When I went to New York I saw that almost all Italian restaurants have in the menu those Linguine or Fettuccine Alfredo. I think they may be proposed also in other countries as typical Italian.
I am very sorry but I need to tell you the bitter truth. In Italy THEY DON’T EXIST! Italians lough a lot when they hear about them on tv shows!
I mean, people can like them, but they aren’t Italian. When they tell you it’s an Italian specialty, they are making fun of you.
And – believe me – we wouldn’t put garlic, cheese and cream together in a sauce in Italy. They really don’t match according to our taste.
You see them in commercials, you can find canned Alfredo in every US supermarket. When somebody makes an adv of a new food processor, what do they cook? Italian Alfredo!
In Italy Alfredo is a name, so you can find a person called Alfredo, but not that bloody sauce.
I saw it mixed with chicken, and as you well know we don’t use pasta as a side dish! In this case it’s a side dish with a false Italian sauce. Nothing we would do and eat.
I’m having a look around and I can see that Alfredo has lots of variations!!!! With mushrooms, light, with cheese, with shrimps… With shrimps??? How can they mix cheese, cream and shrimps???? I take note to go deeper on this theme and have a look at what the market proposes. It’s a painful job but somebody must do it!!!
I also add another information: the pasta type is called linguine and not linguini! Linguini is a spelling mistake!
What gets closer the most to awful Alfredo, is pasta seasoned with butter and grated parmesan, which is a dish we do when we don’t feel like cooking. This is the original Alfredo (even if we normally call it pasta with butter and parmesan). Also the Huffington Post tried to diffuse this information:
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-origins-of-fettuccine_b_4590831
Fettuccine Alfredo made the Italian way is something we would eat. We can’t approach, on the contrary, the transformation they had it the US.
Note: Obviously my posts haven’t any intention of offending anybody or of criticizing the goodness, quality and tastes of any dish or recipe. What I write is just a personal consideration concerning the adherence of recipes to the Italian ones, considering local habits, usages and traditions. The mood of the blog can be ironic and sometimes sarcastic, but with no aim of disappointing anybody. If somebody feels offended or struck by my words, please don’t. Moreover feel free to write me and explain your point of view (public channels like this blog are best welcome). It would be a pleasure for me. My intention is a constructive and sincere exchange of opinions.
Now I understand why in Florence they looked at me as if I was a wacko when I asked for fettuccine Alfredo! LOL
😀 you definitely won’t find it in restaurants in Italy! And if you do it means it’s a restaurant for tourists! Very funny experience Josh!
Are the Linguine is pasta ?
Dear Ratri, liguine are a kind of durum wheat pasta. They are similar to spaghetti but more flat. You can see fettuccine in the picture published in the post, among the badly matched ingredients 🙂
Fettuccine are egg pasta.