Last week we were in Costa Rica and ate at a marvelous "hole in the wall" steak place. My youngest daughter ordered fetucinni alfredo and it was marvelous! We were all thrilled that she couldn't finish it because it was so good we all wanted some. It was like no fetucinni alfredo I've ever had...a thick, earthy sauce, with a few peas and thick sliced mushrooms.

Is that what fetucinni alfredo is "really" like in Italy, or did the chef just take liberties, with great results?

I've actually never found the American version of fettuccini alfredo anywhere in Italy. Admittedly I've only been four times, but my opinion has been that it is more American-Italian than pure Italian

Sounds a bit like carbonara sauce but without the meat. Was it still a white sauce or was it brown?

Hi M,

I checked my copy of "The Silver Spoon" to make sure.

There is no listing for "Alfredo sauce" or "fettucini Alfredo" or "Alfredo".

Although some writers believe that there is a fettucini Alfredo (butter pepper and Reggiano Parmesano) the dish you are thinking of is of Italian-American origin.

Come to think of it, it was a lot like carbonara sauce. It wasn't bright white - more like beige. Whatever it was, if you're ever in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, try some at El Novillo. I'm going to be craving it for some time.

Hi missypie,I have never had Fetucinni Alredo in Italy as we have here in the States either. Acutally I "think" I remember reading or hearing this dish was first prepared by Italian immigrants that came to San Francisco.

The Fetucinni I have had in Italy has been served with pesto or with butter and grated paresan cheese. In the region of Molise they also use sardines.

Out of curiosity I checked all my Italian cookbooks and not one had a receipe for the way it is prepared in the US or the way your daughters dish was served. It sounds yummy though!

HI MISSYPIE,
FETTUCCINE (AND NOT FETTUCINNI) IS A KIND OF PASTA AND IN ITALY THERE IS NOT ALFREDO FETTUCCINE. USUALLY PASTA JOINS VEGETABLES, MEAT, FISH AND CHEESE (PARMESAN CHEESE). ALFREDO'S FETTUCCINE MAYBE EXCELLENT BUT COME TO TRY ITALIAN PASTA DIRECTLY IN ITALY. IT IS WORTH IT.

BYE

Well, I've read in many places that the dish was originated by a chef named Alfredo in Rome early in the 20th century. His name was Alfredo Di Lelio or something similar, if memory serves There are two or more restaurants in Italy that claimed to be the direct descendents of the original (one was Alfredo alla Scrofa, which I think still exists) and have been fighting over this for years. The true fettucini Alfredo has only butter and chees--no veggies and no cream.

Hi KT,

>The true fettucini Alfredo has only butter and cheese--no veggies and no cream.<

Think about it for a bit. Some guy in the 20th Century invented pasta in a light butter sauce sprinkled with pepper and Parmegiano cheese?

There wasn't a single nonna who ever did this since before Caesar was born?

Since you're all so knowledgable, I'll ask another question. Is pesto in Italy made with walnuts or pine nuts or no nuts? Is it "pesto" in Italian, or some other word? I'm allergic to nuts, so I need to know to avoid it. Are there any traditional dishes that include pesto without mentioning it on the menu?

well, regardless of who Alfredo was (and I agree with the idea that inventing pasta with butter was not much of an invention), I've had fetucinni alfredo like that several times in the US, that doesn't seem so unusual to me (with peas, mushrooms and thick sauce).

In the US, that is just a base dish, and various restaurants add different things to it -- like vegetables or shrimp or something.

I've heard it is just pasta with creamy butter in Italy (at restaurant owned by Alfred diLalio from Google who says they invented it), but sprinkled with Parmesan. The only difference is the butter vs. sauce, and they have a different kind of butter in Italy.

Hello missypie, usually pesto has pinenuts although I have seen some receipes with walnuts. If you cannot eat nuts you should not eat pesto. Pesto is the Italian word. I cannot imagine a menu serving pasta with pesto that did not state so on the menu.

According to Marcella Hazan in her Classic Italian Cook Book, there was an Alfredo in Rome and he did use a gold fork and spoon to toss his cream, butter and cheese with pasta, serving it to the movie stars of the twenties and thirties.

Your dish sounds like one of the myriad updatings committed during the eighties in the name of "Northern Italian" cuisine. (Odd, since the dish is originally Roman and thus Southern Italian.)

Probably delicious. Enjoy it, no matter what its origins.

With regard to pesto, last week in Costa Rica we ordered a dish that said it had "basil", when in fact, it had pesto. The problem there, of course, was probably someone's translation of the menu from Spanish to English, but it did make me worry about ordering food in Italy. I guess I need to learn how to ask the question in Italian.

Hi M,
>Is pesto in Italy made with walnuts or pine nuts or no nuts?

Pesto means (more or less) "mashed".

It might or might not have nuts. YOu have to ask.

Many folks here have suggested making up a card that says in whatever language is necessary, "I am allergic to nuts. I cannot eat any kind of nuts or I will die. Does this dish have nuts?", and showing it to the waiter.

That is a good idea. Of course, I've encountered many clueless/uncaring waiters in the US, so it helps to know what dishes to possibly avoid, just in case.

My husband does not like pine nuts (don't ask me why as they are heavenly!). We were able to request pasta with pesto sauce without pine nuts in the Cinque Terre. I don't remember the exact phrase but it was something to the effect of "no pinolo, per favore"

if it helps, the Italian for pine nuts is pignoli.

I'm told that pesto originated in Liguria and traditionally contains basil, lightly toasted (or not) pine nuts, oil, salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. As the Italian friend person who told me that isn't a Ligurian, and in fact regards the Ligurians as a backward people, it may even be true.

In my experience many Italians will happily experiment with traditional dishes but scream blue murder the minute a non-Italian does - I don't take this "authenticity" thing too seriously.

Hi

Pesto is a combination of basil, olive oil and pine nuts. Combine in a food processor and serve with spaghetti or fettucchine. Here's is a recipe - http://www.waitrose.com/food_drink/r...306062-r04.asp

Buon appetito