues who prefer 'thin' noodles vs 'regular' vs 'think'. Going to a single place and ordering a preference just doesn't work. 'thin' where a chef makes the dough thick may be thin in diameter, but not in mouth texture. 'thick' (or wide and thick) in a restaurant that provides regular or thinly kneaded dough just doesn't feel satisfyingly chewy in a restaurant that doesn't routinely serve a thicker dough - not enough chew. And then there's the flour used. The difference that technique brings is huge. Liken it to bread: flour with a consistent level of ¬14-15g of protein (similar to flour used for pasta, though usually different type) per 100g can result in remarkably different breads depending on kneading, resting, forming, and remarkably more techniques. |