I’ve been buying artisan pasta here and there the past year, persuaded by “pasta experts” that these brands are vastly superior in every way, not just to the cheap stuff, but to the “average” bronze-drawn brands like Rummo, De Cecco, Di Martino, and Rao’s that I normally buy.
The dishes I’ve made using the expensive stuff have always been good, but I had a nagging suspicion that my belief that they were superior to the aforementioned brands was based on the power of suggestion from the pasta romanticizers.
So yesterday I did a quick taste test between two brands of bucatini: Giuseppe Cocco, a highly vaunted top-tier artisan pasta ($7), and De Cecco, the common supermarket variety everyone knows ($2). I boiled two pots of water, dropped in 50g of each, cooked them, drained them, and placed them into separate bowls with a drizzle of olive oil. I first tried a forkful of each, then ate all the Cocco followed by all the De Cecco.
The result? I couldn’t tell one bit of difference between the two, either in taste or in texture. They may as well have come from the same package. It was disappointing as I was really rooting for the Cocco to win. I wanted to believe that the extra money I’d spent translated to a superior eating experience. Nope.
Anyone else have a similar experience?
by SabreLee61
28 Comments
De Cecco is a really good low-cost option and is my go-to choice. Some high end pastas are even better. One (can’t recall the name) made my kitchen smell like I was baking fresh bread as I cooked it. Yum!
You should try another blind test with actual sauce.
I’m not sure what difference in the product makes, other than your going to pay more. All good pasta is made with 100% semolina. The drying process must always be the same since improper drying will cause breakage. DeCecco is my go to most of the time, although for great chewy, unusual shapes, you need to try a US brand, Sfoglini.
In general terms a pasta on the level of De Cecco (or Rummo, Garofalo, similar etc.) is perfect for a “everyday meal”. Keep the fancy ones for special occasions or as a treat (also considering they are very expensive). You can taste the difference, but eating the fancy one everyday seems a bit excessive to me (said by an Italian with high cooking standards). 🙂
I don’t buy the top tier dried pasta, but brands like Rummo (which I sometimes get) are usually 2x the price of what most people buy, and 3x the cheap stuff.
I don’t know if it’s actually better, or if I just expect it to be better, but saving a few dollars a month on pasta isn’t worth it to me.
To be honest, the only time I taste (or more like feel) a difference is when I eat homemade pasta. But it’s a lot of work and not worth the difference unless you simply enjoy the process of making it (which I do).
I do suspect the quality/insecticide treatment of the grains does make a difference, even if you’re comparing two 100% semolina options, because everyone always talks about how European breads/pastas don’t hurt their stomach, they have less celiac disease, etc. But you’d probably need to be in Europe to get the good stuff.
I notice a big difference between De Cecco and real cheap grocery store branded pastas. But not as much of a difference between De Cecco and higher cost artisan pasta. I’ll grab De Cecco first, unless I’m looking for a specific shape or type of pasta not available in their brand
De Cecco is good and sometimes Walmart has it. Just buy a pasta machine on Amazon and order Caputo Semolina and Flour from Amazon to mix and you wont go back to the shitty pasta.
Yes. If it’s good. No, if it’s extremely overpriced like some brands are.
Artisan? Imo no.
Pasta extruded from a bronze die, and with a protein content of 14-15%? Yes!
Bought some bucatini. I remembered eating spaghetti with holes the entire length of the spag
Usually mid range price products have the best values. But I can also say stuff like Barilla and below aren’t worth it either. The texture, the taste, the color everything is unappealing
When I am not making my own I use de cecco or rummo – semolina, bronze cut pasta. These are not budget options, they’re the good stuff. It’s kinda like buying a bicycle – $500 dollar bike vs $3000? Giant difference. $3000 vs $7000? Not as much of a difference.
If you have the means, try Mancini. It’s next level, but damn is it expensive.
De Cecco is my go-to – often I see it priced similar to the plasticky “cheap” stuff – seems starchier than the cheap stuff, too, which lends itself to better sauce adherence/thickness.
I’ve heard De Cecco referred to as “cheap stuff”, but I don’t know…I feel like it’s a quality choice, especially for the price point.
Recently tried La Molisana, and it proved a good option as well – might’ve been a few cents more than De Cecco.
Some high end pasta is amazing, but in my experience de cecco is great and always consistent.
De Cecco is not a normal supermarket brand, its more expensive than usual supermarket brands (and barilla) but its waaaay better. at the same time its A LOT cheaper than “artisanal” brands. a lot artisanal brands are a marketing gimmick – search for comparison reviews. anyway, DeCecco is excellent quality for the money
I like to buy the nicer stuff when I find it marked down at TJ Maxx (which is frequently). I don’t know for sure that it’s better, but I think it is.
I only buy pasta with 100% Italian grains and “trafilata al bronzo”
A good artisan pasta takes much longer to cook. How many minutes of cooking did this pasta have? Good artisanal pasta you can recognise by sight, it is much rougher and you can smell the wheat. Certainly not all pasta passed off as artisanal is good, I don’t know this brand but for the price you’d be better off making it yourself. For example, I really like the Benedetto Cavalieri which in fact has an 18/20 minute cooking time.
I pretty much only buy DeCecco and Rumo. They hold sauce better than the mass market brands. If I want anything fancier, I just make fresh.
Kroger band has solid bronze cut semolina wheat pasta too.
Cocco is way better thank dececco but dececco is way better than barilla
Is all de cecco bronze-drawn? Honestly didn’t know that
I’ve tried a few and they seem to be worth a little more. Pastas imported from Italy seem legit.
I make my own pasta much of the time. However, I really like DeCecco and have not found the more expensive brands to be noticeably better. I don’t usually find it as cheap as $2 though, I would definitely stock my pantry at that price!
Nah, if I’m gonna spend that kinda money on pasta, I’m buying fresh pasta from my grocer.
It is definitely my first choice for everyday. I pay 1,11€ for a pack of 500g. And for special days I love monograno felicietti. I confirm that sometimes the premium ones can really be special.