Barilla's Spotify playlists double as timers for cooking your pasta to al dente perfection

Timing your pasta to perfection can make all the difference between sticky overcooked spaghetti and the perfect "al dente." So Italian pasta brand Barilla is helping people to get it right with a series of Spotify playlists that help them time it correctly while also enjoying music as you cook. In a campaign by Publicis Italy, Barilla created eight playlists, ranging in length from nine to 11 minutes, combining the four most popular music genres in Italy (pop, hip hop, indie and hits from the past) with some of Italians’ most loved pasta shapes, like spaghetti, linguine, fusilli and penne rigate. You can choose from the likes of "Mixtape Spaghetti", or select "Boom Bap Fusilli", "Pleasant Melancholy Penne" and "Moody Day Linguine" while your pot simmers away. Lists include international artists like Jay-Z, Shaun Mendes, The Beach Boys and The Smiths as well as tracks by popular Italian artists. The playlists will be updated cyclically to include new hits. Barilla isn't the first food brand to use Spotify to liven up cooking; dairy brand Kerrygold ran a campaign in 2018 matching recipes to music styles for example, and Brazilian cookware brand Tramontina let you "taste" music by matching songs to recipes, while KFC has also created a playlist of songs featurng mentions of its brand. But the kitchen timer feature makes this one actually useful—and while many of us are stuck in a groundhog day of cooking endless family meals at the moment, it could provide some much-needed entertainment.

Barilla's Spotify playlists double as timers for cooking your pasta to al dente perfection

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