Buttered Noodles

Method

1. boil9 min
   well salted, minimal water, to the packet time
   pasta, reserving a cup of the water before draining. All of the dish's salt comes from this water, so it needs to taste seasoned — about a tablespoon per litre. Using less water than usual concentrates the starch that the sauce depends on
2. emulsify3 min
   drained pasta back in the hot pan, cold butter, a splash of pasta water, tossed hard
   pasta + cold cubed butter + a few tablespoons of pasta water, tossed constantly until the butter has vanished into a sauce that clings and shines. Cold butter added to a hot pan with starch present emulsifies; melted butter poured on separates and slides to the bottom of the bowl. If it looks greasy, add water and keep tossing — if it looks dry, add butter
3. fold2 min
   off the heat, pan slightly cooled
   + pepper (+ parmesan, + garlic, + nutmeg, + parsley), turned through. Cheese off the heat and never into a boiling pan: its proteins tighten above roughly 65°C and it turns from sauce into stringy clumps
4. season1 min
   immediately, warm bowls
   to taste and serve at once, slightly looser than looks right — it tightens on the way to the table as the starch cools and sets. There is nothing here to hide behind, so the pepper should be freshly ground and the butter should be one you would eat on bread