For my presentation I decided to make fettuccine Alfredo. It’s one of my favorite foods and when I read about its history I realized how interesting it is. The recipe is very simple and the ingredients are really easy to find. It takes less than 30 minutes to prepare this food. The food is quite heavy (because of the creme) so it can’t be eaten in large portions. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this recipe. But first of all, let’s take a look at the birth of this amazing dish.
Slide 2
There used to be a cooking book in 15th century in which there was a recipe named Maccheroni Romaneschi which is the original form of fettuccine Alfredo. The name of this food tells us of its Roman origin. Maccheroni Romaneschi means Macaroni the Roman way.
Slide 3
The inventor of this dish is called Alfredo Di Leilo. Accorfing to his biography, he had the passion of cooking since he was just a boy. He started making in way th ihe cooking business in 1908 when he joined their family restaurant in Rome. He made this food for the first time in 1914 in his own restaurant, Alfredo. He put his own name on the dish and it got famous worldwide. The recipe that Alfredo designed was so simple. The sauce only included butter, black pepper and parmesan. But when the dish made its way into other countries, more ingredients were added to it; ingredients like creme or creme cheese, different kinds of meat like chicken or shrimp, and also vegetables like mushrooms (the same as this recipe) or broccoli.
Slide 4
Alfredo has used the original recipe of “Macaroni the Roman way” and changed a few ingredients to make fettuccine Alfredo. These few changes have created something amazing and loved by so many people around the world. People used to go to his restaurant just to try this food. In the picture, you can see him standing in front of his restaurant in Rome.
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History has it that Alfredo’s wife was pregnant at the time of the invention of the dish and couldn’t eat anything. Alfredo decided to invent a healthy nutrient food for his wife to be able to eat. So he started making changes to the original recipe. He doubled the butter and added some ingredients. When his wife tried the food, she liked at and could keep it down. That was when Alfredo added the dish to his menu. It’s interesting to know that he made every single noodle with his hands.
One of the reasons why his restaurant got so popular is that he never got tired of working and he was extra enthusiast about his job.
In the picture, you see Sophia Lauren trying fettuccine Alfredo. It’s interesting to know that Sophia Lauren preferred tomato-based pasta sauces to heavy creamy ones. When she wanted to eat fettuccine Alfredo, she shared it with some friends. She said “if you stick to a healthy sauce, pasta is fine.”
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In addition to Sophia Lauren, lots of other important celebrities have visited Alfredo during the years following his success. One of those celebrities was John F. Kennedy.
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When Mary Pickford and her husband Douglas Fairbanks (famous actress and actor in silent movies) went to Alfredo’s in their honeymoon, they loved it. They awarded Alfredo with a golden spoon and fork. On these tablewares the words “ "to Alfredo the King of the noodles” are written. They also gave him a picture of them both to go on the wall. They recommended the restaurant to their friends so that they can enjoy it too. This made Alfredo super famous in a very short time.
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Here’s the list of the ingredients. 250 grams of dry fettuccine, one chicken breast that you’d better cut in half (it makes it easier to be cut into stripes.), one small onion that is going to take away the bad smell of chicken, some mushrooms that can vary in number depending on your own taste (I picked about 20). Two cloves of garlic which will give an incredible smell to the food. Two tablespoons of cream and finally two tablespoons of shredded or grated parmesan.
You also need salt and pepper to taste.
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The ingredients are all easy to find and not so expensive. You can find them in any supermarket.
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First you need to boil the fettuccines. I poured some water in a pot and added two spoons of oil and some salt. When the water boiled, I added the fettuccines and let them boil until they were soft and easy to chew.
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While I was waiting for the fettuccines to boil, I cut the chicken into stripes and fried them with the chopped garlic and some oil. I also added a little salt and pepper.
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Then I washed the mushrooms carefully and cut each one of them into four pieces. then I fried them with the chopped onions and some butter. (if the oil is hot enough, the mushrooms won’t get watery, which is better)
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Next, I added the mushrooms to the chickens and poured the creme to the pan. I looked too thick so I added some hot water. You can also add some milk to make it less thick.
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I waited 2 minutes for the creme to get hot enough. Then I added half of my cheese and stirred. The rest of the parmesan was for the top of the food.
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And here’s the final result.
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I had my family and friends taste the dish.
My mother thought it was too thick so she couldn’t even finish. I guess creamy foods are not for everyone.
My sister loved it. She said the best thing about it was the smell of the garlic.
she said she couldn’t get enough!
My father said it was weird to have cream in your food. But he didn’t hate it.
Slide 17
Unfortunately my friends had to try the food the day after it was cooked. It had sat in the fridge for nearly 18 hours. The cream had been absorbed by the fettuccines so the food was dry, but still tasty.
They all loved it but regretted the fact that it wasn’t freshly cooked. One of them said she would have liked it better if there was beef instead of chicken.
