Sugo all'amatriciana
 Sugo all'amatriciana during preparation |
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| Origin | |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Italy |
| Region or state | Lazio |
| Creator(s) | Italians |
| Dish details | |
| Course served | Primo |
| Serving temperature | hot over pasta |
| Main ingredient(s) | tomato bacon (guanciale) cheese (Pecorino Romano) Olive Oil |
| Variations | Onion, garlic, black pepper, chili |
Sugo all'amatriciana (Italian pronunciation: [amatriˈtʃaːna]) or alla matriciana (in Romanesco) is a traditional Italian pasta sauce based on guanciale (dried pork cheek), pecorino cheese and tomato. Originating from the town of Amatrice (in the mountainous Province of Rieti of Lazio region), the Amatriciana is one of the most well-known pasta sauces in Roman and Italian cuisine. The sauce has been declared as Lazio's Prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale.
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[edit] Development
The ancestor of the Amatriciana was the recipe named gricia .Grici were called in Rome the sellers of bread and comestibles. [1] They were called so because a group of them came from the Swiss canton of Grisons. [1] According to another hypothesis, the name originates from the village of Grisciano, in the comune of Accumoli, near Amatrice. This was (and still is) prepared with guanciale (cured pork cheek) and grated pecorino. According to the matching hypothesis, ingredients reflect local products available either by a simple grocer Store or to commonfolk who practised herding in the mountainous area. At some point, a little olive oil was added to the recipe too.
The invention of the first tomato sauces (and then the possible introduction of tomato in the gricia, creating the Amatriciana) dates back from the late 18th century: the first written record of pasta with tomato sauce can be found in the 1790 cookbook L'Apicio Moderno by Roman chef Francesco Leonardi.[2]
The recipe became increasingly famous in Rome over the 19th century and early 20th century, due to the strong contacts—already pluricentennial[3]—between Rome and Amatrice.[4] The recipe was extremely well received and rapidly went on to be considered a "classic" of the Roman Cuisine, even if it originated elsewhere. The name of the dish in the Romanesco dialect became matriciana due to the apheresis typical of this dialect.[5]
While tomato-less gricia is still prepared in central Italy, it is the tomato-enriched amatriciana that is more well-known all over Italy and has been exported everywhere. While in Amatrice the dish is prepared with spaghetti, the use of bucatini has become extremely common after the recipe became popular in Rome, and is now prevalent. Other types of dry pasta (particularly rigatoni) are also in use, whereas fresh pasta is generally avoided.
[edit] Variants
The recipe is known in several variants, depending also on local availability of certain ingredients. While each one seems to agree about the usage of guanciale and tomato, onion is disliked in Amatrice, but it is used in the classical handbooks of Roman cuisine.[6][7] As frying grease, olive oil is mostly used, but strutto (canned pork lard) is attested too.[6]
The addition of garlic sauted in olive oil ("soffritto") before adding guanciale is also possible[citation needed], while as cheese either pecorino romano[6][7] or Amatrice's pecorino (from the Monti Sibillini or Monti della Laga areas) can be used. The addition of black pepper or chili pepper is also possible.[citation needed]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b Ravaro (2005), p. 329
- ^ Faccioli (1987), Recipe sub voce in chapter devoted to Leonardi
- ^ In Rione Ponte a lane called Vicolo dei Matriciani and a Locanda bearing the same name are documented since the 17th century. Blasi (1923), sub voce
- ^ The town, originally part of the Abruzzo Ultra Department of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, in 1861 joined the Abruzzi Region of the Kingdom of Italy, being finally annexed to Lazio when the Province of Rieti was created in 1927.
- ^ Ravaro (2005), p. 395
- ^ a b c Boni (1983), pg. 44.
- ^ a b Carnacina (1975), pg. 82.
[edit] References
- Blasi, Benedetto (1923) (in Italian). Vie piazze e ville di Roma nel loro valore storico e topografico. Roma: Libreria di scienze e lettere.
- Boni, Ada (1983) [1930] (in Italian). La Cucina Romana. Roma: Newton Compton Editori.
- Carnacina, Luigi; Buonassisi, Vincenzo (1975) (in Italian). Roma in Cucina. Milano: Giunti Martello.
- Faccioli, Emilio (1987) (in Italian). L'Arte della cucina in Italia. Milano: Einaudi.
- Ravaro, Fernando (2005) (in Italian). Dizionario romanesco. Roma: Newton Compton.
[edit] External links
- The first site on the Amatriciana recipe www.amatriciana.org
- Amatriciana recipe from matriciana.com
- Recipe of Spaghetti all'amatriciana from Amatrice's municipality website in Italian and English
- Ingredients and recipe in Italian
- Ingredients and recipe in English (same source as above)
- Emeril Lagasse's recipe in English
- NY Times article on different recipes for sugo all'amatriciana and on guanciale
- Recipe for Pasta alla Gricia
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