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