British English: tooth /tuːθ/ NOUN. in your mouth Your teeth are the hard, white things in your mouth that you use to bite and chew food. I clean my teeth twice a day. American English: tooth /ˈtuθ/
Al dente is a term used when cooking. It comes from Italian, and is used for pasta, rice, and sometimes vegetables. It means that the item (for example the spaghetti) are cooked, so that they are soft, but they are still firm to the bite. Usually, cooking something al dente involves a short cooking time.
The term al dente appeared after World War I; its etymology is the Italian phrase “to the tooth.” In the 20th century, the production of pasta has grown to a global scale, with countries all over the world mechanically producing mass amounts of durum wheat pasta.
Al dente is Italian, and literally means "to the tooth," from a Latin root word, dent, or "tooth." "Al dente." Vocabulary.com Dictionary, Vocabulary.com, https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/al dente. Accessed 29 Aug. 2025.
Al dente, which literally means "to the tooth," as in, "how does it feel to the tooth," stands for the correct point of cooking hardness. The opposite of al dente isn't some version of normal; it's soft or overdone.
To achieve an al dente texture, it is suggested to cook your pasta for a shorter duration than what's indicated on the packaging. The cooking time will depend on the type of pasta, but typically al dente pasta is cooked about two or three minutes less than the packaging indicates.
While the term al dente is often used to refer to cooking pasta, it also applies to rice that is soft and moist on the outside but still firm and chewy in the middle — usually not the texture I'm going for.
Also, al dente isn't just used for cooking pasta, it can also be used when cooking vegetables, rice, beans, or other grains. Al dente vegetables are firm with a crunch but cooked long enough that they lose their raw flavor.
Many Italian chefs will tell you that properly salting your pasta water is one of the keys to achieving the perfect al dente texture. The salt helps gelatinize the pasta's starches, which helps it retain it's shape and bite. Think of your pasta water as the 'sea'– it should be as salty!
Al dente is not simply 'undercooked' pasta as sometimes misunderstood. It refers to pasta cooked precisely to the point where it offers resistance when bitten into but is not hard in the center.
Simmering is a food preparation technique by which foods are cooked in hot liquids kept just below the boiling point of water (lower than 100 °C or 212 °F) and above poaching temperature (higher than 71–80 °C or 160–176 °F).
Of course, Spaghetti takes the top spot! This type of noodles is the most recognized pasta shape in the world and is especially beloved in southern Italy.
If you're cooking pasta al dente to use in a baked dish, always rinse to cool or they'll overcook during baking. If you're serving fully cooked pasta immediately, no need to rinse.
Al dente pasta simply means to cook pasta slightly under done. Translated from Italian, al dente means “to the tooth”. This means that pasta offers a slight resistance when bitten into.
Bring the pan of water to the boil then add the pasta. If you like, or the recipe suggests, salt the water first, or if you prefer, add a splash of olive oil. After about 8 mins of boiling, carefully fish a piece of pasta out of the pan, allow it to cool and taste it.
