Barilla and Arduino: Not Your Grandma's Pasta!

Italians are notoriously protective of their culinary traditions, often rooted in the use of specific local ingredients, family recipes passed down from generation to generation, and strict adherence to the way nonna< /em> and mamma always cooked her favorite meals.

However, Italy is also a country of innovation and ingenuity! So in the face of climate change, the great pasta brand Barilla has taken a somewhat daring step by offering its customers the chance to try passive cooking: let the pasta cook in hot water after only two minutes of boiling on the fire, saving valuable energy for the rest of the cooking. time. Italian grandmothers might cringe at the idea, but Barilla's clear step-by-step guide claims it can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 80% - which could have a remarkable positive impact on the environment , considering around 400 million plates of spaghetti, penne, tagliatelle and more are served around the world every day.

Afraid your environmental conscience comes at the expense of not-so-good noodles? Do not be! The key to successful passive cooking is simply to follow the right timing, which is why Barilla has prepared a complete downloadable table with cooking times adjusted according to the shape of the pasta.

And since this may be the modern way to cook your favorite Italian dish, why not make it easier - and a whole lot more fun - with a little IoT? Barilla also provides step-by-step instructions for building your own Passive Cooker smart timer: a temperature sensor and an Arduino Nano 33 BLE board, programmed via the Arduino IDE 2.0 and placed in a 100% biodegradable 3D printed case, connect to a dedicated free application. on your phone to let you know when to pour the pasta into boiling water and when to turn off the stove - and start saving energy.

Barilla's website states, "We wanted to make this project open source so anyone could make their own copy and even improve upon it if they wanted to." It's Italian for "Hey, Arduino community! Let's get cooking.