Everyone likes to eat a good Italian pasta accompanied by an excellent sauce and a delicious wine that harmonizes perfectly with the whole dish, is not it? And one of the most famous Italian sauces in the world is the Alfredo sauce.
Many people try to copy this delicious Italian sauce, which has a history as delicious as it is. Because just like many Italian sauces and dishes, Alfredo sauce suddenly appeared and conquered all of Italy quickly.
However, many people and many restaurants worldwide hesitate to replicate this fantastic sauce, unfortunately, they do wrong most of the time. Because the real Alfredo di Roma sauce does not take the sour cream, and many replicas out there stubbornly add this ingredient in the recipe.
When in reality, the Alfredo sauce takes only butter (not margarine) and a good properly grated Parmesan cheese. That is, such a delicious sauce is easier to prepare than people usually do.
Let’s get to know a little of the history behind this delicious sauce and know how to prepare a genuine Fettuccine Alfredo di Roma. This dish has conquered big names like Frank Sinatra, Alfred Hitchcock, Jimmy Hendrix, Ava Gardner, and Pelé.
How did the Fettuccine Alfredo di Roma come about
In 1908, in Rome, Alfredo di Lelio who was the owner of a restaurant in Piazza Rosa, where today The Galleria Colonna is located, decided to prepare a dish to reinvigorate the energies and spirits of his wife, who had just given birth to their first child.
The refreshing dish was a Fettuccine pasta accompanied by a protein-rich sauce made only from butter and Parmesan cheese (Parmesan cheese). Pleased and amazed by the taste of her husband’s dish, Alfredo’s wife then suggested that he put this dish on his restaurant’s menu.
A few years later, in 1914, Alfredo di Lelio inaugurated his new restaurant, as the old one disappeared in 1910 to grant the place to the current Galleria Colonna. The recent establishment has the name, until today, Alfredo Alla Scrofa.
As soon as it opened, the Fettuccine Alfredo di Roma was an immediate success, especially among foreign personalities who visited the restaurant. But it was after the honeymoon of actors Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, this dish became known worldwide.
The couple went to Alfredo’s restaurant to taste the so famous dish with Alfredo sauce, and they left there so satisfied and happy, that on returning to the United States, they talked about the Fettuccine Alfredo to all their friends, and sent a treat to Alfredo to thank for such delicious food: gold cutlery with a dedication.
From this beautiful gift, the Fettuccine Alfredo began to be made in the restaurant hall with the golden cutlery presented, and this was enough to leave this pasta and this sauce so famous all over the world.
However, in mid-1938, during World War II, Mussolini imposed food restrictions on the country and campaigned in favor of the patriotic spirit, which did not involve Alfredo sauce, since this sauce makes up a dish considered “in Bianco,” which in Italian means it is a paste with white sauce.
And in that city, the most common dishes were the “in Rosso,” which contained sauces based on tomatoes, therefore Fettuccine Alfredo was not considered by Mussolini a “patriotic” dish.
Thus, at the time of the Second World War, Alfredo became very discouraged about his restaurant and took it over again only in 1950, inaugurating a new restaurant called il Vero Alfredo, which exists to this day under the command of the second and third generation of Alfredo di Lelio’s family.
In this way, after the end of the Second World War, Fettuccine Alfredo di Roma again became the most sought after and beloved dish by many people in Rome and worldwide, such as celebrities and heads of state. And to this day, it is a real success and landmark of Italian gastronomy!
Recipe for legitimate Alfredo sauce
Now that you already know the history of this beautiful sauce, it’s time to know precisely how to prepare the real Fettuccine Alfredo di, Roma.
Ingredient
350 gr of fresh fettuccine pasta;
30 gr of butter (can not be margarine);
200 gr of freshly grated Parmesan cheese;
Water to cook the noodles and salt to salt the water.
Preparation
First, you should fill a large saucepan with plenty of water and season it with salt, for this, you must pour about 10 gr of salt for each liter of water. Be sure to use a large pan so that the noodles can stay free inside it.
Cook the fresh fettuccine pasta for 2 minutes and reserve the cooking water, as you will use it later.
Now in a canister, put half the butter, ¾ of the grated Parmesan cheese, a little of the cooking water, and mix until you get a “creamy paste.”
Then put in a frying pan the other half of the butter, the pasta, and a little more of the water you have reserved and let it “settle,” stirring constantly.
Mix in the pasta that you have prepared and mix immediately and without stopping “from the bottom up” and mix the rest of the grated cheese. If it gets too thick, you can add more cooking water until creamy.
Serve the following dish accompanied by a white Chardonnay wine.
This is the authentic recipe of Alfredo sauce. The only difficulty it presents is the question of the ideal temperature because if the frying pan and the cooking water are too hot, the cheese will get that “chewing gum” effect.
And if everything is too cold, the sauce and pasta will not integrate as it should be done, and the dish will not turn out creamy, then it is essential to maintain the balance of temperatures so that it is always medium.
You can also meet and enjoy these delicious varieties at American Pasta.
