Why Pasta Alfredo Doesn’t Exist in Italy at All
Pasta Alfredo is a 100% Italian pasta dish that you can’t order in any restaurant in Italy (okay, except for one—but our colleague Minne from Italiamo will tell you more about that shortly). Still, you’ve probably heard of this pasta. Or at least it may ring a creamy little bell. Pasta Alfredo is, after all, pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese. But Americans have rather run away with this simple delight.
Pasta Alfredo
If your algorithm occasionally shows you recipe videos, you may well have come across an American version of Pasta Alfredo. The ingredient list varies widely, but generally includes seriously overcooked pasta, a clove of chopped garlic (Italians had already abandoned ship at this point), cream or crème fraîche, Parmesan cheese, finely chopped parsley, and something like chicken, prawns, or broccoli. It may be unnecessary to say that Alfredo is extremely popular among the American population. And that happens to be exactly why Italians no longer call this pasta by its original name.
Revitalizing pasta
So where does that original name come from? In 1907, chef Alfredo di Lelio opened a restaurant on Via della Scrofa in Rome. When his wife had just given birth and often felt a little faint, he wanted to make her something salty, nutritious, yet light. That became a plate of fresh fettuccine (thinly sliced tagliatelle), with butter and Parmesan. Because the pasta was made with egg and the butter and cheese are perfectly balanced, this pasta has exactly the revitalizing effect Alfredo was looking for. Creamy, but not too creamy. Salty, but not too salty. Nutritious, but not heavy. Today, you can still eat this pasta exactly as it was intended at Alfredo alla Scrofa restaurant in Rome.
Fettuccine burro e Parmigiano
But let’s return briefly to the fact that this pasta has acquired such a bad reputation. There was a time when Italians copied everything Americans did because it was cool. However, that time has long since passed. These days, Italians get very worked up about American cuisine. In their view, everything is greasy, oversized, and deep-fried. So when Pasta Alfredo took root in America, they distanced themselves from it as quickly as possible. Especially when the rules of Italian cuisine weren’t being followed: no chopping garlic, no cream in pasta, no mixing cheese and fish, no chicken in pasta, and so on. Undercover, Italians have been eating Pasta Alfredo for more than a hundred years—but they simply call it: fettuccine burro e Parmigiano.
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Source: Italiamo
