So THAT's Why Restaurant Pasta Sauce Is So Much Better

It’s not just me who thinks they must be making some huge mistake with their home cooking, is it?After all, my soup, mashed potato, chips and even poached egg recipes felt severely lacking compared to their restaurant counterparts (though I’ve since learned some tricks of the trade that help to elevate them at home). Still, some dishes feel beyond my grasp, like the rich, flavourful pasta sauce my favourite local Italian spot seems to churn out effortlessly. Thankfully, the pros have deigned to give us mere home cooks some hints on how to achieve a fuller flavour. Speaking to chef Jason Pfeifer at Italian restaurant Maialino, food-based publication Epicurious found that one of the secrets to a flavour-packed sauce involves changing when you add your garlic and spices.You should “bloom” your spicesDon’t make the mistake of simply lobbing spices like chilli flakes or aromatics like garlic into your pan after you’ve got a sauce going, the pros advise. Instead, you should sauté them in a little olive oil until fragrant; that way, their flavours will be released early and can spread evenly across the rest of the sauce. It’s a trick former chef Matt Broussard swears by for a great soup, too. “Spices love to be reconstituted, reheated, to get that dispersion of flavour,” he said of the method.Lots of South Asian cooking relies on the technique, which is alternately called chhonk, tadka, vaghar, or tempering, Bon Appétit shared.It works, they explain, because “many of the flavour compounds found in spices are fat-soluble and... fat coats the tongue, bringing those aromatic compounds into contact with your taste buds for a longer period of time”.Any other tips?Pfiefer tells Epicurious that pulling the pasta a little before it’s al dente means you’ll be left with truly perfect carbs by the time your dinner’s on the plate, as pasta keeps cooking for a while after it’s left the pot.Additionally, adding a lot less water to pasta than you’d think can create a perfectly starchy pasta water mix that makes sauces richer and silkier, Milk Street Kitchen advise. Lastly, if you’re used to adding sugar alone to your pasta sauce to temper tomatoes’ acidity, some Italians recommend opting for baking soda, too. Related...So THAT's Why Restaurant Soup Is So Much BetterSo THAT's Why Restaurant Sweet Potato Fries Are So Much BetterSo THAT's Why Restaurant Rice Is So Much Better

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