“Smoked pasta has been in our repertoire for years. To achieve the smoked results, we have used everything from smoke powder to liquid smoke as flavorings. We have smoked gochujang and smoked masa. For American Noodles, we will be making double smoked noodles. We smoke the semolina first. We use a smoking tube to generate a long, slow, consistent, cold smoke for the flour. Then we add some liquid smoke to the liquid for making the noodles. We have found that the smoke flavor becomes more complex by adding levels of smoke to the noodle. For us, it is essential to create a smoked noodle that has a full flavor that will not dissipate by cooking as it cooks in boiling water and is coated in sauce. The other parameter is to make sure we don’t make a smoke bomb. When the smoke overpowers the noodle, the sauce, and then the dish, we fail in a greater way because we end up ruining the entire experience. It’s all about finding that balance where each flavor is assertive enough so that they can all play together in harmony.”
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