Amatrice, Italy - Home of Spaghetti all'Amatriciana - Devastated by Earthquake

[dcs]

On 6/21/2007 at 1:43 PM, edenman said:

I'll probably do a "breakfast" meal for my dinner group (guanciale and eggs?) and then maybe on another night, try spaghetti all'amatriciana (I've read this is one of the signature guanciale dishes).

On 8/18/2007 at 4:34 PM, edenman said:

And it's delicious...I've been cooking it up like bacon, but I plan on making bucatini alla amatriciana either monday or tuesday night.

Italian town known for its pasta dish ‘is no more’ after earthquake, by James McAuley on washingtonpost.com, August 24, 2016, at 10:40 AM.

[FunnyJohn]

On 6/23/2007 at 2:09 PM, Anna Blume said:

Good call, omitting the nitrate. It's not traditional.

As for the deliciousness that is amaritriciana, yes! Instead of spaghetti, look for the long, tubular strands that they call bucatini in Rome where the dish originates. De Cecco sells them under their Sicilian name, perciatelli. To get you psyched: Clicca qui .

Let's keep the people of Amatrice in our prayers.

You can obtain guanciale sometimes at Arrow Wine from an American producer, La Quercia (I believe based in Iowa) or on the internet.  I have obtained Mario Batali's guanciale through Heritage USA, and yes it lasts a long time in the fridge. For carbonara and amatriciana it is the authentic meat ingredient, and it can be used as a substitute for pancetta elsewhere.  Here is an interesting story about amatriciana -- the town of Amatrice is where the dish originated from.  Here's the purported authentic recipe:

Recipe for amatriciana, from the office of the mayor of Amatrice

Ingredients (for four people) 500g spaghetti, 125g guanciale (pork jowl) from Amatrice, a spoon of extra virgin olive oil, a drop of dry white wine, six or seven San Marzano tomatoes or 400g of canned peeled tomatoes, some chili, 100g of grated pecorino from Amatrice, salt.

Directions Place the oil, chili and guanciale, which you have to cut into small pieces, into an iron pan. It is a sacred tradition to use the soft part of the pork jowl, or else it is not an amatriciana. Only that way will it have a delicacy and sweetness that it unmatched. Sauté these ingredients in a pan. Add the wine.

Blanch the whole tomatoes so that you can easily remove the skin, and then quarter them, remove the seeds, and add to the pan. Alternatively, use the canned tomatoes. Season with salt and allow the sauce to cook over the heat for a few minutes.

In the meantime, boil salted water and cook the pasta until it is al dente, or still slightly firm. Drain and place in a bowl. Add the grated pecorino. Wait for a few seconds and then add the sauce to the bowl. If you wish, you can add more pecorino after it is served.

[dracisk]

Pictures show horrible devastation.  Never visited there but oh my it holds or held so much old architecture.  Very tragic.

Some older recipes focused on pancetta and red pepper flakes--> very peppery tomato sauce.  Very tasty.  Don't think I've had it with bucatini or ziti or tubular pasta.

That sauce was prevalent in NY area in my youth as I recall.

The footage of the 8-year-old girl being pulled out of the wreckage of her bedroom killed me.

[Lydia R]

Fabio Trabocchi's Facebook page posted:

"""All Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants donating $5 for every Pasta (shape may vary, bucatini, cavatelli, etc.) Amatriciana sold to the Italian Red Cross through the end of September."""

Food & Wine lists other restaurants (none in our area) also donating to earthquake relief. 

 

[DonRocks]

1 hour ago, Lydia R said:

Fabio Trabocchi's Facebook page posted:

"""All Fabio Trabocchi Restaurants donating $5 for every Pasta (shape may vary, bucatini, cavatelli, etc.) Amatriciana sold to the Italian Red Cross through the end of September."""

Food & Wine lists other restaurants (none in our area) also donating to earthquake relief. 

I thought Fabio might do something - he grew up less than 100 miles away as the crow flies.

 

[dcs]

As spied on ARLnow.com, Osteria da Nino in Shirlington is donating $10 to the Italian Red Cross for every Bucatini Amatriciana dish it sells.

[dcs]

... and for our friends in New York:  Pasta From New York Restaurants Aids in Earthquake Relief, by Florence Fabricant, August 26, 2016, on nytimes.com.