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["O Warm tips on wet way to cooking success", "This is the first of 10 columns by Cat Cora, the chef and partner of Postino in Lafayette.", "They are being written with Nicholas Boer.", "Boiling an ocean's worth of water has drowned out all recollection of when I put my first pot on the stove.", "I do, however, remember Mom sitting me on the counter as she set out to cook spaghetti - my favorite dish, then and now.", "She would have, what seemed to me, the biggest pot in the world - steam rising and pasta swirling - it was mesmerizing.", "Mom would nab a string of spaghetti with tongs, blow on it and hand it to me.", "And I would throw it against the wall to see if it would stick.", "This was my introduction to the fine points of boiling water.", "Cooking from the hip -carefree and recipe free - is something I do every day as a chef.", "I can cook from the hip because I understand the cooking basics.", "and nothing is more fundamental than boiling water.", "I was taught as a young cook to put sufficient sea salt in my boiling water to make it ""taste like the sea.""
