If you ask for Pasta Alfredo at an Italian restaurant, all you get from your waiter is just a look. Why is one of the most famous “Italian sauces” of unknown pasta in the country of origin? The answer is simple: because in Italy, Pasta Alfredo does not exist.
Yes, Italians make pasta, fettuccine with nothing but good old parmigiano cheese and lots of butter, but the preparation is so simple that the Italians don't even think of it as a "recipe".
Waverley Root in his famous book “The Food of Italy” (New York, 1971) wrote: “FETTUCCINE AL BURRO is associated with the mind of every visitor to Rome, probably because the real Alfredo succeeded in making his ministry a spectacle reminiscent of an opera great. It is like egg-shaped pasta that ribbon called tagliatelle in Bologna; but the preparation of AL, burro is quite Roman with its rich simplicity. There is nothing more to the pasta than grated cheese and butter - lots of butter. The recipe requires topped, burro, a double butter, which gives a golden color. ”
Who was Alfredo then? Alfredo di Lelia, this was his full name, was the inspired chef who proposed this delicious new dish at a restaurant he opened in Rome in 1914. It was a high gourmet remodeling of the Roman tradition of simplicity. He apparently created his own Fettuccine all’Alfredo when his wife lost her appetite during pregnancy. To satisfy her appetite, she prepared a nutritious meal of egg fettuccine and parmigiano cheese and butter. That probably gave her an idea of her “triple butter” fettuccine.
She was a glamorous character who used to make her own fettuccine with a little paper with gold forks, apparently donated to her by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, silent movie stars. Fifty-six years later, Hollywood gained Rome. The paparazzi photographers took pictures of actors like Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Richard Burton, Liz Taylor, or Sophia Loren in front of the Fettuccine all’Alfredo plate, making her restaurant world-famous. The restaurant is run by his granddaughter, and gold forks are still used to serve this meal on special occasions.
Samuel Chamberlain, a journalist and food writer, met Alfredo in his late 50s and wrote in his book "Italian Bouquet - An Epicurean Tour of Italy" (New York, 1958): "Finally there is Alfredo, a great exhibition, endless file for surprised and hungry visitors to watch calisthenics over a bowl of hot noodles. The King of the Noodles has retired, and now holds his fork and gold spoon in ALFREDO ALL'AUGUSTER, number 31 at Piazza Augusto Imperator, His Meiosis, Fettuccine all'Alfredo's very impressive, without a doubt. […] You should visit this place at least once, we think, just to say that you have seen this old, kind-hearted actor working. "
So, forget the heavy cream, parsley, garlic, and all the other ingredients raised in the hundreds of Alfredo recipes around the world. Take it down to the pasta machine shelf, prepare your new fettuccine (you can replace the new fettuccine with the best dried egg noodles), and enjoy the simple meiosis, Fettuccine AL, Triply, Burro as Alfredo himself would do.
You must be logged in to post a comment.