Italiano
Some different types of Italian pasta.
Quite a nice map, right?
It was made by the fantastic and very useful Website TasteAtlas.
Even if important primi such as strozzapreti, paccheri and tagliolini are missing… but I understand that there wasn’t room enough to do justice to all of them.
However, an injustice has indeed been done.
And it was the Fettuccine Alfredo that paid the price, kicked out of the “boot” in such a mean and ungenerous way.
I say an injustice because, although it is almost impossible to find this dish in any Italian restaurant, well, Fettuccine Alfredo was born in Italy.
Even long ago, apparently, being a dish mentioned in the fifteenth century by Martino De Rossi, considered the best cook of those times. This is hardly surprising, being butter and cheese an extremely common condiment at a time when the tomato was unknown to that side of the ocean.
In the early years of the 20th century, the dish was rediscovered, so to speak, by Alfredo Di Lello, a restaurateur from the “Eternal City”.
The recipe per portion: 100 grams of fettuccine, 75 grams of grated Parmesan, 50 grams of butter, salt and pepper. All mixed and blended in the right way and at the right time, of course.
How and why it became popular in the US is a mystery. Who says that some tourists fell in love with it and brought the recipe to their homeland. Who says that instead their fame is due to the silent film stars, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, who fell in love with them during their honeymoon in Rome.
However, yes, this remains a conundrum.
What shouldn’t be a conundrum to you (if you’re a professional cook) is what equipment to cook with.
I’ll tell you: Inox Bim.
