An Italian term used for the cooking of pasta and rice. "Pasta should be cooked al dente", meaning literally "firm to the bite" cooked so that it still has a bit of bite or resistance to it and not cooked to death as is the case in most household and restaurants outside of Italy.

My best recommendation for cooking boxed pasta is to look at the manufactures instructions for timing and deduct 1 to 2 minutes and begin tasting the pasta for doneness. perhaps every half minute. Pay attention!

It is a term that is sometimes used for the cooking of vegetables as well.