Eat up your tomato bacon pasta to support Amatrice, the earthquake-stricken area in Italy
If the earth dragon had not turned over, the small mountain town of Amatrice in the Apennines would right now be wafting with fragrance, preparing to welcome tomorrow's 50th "Sagra degli Spaghetti all'Amatriciana." However, the earthquake in the early hours of August 24 nearly razed the mountain town to flat ground. The Slow Food organization launched the "un futuro per amatrice" campaign: for every plate of Amatriciana pasta a restaurant sells, it donates two euros to assist reconstruction.
photo credit: Spaghetti all’Amatriciana via photopin (license)
Amatriciana pasta, Taiwan's tomato bacon pasta
What is commonly known in Taiwan as "tomato bacon pasta" or "creamy bacon pasta" should originate from Amatriciana pasta. The so-called bacon is in fact smoked salted pork cheek that Italians call "guanciale."
Originally a simple dish that mountain shepherds ate to fill their bellies, it gained fame as people from Amatrice went to Rome to strive for a living, and today it is popular worldwide, with many variations appearing. To defend the traditional dish, the Amatrice municipal government even specially announced the required ingredients as: "guanciale," Pecorino cheese, tomato, chili, salt, black pepper, white wine, and Italian pasta.
When black pepper was still a luxury and tomato and chili had not yet come to Europe from the Americas, medieval shepherds of Amatrice simply mixed guanciale and Pecorino into the pasta. This minimalist version is "Amatriciana bianca" (white Amatriciana), which Romans call "gricia," originally meaning bread and food peddlers.
This humble food showcases the ingenuity of Italian farmers, who "change when poor, and through change find a way," making something delicious with simple ingredients in harsh conditions.
The Apennine range is steep, making cultivation difficult, and it is also very hard to graze large, sturdy cattle. Nimble sheep and goats are the main livestock, so locally it is sheep's milk cheese that goes into the dish. As for the cut of meat taken along the pig's throat to the cheek, salted, smoked and then air-dried, "guanciale" is the earlier poor people's clever use of an unappealing cut of pork plus preservation techniques, so that all year round they could taste the flavor of meat and supplement protein.
Because ingredients are limited, the Apennine mountain people around Amatrice are famous for being skilled at using spices and herbs to season and add color. More is not necessarily better. Local restaurant chef Giulia Perilli emphasizes in her recipe: "Absolutely no garlic or onion may be added," for one extra flavor and it is no longer Amatriciana pasta.
Restaurants across Italy and around the world have successively joined the "un futuro per amatrice" campaign, so that Amatriciana pasta can be enjoyed everywhere. But what everyone sincerely hopes for is the rebirth of Amatrice, and to once again soon taste the authentic flavor cooked by local people.
Restaurants interested in joining can write to: [email protected]
To donate directly, the Amatrice municipal government remittance account
IBAN: IT 28 M 08327 73470 000000006000
Swift Code: ROMAITRR