Penne Rigate No. 67

Perline No. 24

Perline in the 500g pack — one of the small soup cuts, cooked in the broth rather than drained. Used in minestrone and in the light soups a kitchen sends out before a main.

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Rigatoni No. 43

Rigatoni in the 500g pack — a wide ridged tube, heavier than penne and cut straight rather than on the angle. The shape for baked pasta, where it holds its wall instead of collapsing.

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Spaghetti No. 3

Spaghetti in the 500g pack, cut number 3. The long strand that suits an oil or tomato sauce rather than a heavy one — the default pasta on most menus, and the shape most kitchens run out of first.

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Tagliatelle No. 204

Tagliatelle in nests, in the 500g pack. The broad flat ribbon carries a cream or meat sauce that would slide off spaghetti — the cut for ragù and for anything built on butter.

More in Staple Foods

All Staple Foods

Atta Flour Chakki

Chakki atta, the stone-ground wholewheat flour for roshi, chapati and everyday flatbread. Finely milled, so the dough comes out soft and pliable rather than coarse.

Atta Flour Gold

Atta Gold, the second of the three atta grades carried. Used the same way as chakki — roshi, chapati, paratha — where a kitchen has settled on this grade.

Atta Flour Multigrain

Multigrain atta, for flatbreads made with more than wheat. The grade to stock where a menu wants a wholegrain option beyond standard chapati flour.

Besan Flour (100% Channa Dhal)

Besan, milled from channa dhal rather than wheat. The batter flour behind pakora and bhaji, and the thickener in a good number of curries and sweets.