No matter whether you are a good cook or not, being Italian is qualification enough to recognize when the pasta is well cooked!
We Italians have in our DNA a sort of degree in gastronomy! Needless to say, in Italian culture pasta has to be al dente because making pasta soft means to be a criminal! Ahahah! Yes, I'm probably exaggerating but... not too much!
So why are Italians so obsessed with pasta al dente? Why are they so scared of making mistakes about time cooking?
It's easy to understand: soft pasta is not digestible and has higher levels of glucose. Then, you know, we are really demanding at the table.
Soft spaghetti look like "drowing men in a Ocean of desperation"!
I can tell you that many Italians are able to understand when pasta is al dente even before tasting it.
Try looking at your spaghetti hanging from the fork. What do you see? If they make a sinuous movement, if they look like "a snake that twists around your fork", you can stay clam: your spaghetti are good! You can start eating!
Enjoy your meal!
