According to its creators, it has a lower carbon footprint and is faster and more fun to cook: a flat pasta that becomes 3D has been invented.
At first glance it may seem like just fun to cook, but the pasta of the future, 3D pasta from engineers at Carnegie Mellon University (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) has a number of truly unique qualities. For example, it could be used to more easily reach areas where there has been a humanitarian crisis with food aid. And it may even be preferable as a space meal. But let’s go in order.
How the transformation of pasta (initially flat) into different, three-dimensional shapes works
Before cooking, the 3D pasta appears flat or shrunken. However, the “magic” occurs in the pot. In just a few minutes of cooking (less than the time required for the “classic” type) the flat pasta takes on amazing three-dimensional shapes: ring, spiral, wave, box, bamboo, propeller, etc.. How this amazing effect is realized is easier to say. On the surface of each flat piece, grooves are drawn. During the boiling process, the etched surfaces expand less than the smooth surfaces, resulting in three dimensions (of course, many types of dough are three-dimensional, but here the difference is that you start from flat piece and the transformation takes place in water).
Teng Zhang, a mechanical and aerospace engineer at Syracuse University in New York and co-author of the study, spoke of the complex computer simulations needed to predict, during cooking at different temperatures, the changes in starch and gluten mass that determine the final shape. Despite the challenge, the researchers decided to insist on applying their insights to pasta, because it is one of the most popular foods, and comes in a variety of different shapes.
What are the benefits of 3D pasta: faster to cook, less polluting, more fun
As the experts behind the reinvention of a classic explain, 3D pasta will be more easily consumed by astronauts and will be easier to use in the form of humanitarian aid: this is because its particular shape makes it easier to package and transport. 3D pasta also has a lower carbon footprint than the currently most popular varieties and requires less cooking time (we’re talking seven minutes). The menu of the future could include pizza “cooked” by a 3D printer or, if you want to go minimalist, a chip that simulates the taste of virtual food.