Bucatini all’amatriciana (or, more commonly in Rome, alla matriciana) are considered a staple of Roman cuisine. In fact the sauce’s name probably derives from Amatrice, a town near Rieti in the mountains of Lazio. Its original form was “in bianco” – pasta alla gricia, dressed just with guanciale (pork jowl) and pecorino cheese. Eventually as tomato became more common in pasta dishes it was added to the sauce. In Amatrice the typical ingredients used are guanciale, pecorino, white wine, tomato, hot pepper and pepper. The Roman version adds onion. Note that anyone from central Italy will tell you that pancetta is NOT the same thing as guanciale! The pastas traditionally used are bucatini, spaghetti and sometimes rigatoni. This dish has been in the news recently because Carlo Cracco, a well-known chef, said that he used a clove of garlic in the sauce. Scandal! All sorts of protests ensued, especially from Amatrice, insisting that it is heresy to put garlic in this sauce. And if you’re used to the Roman version, it does sound odd. Here‘s the classic recipe. An aside: spaghetti are far easier to eat than bucatini.
Tag: food (page 3 of 8)
I was amused by the kerfuffle over Mayor De Blasio’s use of a knife and fork while eating pizza in Staten Island. New Yorkers seemed to be universally appalled by this odd behavior – after all New Yorkers (and maybe Americans in general) use only hands to devour pizza. The mayor defended himself by saying that by using utensils he was being true to his roots because in Italy pizza is eaten that way. He’s right: Italians who visit or live in New York often comment on the odd custom Americans have of eating pizza with their hands… In an informal survey of Italian friends here in NYC, all (from Romani to Torinesi to Perugini to Napoletani) eat pizza with a knife and fork. That is, pizza al piatto (an individual pizza on a plate eaten in a pizzeria) is eaten with a knife and fork. The typical Roman pizza al taglio (fast food pizza, cut into rectangles and wrapped in paper, eaten as a snack or at lunch) is eaten with the hands, usually while standing or walking. So, is there one true way to eat pizza? Not really: it all comes down to culture, habit and preference.
Calabria is well known for its hot peppers and Calabrians have dedicated festivities and museums, not to mention academic studies, to the peperoncino. The annual Festival del Peperoncino will take place, in September, in the coastal town of Diamante. In this region, hot peppers are an essential ingredient in many dishes. An article in Il Sole 24 Ore describes many of these dishes and also discusses the town and the festival. There are many delicious specialties such as the spicy ‘nduja spreadable sausage, pesto sauces for pasta that include spicy peppers, chocolate made with peperoncino and sweet tarts made with oranges, almonds and hot pepper spread. To finish every meal there is even grappa flavored with peperoncino!
In recent years, prosecco, the sparkling wine, has steadily been gaining popularity. Its appeal lies in its generally good quality and its fresh, bright taste. Prosecco, rare for an Italian wine, is named for the grape it is made from. (Today the grape is known as glera.) Most prosecco is produced in the hills – rive – of Valdobbiadene and Conegliano, near Treviso. It usually does not have a vintage and is drunk young. In 2009 a new area for prosecco production was established in Friuli; there large vineyards using mechanical harvesting produce a more generic wine. As a result, winemakers in the original prosecco areas have been trying to distinguish their wines – now called prosecco superiore and designated DOCG, the highest level in Italian wine. Prosecco from these hillsides is today often made from one vintage and sometimes comes from a single vineyard. Producers are also experimenting with different fermentation techniques, both modern and ancient. It all means that prosecco lovers have a wide variety to choose from and some noteworthy wines to taste.
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