What can you learn about writing papers from cooking pasta?

Those who know me in real life will know that I enjoy cooking. I particularly enjoy cooking pasta. Most authentic Italian recipes are so simple (algio e olio anyone?) that it's just wonderful.

I was cooking dinner today, bucatini alla matriciana if you must know, and I realised that cooking pasta and writing papers have nothing in common. Exactly one of those things is enjoyable, and it is not the writing part of papers (I do love the research part, of course).

So, what did I learn? Absolutely nothing. What can you learn? I don't know, it's a zen thing, I suppose. Draw your own conclusions.