Ex-chef to Celtic stars gives World Pasta Day masterclass
WHAT better way to celebrate World Pasta Day than with a visit to La Pastina Deli in the city’s West End. This authentic Italian deli turns out hundreds of portions of pasta in all different shapes and sizes from conchiglie to squid ink garganelli on a daily basis.
It’s no surprise that the Byres Road team produces some of the best quality carbs in Glasgow given that owner chef John Traynor has enjoyed a very impressive career journey.
Not only has he worked in some of the city’s best restaurants like the Porter and Rye and the Finnieston, but he has also spent time as a private chef for football legends like Odsonne Edouard and former Celtic boss Neil Lennon.
Talking us through what it takes to make a perfect plate of pasta, John, who was joined in the kitchen by fellow chef Liam Chynoweth, said: “We always say making pasta shapes is like making origami.
“With one sheet of paper, or in this case pasta, you can make hundreds of different shapes.
“There is something like 2000 types of pasta that you can make by hand.”
As we watched John and Liam expertly craft twirls, swirls and parcels with their dough we asked them how long it takes to learn these skills and what purpose each different variety has when it comes to cooking.
John laughed: “By the time you make a few kilos of it, you get the hang of it.
“In terms of shape, it’s all down to the sauce.
“Anything with a hollow centre is good for meat style sauces and anything long like spaghetti will do well with pesto.
“Shapes like spirali do well with heavier sauces like tomato or a ragu.
“We also make filled pasta with seasonal flavours like pumpkin, sage and walnut.
“For those, we suggest just a bit of pecorino cheese because you don’t want to overcomplicate it. The filling does all the talking.”
La Pastina has now been open for 10 weeks in the former space of Rodgers Butchers and has fast become a hit with local foodies.
Far from just pasta, the deli serves a vast selection of meats, cheeses, dried goods and pastries with a focus on showcasing the best of Scottish produce alongside Italian.
John said: “We only use the best quality products in the deli.
“It’s a very busy place and we think that we do things well.
“After 10 weeks, La Pastina is still in its infancy.
“We’re still learning. Every day we learn something new, so it’s about our education as much as the consumers.
“It’s quite fun.”