According to Wikipedia :
"Some people also add a few drops of vegetable oil to the water, in order to reduce foaming and the risk of spillovers."
from
here
"If you are holding the pasta for any length of time, it’s a good idea to toss it with a very small quantity of olive or canola oil to keep it from sticking together. Don’t use so much that it will keep your sauce from adhering to the pasta. You can also save a bit of the pasta cooking water to re-moisten it."
However
Popular myths and mistakes?
The mosy common mistakes when cooking pasta is:
adding oil to the water
adding salt to the water
and then ‘refreshing’ it under running water
All are totally unnecessary and can actually spoil the pasta. To cook any pasta properly use the following tips:
Firstly, never add oil to the cooking water, it is a waste of good oil, adds extra oil to the diet and does not prevent it from sticking anyway
Do not add salt to the water: some chefs say it actually cause fresh pasta to toughen. Even if it doesn't, you are only adding salt to your diet and there will no doubt be plenty of that in your sauce anyway
Use a large a pot as possible with plenty of boiling water; this water should be rapidly boiling. Ever noticed the Italians always do this when you see them on TV, in movies etc? "
That's the first time I've heard anyone suggest that you shouldn't use salt during cooking. Has anyone else heard this?