Fresh pasta

From the Lexicon, Gluten & Hydration

Gluten is the elastic network formed when wheat's glutenin and gliadin meet water and agitation: the structure of bread, the enemy of tenderness in cakes and pie crusts. The baker steers it three ways: FLOUR CHOICE (bread flour ~12–14% protein builds; cake flour ~8% barely does), FAT (shortens gluten strands, hence 'shortening', 'shortbread', 'shortcrust'), and TECHNIQUE (kneading develops it; minimal mixing and resting relax it). HYDRATION is water as a percentage of flour weight: 60% is a tight bagel dough, 75% a country loaf, 85%+ the wet ciabatta school. Baker's percentages, everything relative to flour at 100%, are the professional language; learn them and every formula scales.