| If you ask for pasta with Alfredo sauce at a | | | | Who was Alfredo then? Alfredo di Lelio, this |
| restaurant in Italy all you get from your | | | | was his full name, was an inspired cook who |
| waiter is a stare. Why is one of the most | | | | proposed this new exciting dish in the |
| famous "Italian sauces" for pasta unknown in | | | | restaurant he opened in Rome in 1914. It was |
| its country of origin? The answer is simple: | | | | a high gourmet preparation in the Roman |
| because in Italy an Alfredo "sauce" doesn't | | | | tradition of simplicity. Apparently he |
| exist. | | | | created his Fettuccine all'Alfredo when his |
| | | | wife lost her appetite during her pregnancy. |
| Yes, Italians make a dish of pasta, | | | | To bring back her appetite he prepared for |
| fettuccine dressed with nothing else than | | | | her a nutritious dish of egg fettuccine with |
| good aged parmigiano cheese and a lot of | | | | parmigiano cheese and butter. That probably |
| butter, but is such a simple preparation that | | | | gave him the idea for his "triple butter" |
| Italians don't even consider it a "recipe". | | | | fettuccine. |
| | | | |
| Waverly Root in his famous book "The Food of | | | | He was an extravagant character who used to |
| Italy" (New York, 1971) wrote: "FETTUCCINE AL | | | | personally serve his paper-thin fettuccine |
| BURRO is associated in every tourist's mind | | | | with golden forks, apparently donated to him |
| with Rome, possibly because the original | | | | by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, the |
| Alfredo succeeded in making its serving a | | | | famous silent movie stars. In the fifties and |
| spectacle reminiscent of grand opera. It is | | | | sixties, Hollywood discovered Rome. Paparazzi |
| the same ribbon shaped egg pasta tat is | | | | photographers took photos of actors such as |
| called tagliatelle in Bologna; but the al | | | | Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Richard Burton, |
| burro preparation is very Roman indeed in its | | | | Liz Taylor, or Sophia Loren in front of a |
| rich simplicity. Nothing is added to the | | | | plate of Fettuccine all'Alfredo, making his |
| pasta except grated cheese and butter - lots | | | | restaurant famous all around the world. The |
| of butter. The recipe calls for doppio burro, | | | | restaurant is now run buy his grandson, and |
| double butter, which gives it a golden | | | | the golden forks are still used to serve this |
| color." | | | | dish for special occasions. |
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