Warning: I just read that most home cooks think 'al dente' means undercooked

Found this in a survey from a food magazine, said 60% of people polled thought that. Makes me wonder if we need to explain basic terms more on menus. Has anyone else had to clarify this for a customer recently?

3 comments

3 Comments

jade32mo ago

Wait, seriously? That's a huge number of people getting it wrong. I mean, al dente is like the most basic cooking term out there. Maybe menus do need a little footnote or something.

wren8062mo ago

Sixty percent of people think it means undercooked? That survey is kind of wild. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I've seen some truly mushy pasta called al dente on menus.

leohart21d ago

Wouldn't it be useful if cooking shows or food media spent a little more time explaining terms like al dente instead of just tossing them out there? @jade3 makes a good point about menus needing footnotes, but the real issue is that people are learning these words from menus and bad cooking examples rather than from reliable sources. It seems like the simpler we make the explanations, the better off everyone would be.