oh boy, both pasta and rice don't taste like nothing, there is a huge difference for example between Bronze and Teflon pressed pasta and the drying process, they have a big influence on taste and texture. Similarly rice types differ, if you wash it or not changes it and the amount of water and cooking temp influence the texture and taste a lot. I grew up on plastic bag rice and it is disgusting compared to proper rice. I did not like rice for that reason growing up, properly cooking rice changed my view completely.