PaulMB
pfm Member
Thanks, BTC3, very interesting and instructive, although perhaps a part of this history is speculative, given that hardly anybody could read or write. Your reference to someone chasing "the original" hits the nail on the head, since as you explain there is no such thing. I've noticed that Italians are not that bothered about things being "original" or "the real recipe," it is more an obsession among foreigners. In the aftermath of the Amatrice area earthquake, an American friend visited the area to write a "reconstruction and gastronomy" story for the NYT. He ate, I think it was 6 "amatricianas" in 4 days in 6 different places, and said that while guanciale was the preferred ingredient in some restaurants, it was pancetta in others. And that every person he spoke to had his/her formula for making "amatriciana."