[Sca-cooks] A couple of questions-

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Dec 12, 2009, at 11:59 PM, Stephanie Yokom wrote:

> *"In the beginning, some time around, the chef made the noodles, and yea,
> they were fettuccine and they were many and tooth tender. And the chef took
> the abundance of noodles and tossed them with butter, and cream, and
> Parmesan cheese, and crushed garlic, and chopped parsley."*
> 
> **
> So, following this thinking above...TOTALLY period?  (We eat our pasta like
> this alot anyway)  But just don't call it alfredo.

All kidding aside, boiling fresh or dry pasta made with or without eggs is generally done in broth on a meat day, and in salted water on a non-meat day. It can be "sauced" with some of the fatty meat broth and melted butter, often tossed or layered with cheese and sprinkled with spice powder. Sometimes almond milk can be involved.

You'll find recipes for macrows/macaroni, loseyns/lasagne, and various cheese- or meat-filled ravioli-type pasta packages all served in this way.

The important thing about Alfredo Sauce is that it originally contained no cream, so it cannot really exist independently of the pasta. It's just the hot pasta tossed with butter and grated cheese, maybe some pepper, and a spoonful of the cooking water to emulsify it all. That, added to the fact that we know pretty clearly who this Alfredo guy was, and when he was born, etc., pretty well confirms that this particular process is fairly recent.

Commercial products designed to make the arduous process of laboriously tossing pasta with water, butter and cheese ('cause that's really complicated) simpler and easier are even more modern than the approximate date of 1927 commonly given for Alfredo's pasta dish.

Adamantius






"Most men worry about their own bellies, and other people's souls, when we all ought to worry about our own souls, and other people's bellies."
			-- Rabbi Israel Salanter