Dec 09 2001
Alfredo
As promised, the charming storyette about the birth of fettucine Alfredo. Like most births, this was preceded by a pregnancy. The pregnancy of Roman restaurateur Alfredo di Lelio’s wife in 1914, to be precise. Signora di Lelio, like our friend Carrie, whose baby is due on Christmas Eve (but will he/she fit under the tree?), didn’t have much of an appetite during the first few months.
Now, this is something that no Italian, let alone a restaurant owner, likes to see. So Alfredo decided that he would invent a dish that his wife could not resist. So he went into the kitchen, mixed together Parmesan, butter and cream and put it on pasta. His wife loved it and legend says she cleaned her plate. Just a few months later, along came Alfredo II, born in the di Lelio’s apartment above their little restaurant. So that’s actually two births for one pregnancy. Not bad.
And PS: Alfredo’s restaurant is still there, owned and operated by Alfredo III, of course. So when in Rome…