Hi Alex!! The history of Fettuccine Alfredo in my family started with my grandfather, son of Italians but born in Brazil. When he was in Rome he went to meet the famous Fettuccine Alfredo and fell in love with the dish. He tried to reproduce without success here in Brazil. My father and my aunt, after tasting my grandfather's experiences so much, when they went to Rome, they went to Afredo's and tasted the much talked about dish. Needless to mention, they also fell in love with the dish and tried, unsuccessfully, to replicate it too. After eating the Fettucini Alfredo experiences made by my father, my aunt and my grandfather, I ended up going to Rome to try this mystical dish. There I told this story of my family to the waiter who promptly invited me to see the preparation in the kitchen. There I saw the simplicity of the dish and when I returned to Brazil, I immediately decided to try to reproduce it for my family. This time I was finally successful because I did it with the same simplicity as it was done in the restaurant. For every 100g of Pasta, use 25g of butter and 50g of Parmesan. Add the cooking water and mix. Then the famous Fettuccini is ready. The secret is to use Parmesan, butter and good quality paste. Mix in a hot dish and don't forget to add the cooking water. This is essential for the cream to be made. Hug, Fred Samarane
As a chef who has worked in a few Michelin star kitchens in the UK (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and Le Gavroche just to name a couple ive worked in) i can honeslty say that your passion for food is inspiring and infectious and i cant recommend it highly enough to anybody who loves food and wants to know more about great food and work that goes into making it Keep up the great work Merci Alex
Hi Alex, my name is Leonardo, I'm Brazilian and I love your youtube channel. First to say that as a pasta lover I've already traveled to Japan and I didn't miss the opportunity to eat all the ramen I could. And today I'm fulfilling a big dream I just landed in Rome and I hope to go to Luciano's restaurant and after your video yesterday at Alfredo's. Thank you for your incredible work. Salut!
@@Kitkatrey it was incredible especially at Luciano, where I could meet him and take a picture with him. All service, food and wine was an amazing experience.
Alex, if you walk a few doors down from La Scrofa, you find Ristorante La Campana, the oldest restaurant in Rome (500 years old), and it is one of the best.
I came back to this video for no reason.. to be amazed again how beautiful it is made! Story with suprises, educational notes, fitting music, no-nonsense editing, all in a "this is the world we live in, wow"-style. The most unbelievable thing is how the background noise of the restaurant is part of the atmosphere building, done really well thoughout the entire video 👌
I'm italian and i had it many times, and i think it's called "Alfredo" only in the US and in Rome because i always heard it call and called it "pasta al burro".
@@AMTunLimited you know parmesan goes everywhere You can call it “pasta al burro” or “pasta burro e parmigiano” but you will always add parmesan cheese 😂
@@AMTunLimited The pasta al burro I grew up with always had cheese. The butter is melted not emulsified, and there is not nearly so much as Alfredo. I'm Italian American and my relatives in Italy make it the same way. FWIW. I'm sure it varies by region.
I’ve been watching a ton of cooking shows and one of the lessons i learned was about to adding ingredients to counter the others. That really helped me improve some of my recipes but it’s also nice to remember that sometimes you DON’T want something to have all the flavors. Sometimes you DON’T want that contrast. Sometimes simple is best.
Thank you Alex! I've been trying to make OG fettuccine Alfredo for a while now. Butter first then hot pasta fresh from the very starchy water. lastly the parmesian regano was the trick i learned from them/you. Side note, those cutlery are solid Gold! thank you again!!
Actually is superfamous but it's a homemade pasta (called "burro e parmigiano", very quick to do), Alfredo simply added more butter and parmesan (of highest quality) and (of course) the "mantecatura" (i.e. what it does to create the cream). Basically it's a very simple dish which, if made with excellent ingredients, is good (he has only made it more fancy, 'cause the restaurant, I think to impress the tourists). Sure, it has nothing to do with the version exported to the US (by two famous actors of the 30s), in America they added everything in the recipe, I think because not having high quality Parmesan and butter, the pasta was not very good, probably it had very different flavors from those tasted in Rome, bland and flat maybe? But this is my personal idea. Sorry for my English, ciao (as usual it's a pleasure to watch your videos). 🍺
@@Dreyno You're not the first to say that, although I think many do it to be nice (like you actually, thanks), I'm starting to believe it. 😄 Back to "seriousness", if what I write is (sufficiently) clear, credit has to be extended to Google translate, because my English is basic and it helps me. 👍🍺
@@lazios not to be mean, you seem like you always strive to be better - david was right, it's _pretty much_ perfect. You're just missing a few words here and there; things like "It is actually super famous but it's a homemade pasta" for example. Even the best translators (AI ones anyway) won't catch grammar. Sadly the only way to get better with grammar is to learn and use it (although, I know plenty of people who's first language is English and even they can't - or won't - use 'perfect' grammar). Either way, you're doing really well, practice always helps and being willing to ask if you're confused will go a long way :)
This dish is my favorite, I like it plain and simple (to American standards), I can’t wait for you to tackle it on your own, I will definitely be watching, and try to replicate the Roman way the dish is made. Thank you for all your great videos.
As a dish it's meant to be conforting because it was inspired by the traditional "pasta in bianco" (usually not fresh egg pasta though) that we make when someone is sick, Alfredo made it for his wife with this kind of variation when she was sick and after he though of serving it in the restaurant
I knew what was in the box and holy hell, I do believe Alex was just bestowed the highest honor that restaurant can give. Those may be the same cutlery which set the restaurant's tableside pasta into the realm of opulence. Edit: Not the original, perhaps, but it's somehow an even greater honor knowing it was a gift.
I was about to say it, i'm pretty sure those were replicas; there's no way they would allow anyone to eat using those priceless, gold-plated, history-bound cutleries. In all honesty, i have no idea how does one even wash that kind of dish '-'
At the around 6min mark, I paused the video, went downstairs to the kitchen, mixed an egg and flour, pushed it through the pasta roller, and reproduced the few simple steps i saw here with freshly grated Parmigiano... came back less than 10min later with a plate that looked identical to Alex' and it was EPICAL. Edit: The "what could possibly go wrong" -I am not so sure if the worry is too warrented here. I do have to say that I am a pretty experienced cook, espeically when it comes to procedures to create emulsions and other more delicately balanced states, however, this seemed really pretty straight forward. I just eyeball followed what they did on screen, it looked like a carbon copy of the plate Alex ate and the taste and texture were incredible and also exactly as Alex described. I guess the biggest danger is if your pasta water is so thinned out that it has no starch to aid the emulsion, you make a so small amount that it cools down too fast or you use finely pre-grated cheese that contains essentially sawdust that will not emulsify properly. So if you keep the portion big enough to keep the heat stable, you use a VERY small amount of water (just enough to absorb the pasta and also coat the pasta well with flour) to get very starchy water, mix it all, balance salt in the water and it will be amazing.
You can actually make a pot of starch water by boiling pasta until it dissolves, let cool, stir it up, put in ice cube trays and freeze, then keep the cubes in a bag in your freezer, anytime you need some starch water thickener, presto..
I would love this! I love love love silky soft eggs pasta. My grandmother used to make pasta here in the states without the semolina and it was so silky soft. Oh that sauce look sooo amazing.
Traditionally, we Italians prepare this dish for someone who may have an upset stomach, as pasta "burro e parmigiano" is much more gentle on the digestive system than say an acidic tomato based sauce. It's interesting to see how such a simple dish has had such a global impact.
...I mean, you are correct in saying that "pasta Alfredo" is almost unknown here in Italy, but that is only the name, the dish itself is actually pretty common (usually given to kids when they're sick), most people call it "pasta burro e parmigiano" (butter parmesan pasta)... Personally I love it even when I'm healthy, especially with some freshly grinded black pepper on top! The restaurant as usual for tourists trap uses a very gimmicky way to prepare it, in reality the main thing to make it creamy is to mix it vigorously so as to properly emulsify the parmesan, the butter and the starchy pasta water...
While it is certainly for show and likely not the best possible way, if they have done that in this way for such a long time it is more than "a tourist trap" in my mind, or am i missing something? But it would be interesting to compare this dish with "pasta burro" in other highly appreciated italian restaurants.
It’s more fun to hear people who can’t boil water lecture you about a dish you ate every time you got sick as a child. I don’t know why UA-cam thinks it’s necessary to make fifty thousand videos about emulsifying pasta sauces. My mother has no idea it was such a fancy technique when she did it every time she made a white sauce.
One of the most important UA-cams I've ever seen! The gold utensils gifted by Fairbanks/Pickford, two very influential celebrities of their day, validate the authenticity of this simple dish. Without the utensils, this culinary example would be just another interpretation, albeit, nevertheless from Alfredo's ristorante. By the way, where are your Gallic companions, Asterix and Obelix? I expected them to show up at this most important Roman dinner table.
I’m currently studying abroad in Rome, so it’s cool to see you do a video here!! This video is making me crave some Fettuccine Alfredo now 🤤, I think I now know what I’m doing for dinner haha.
Respecting the purity of how something was designed to be, and then imitating that pure design in its simplicity is what you do best and what I need most in my life. Honestly, @alex and @frenchguycooking I appreciate your commitment to doing it right and showing us how to do it right.
Alex, you are a very inspiring person. Thank you for videos. You share your experiences and make us want to do more, to do better. Maybe you could come to Brazil. I am sure you will be surprised with the people and the country. All sorts of good food. From small villages to big cities. If you consider this ideia, I would love to help you to come to Brazil.
The pasta we eat as kids when we are sick, and as adults when we are lazy. Spaghetti (or whatever you have at home, really), a bit of butter and parmesan.
I loved this episode. I love fettuccini alfredo. I can't wait to see you make it. I always have it the American way, because I'm American, but I would love to try making it the original way.
Alex, please make a "Salud to 'insert location here' - Alex" series. I love your growth and always support your channel. Been here since your Jamie Oliver days
In Rome we call it "pasta burro e parmigiano" or "la pasta dei cornuti". The reason is simple, in the family only the man worked and left his wife to take care of the house (not that much has changed...), if when he came back he found such a simple dish, evidently the wife had had "other things to do" during the day, then "the pasta of cuckolds".
I think the one thing to be taken from this episode for the ramen series is simplicity. Focus on just a few ingredients, aim for harmony between them and get all the little details such as temperature, timing and so on right.
Your cacio e pepe video (and all my attempts) made me understand what I was missing when making pasta, thus, this dish, which is as simple as cacio e pepe, made me intrigued what I will discover on the road to make it. Keep it up, Alex, you get the spirit of this art.
1:48 You are correct. A lot of Italians think Fettucini alfredo is an American dish. To be fair, our version of this dish adds a lot of unnecessary ingredients that diminish the flavor of the Parmigiano. I worked at one restaurant in America that had a (ahem) Frenchified version with heavy cream and tempered egg.
It's truly disappointing what is sold as 'alfredo sauce' in American stores. I can get behind some of the tomato sauces, as tomato sauces are usually made from canned tomatoes anyway, but to heat a parmigianno to canning temperatures is a sin, and requires so much emulsifier that the entirety of the funk and bite is lost. And then they throw in cream to dilute it further. I, too, have made restaurant 'alfredo sauce'. I refused to call it as such and instead called it 'white sauce'.
Every time I watch your videos, I just feel so hungry and feel like cooking! But then I realise, you'll talk about making the pasta yourself, maybe even making the butter yourself etc. and I probably won't be making pasta nor butter! But I will definitely want to try this.
Sono italiano e confesso di non avere mai mangiato questa pasta. Credo sia più diffusa nella cultura italo-omerica che, con l'Italia, ha poco a che fare. In USA gli italo-americani hanno creato una tradizione tutta loro, un misto di ricordi della fine del secolo e gusti propriamente americani. La proverò. Grazie per il tuo lavoro e passione.
This is one of those dishes, where the ingredients really speak for themselves. Where the butter matters, the cheese matters, and it wouldn't all come together if that pasta water pot wasn't constantly simmering away, cooking serving after serving of pasta.
That's italian cooking in a nutshell. Every ingredient is intentional and technique can make or brake the dish. I'm south Asian and in south Asian cuisine it's almost the complete opposite philosophy. It's lots of spices and no specific ingredient takes center stage. I like to say South Asian food is like an orchestra where Italian food is like a small ensemble.
Fork in dominant hand and spoon is second hand you take some noodles with fork and twirl them in the spoon then proceed to eat. This prevent scratches to plates and controlling how much you want at once very well.
To me the funniest thing is that for decades all of my Italian friends insist that Alfredo is NOT and Italian dish. I'm also cracking up that you don't know who Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks is. The more you know...
Fettuccine Alfredo is a dish that originated with two ingredients (butter and parmigiano reggiano). Once arrived in America, the Americans then in their “American way” (but also in other countries) added several other things, changing the original and authentic dish, somewhat as was also the case with some other Italian dishes. However in Italy it is known simply as “fettuccine burro e parmigiano”.
I've seen this in other videos, and I would certainly give it a try as we don't produce the dish in this manner here in the U.S. It's interesting to see how they use the butter, and especially the water with the dish. It does look "mushy" a bit, so I'm very curious how it feels, and tastes.
Nice video. Jacques is a truly nice guy. I have played "boules" as he says in the video with him many times, petanque is the name of the sport. He now lives on Amelia Island, FL home of the largest petanque tournament in the USA in mid November each year. Jacques still participates. Great Chef, Great guy, great omelets :-)
Being an expat living in the US for many years, I can confirm that Alfredo sauce is really different. I never liked it. Some restaurants add some sauce Béchamel to the sauce... I miss the Alfredo that I ate back in Switzerland (we had so many Italian restaurants). But thanks to your video, I may give another chance and go to Musso & Franks here in LA! Or just buy some decent Parmesan and use some Irish butter...
I'm Swedish, when I was little my very Swedish grandfather used to make this, the cheese used was aged cheese that gone dry in the fridge. It was just called Butter pasta. I still do it -
I love this dish. It was one of the first I learned how to make growing up. In the US we call it butter noodles and it's incredibly easy to make in the microwave *gasp*! It also tastes great using leftover noodles. The microwave version: Take plain leftover noodles from a previous dinner, put chunks of butter on the noodles, throw in microwave until butter is 90% melted, then put lots of cheese, mix it up. While I default to reggiano, this dish works surprisingly well with American Powdered Parm. It's a quick 60 second meal and super tasty. (Ofc you can make it fresh too like in the video.) Butter noodles is one of my staple dishes at home when I'm tasting a new fresh noodles I made. It's a great way to test your noodles, and an excuse to eat the dish.
Wow this is wild! I’m from Canada and “fettuccine Alfredo” is super common here, but I’ve only seen people make it by making a roux sauce with flour and butter, then adding cream or milk! I had no idea this wasn’t the original way!
I agree that the name "Fettuccine Alfredo" and its specific preparation aren't as well-known in Italy. While many people on UA-cam have likely encountered the recipe, a simpler pasta dish with the same basic ingredients (butter and Parmigiano Reggiano) is a common favorite from the Alps to Sicily. We call it "pasta burro e parmigiano." It's also known as "La pasta dei cornuti" (The Cheating Wife Pasta) because its quick preparation time (about the same it takes to cook the pasta) would allow an unfaithful wife who spent the morning with her lover to still serve her unsuspecting husband a delicious meal.
At this point Alex is on a mission to go everywhere, except Japan for the ramen series
tbf when you live in paris then italy is right next door
😂 I am afraid so ! Truth be told, I can't wait to go to Japan (and I eventually will), but my personal situation doesn't allow it right now. Patience
@@FrenchGuyCooking if i mus be patient, then i will!
It would be the world's hardest task to cover ramen in Japan, it's like covering Macdonald's in America.
@@FrenchGuyCooking No problem just continue to do your thing, please.
Hi Alex!! The history of Fettuccine Alfredo in my family started with my grandfather, son of Italians but born in Brazil. When he was in Rome he went to meet the famous Fettuccine Alfredo and fell in love with the dish. He tried to reproduce without success here in Brazil. My father and my aunt, after tasting my grandfather's experiences so much, when they went to Rome, they went to Afredo's and tasted the much talked about dish. Needless to mention, they also fell in love with the dish and tried, unsuccessfully, to replicate it too.
After eating the Fettucini Alfredo experiences made by my father, my aunt and my grandfather, I ended up going to Rome to try this mystical dish.
There I told this story of my family to the waiter who promptly invited me to see the preparation in the kitchen. There I saw the simplicity of the dish and when I returned to Brazil, I immediately decided to try to reproduce it for my family.
This time I was finally successful because I did it with the same simplicity as it was done in the restaurant.
For every 100g of Pasta, use 25g of butter and 50g of Parmesan. Add the cooking water and mix. Then the famous Fettuccini is ready.
The secret is to use Parmesan, butter and good quality paste. Mix in a hot dish and don't forget to add the cooking water. This is essential for the cream to be made.
Hug,
Fred Samarane
Lovely story, I felt like I was there when reading it 👀 Thank You for the recipe! 🔥
How much pasta water?
@@xlilsasuke4x as much as it needs.
@@xlilsasuke4x til it’s creamy ofc
Amazing story, thanks for sharing :)
As a chef who has worked in a few Michelin star kitchens in the UK (Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons and Le Gavroche just to name a couple ive worked in) i can honeslty say that your passion for food is inspiring and infectious and i cant recommend it highly enough to anybody who loves food and wants to know more about great food and work that goes into making it
Keep up the great work
Merci Alex
nice wee flex there, especially le gavroche (always been a fan of michel roux jr) now I'm just jealous you got to meet (and work) with him!
@@MaxRide1he probably worked as a waiter or busboy 😂
I love it when Alex says something in French. Some emotions can only be expressed in your native language.
His reactions to it were hilarious
Though his intonations in english are often times a lot more impressive than with native english speakers.
I thought he was Italian the first vid I watched! Hehehehe ;)
Hi Alex, my name is Leonardo, I'm Brazilian and I love your youtube channel. First to say that as a pasta lover I've already traveled to Japan and I didn't miss the opportunity to eat all the ramen I could. And today I'm fulfilling a big dream I just landed in Rome and I hope to go to Luciano's restaurant and after your video yesterday at Alfredo's. Thank you for your incredible work. Salut!
I’m so jealous as I want to travel to Rome as well to go to these same two restaurants!
@@Kitkatrey it was incredible especially at Luciano, where I could meet him and take a picture with him. All service, food and wine was an amazing experience.
I like that Alex celebrates such simple food, just done well, rather than crap ton of ingredients and complicated process
I would say that's the base of Italian cuisine: simple food just done well.
@@Alain.Robert When you have quality ingredients, you don't have to overcomplicate it to make it taste good.
@@IronFreee it's easier in a warm climate like Italy where access to fresh ingredients was year round.
Hilarious, he's currently doing a ramen series, which is extremely complicated with many steps and ingredients....
@@Swedishchef99 He is probably looking for some ingredient.
Alex, if you walk a few doors down from La Scrofa, you find Ristorante La Campana, the oldest restaurant in Rome (500 years old), and it is one of the best.
I will add that to my Rome Restaurant List!
Thanks! Been there twice in the last 6 months, but I'll try it next time for sure.
I came back to this video for no reason.. to be amazed again how beautiful it is made!
Story with suprises, educational notes, fitting music, no-nonsense editing, all in a "this is the world we live in, wow"-style.
The most unbelievable thing is how the background noise of the restaurant is part of the atmosphere building, done really well thoughout the entire video 👌
I'm italian and i had it many times, and i think it's called "Alfredo" only in the US and in Rome because i always heard it call and called it "pasta al burro".
I thought pasta al burro is *just* butter, no cheese?
@@AMTunLimited you know parmesan goes everywhere
You can call it “pasta al burro” or “pasta burro e parmigiano” but you will always add parmesan cheese 😂
@@francescoenriquez765 exacly
@@francescoenriquez765 > it's Italian, just assume it has cheese in it
Completely valid
@@AMTunLimited The pasta al burro I grew up with always had cheese. The butter is melted not emulsified, and there is not nearly so much as Alfredo. I'm Italian American and my relatives in Italy make it the same way. FWIW. I'm sure it varies by region.
I love Alex’s passion for food. It goes to show you that no matter what your life situation is, you can find something to keep you motivated.
I’ve been watching a ton of cooking shows and one of the lessons i learned was about to adding ingredients to counter the others. That really helped me improve some of my recipes but it’s also nice to remember that sometimes you DON’T want something to have all the flavors. Sometimes you DON’T want that contrast. Sometimes simple is best.
Thank you Alex! I've been trying to make OG fettuccine Alfredo for a while now. Butter first then hot pasta fresh from the very starchy water. lastly the parmesian regano was the trick i learned from them/you. Side note, those cutlery are solid Gold! thank you again!!
Actually is superfamous but it's a homemade pasta (called "burro e parmigiano", very quick to do), Alfredo simply added more butter and parmesan (of highest quality) and (of course) the "mantecatura" (i.e. what it does to create the cream).
Basically it's a very simple dish which, if made with excellent ingredients, is good (he has only made it more fancy, 'cause the restaurant, I think to impress the tourists).
Sure, it has nothing to do with the version exported to the US (by two famous actors of the 30s), in America they added everything in the recipe, I think because not having high quality Parmesan and butter, the pasta was not very good, probably it had very different flavors from those tasted in Rome, bland and flat maybe? But this is my personal idea.
Sorry for my English, ciao (as usual it's a pleasure to watch your videos). 🍺
Sorry for your English? 😂 It’s pretty much perfect.
@@Dreyno You're not the first to say that, although I think many do it to be nice (like you actually, thanks), I'm starting to believe it. 😄
Back to "seriousness", if what I write is (sufficiently) clear, credit has to be extended to Google translate, because my English is basic and it helps me. 👍🍺
@@lazios use deepl. A hundred times better than google translate.
@@lorenzofurnari I used Reverso sometimes but not this one (I will try it anyway).
@@lazios not to be mean, you seem like you always strive to be better - david was right, it's _pretty much_ perfect. You're just missing a few words here and there; things like "It is actually super famous but it's a homemade pasta" for example. Even the best translators (AI ones anyway) won't catch grammar. Sadly the only way to get better with grammar is to learn and use it (although, I know plenty of people who's first language is English and even they can't - or won't - use 'perfect' grammar). Either way, you're doing really well, practice always helps and being willing to ask if you're confused will go a long way :)
You understand so much italian spirit and you respect so much our culture. Thanks Alex!
Nice taste in music. Loved the ravel string quartet in the background
Nice to know that you're friends with the Italy Squisita crew. I watch all of their content as I do with yours.
This was awesome. The history of fettuccine Alfredo was always shrouded in mystery for me.
This dish is my favorite, I like it plain and simple (to American standards), I can’t wait for you to tackle it on your own, I will definitely be watching, and try to replicate the Roman way the dish is made. Thank you for all your great videos.
As a dish it's meant to be conforting because it was inspired by the traditional "pasta in bianco" (usually not fresh egg pasta though) that we make when someone is sick, Alfredo made it for his wife with this kind of variation when she was sick and after he though of serving it in the restaurant
I knew what was in the box and holy hell, I do believe Alex was just bestowed the highest honor that restaurant can give. Those may be the same cutlery which set the restaurant's tableside pasta into the realm of opulence. Edit: Not the original, perhaps, but it's somehow an even greater honor knowing it was a gift.
I was about to say it, i'm pretty sure those were replicas; there's no way they would allow anyone to eat using those priceless, gold-plated, history-bound cutleries. In all honesty, i have no idea how does one even wash that kind of dish '-'
@@pedropohren By hand, with a mild detergent.
I love your videos about those "simple" italian pasta dishes. They are something special :)
At the around 6min mark, I paused the video, went downstairs to the kitchen, mixed an egg and flour, pushed it through the pasta roller, and reproduced the few simple steps i saw here with freshly grated Parmigiano... came back less than 10min later with a plate that looked identical to Alex' and it was EPICAL.
Edit: The "what could possibly go wrong" -I am not so sure if the worry is too warrented here. I do have to say that I am a pretty experienced cook, espeically when it comes to procedures to create emulsions and other more delicately balanced states, however, this seemed really pretty straight forward. I just eyeball followed what they did on screen, it looked like a carbon copy of the plate Alex ate and the taste and texture were incredible and also exactly as Alex described. I guess the biggest danger is if your pasta water is so thinned out that it has no starch to aid the emulsion, you make a so small amount that it cools down too fast or you use finely pre-grated cheese that contains essentially sawdust that will not emulsify properly. So if you keep the portion big enough to keep the heat stable, you use a VERY small amount of water (just enough to absorb the pasta and also coat the pasta well with flour) to get very starchy water, mix it all, balance salt in the water and it will be amazing.
There’s also a temperature happy medium. Too hot and the cheese breaks. A much bigger problem with cacio e pepe due to the lower fat content.
The added flour to keep fresh pasta free from sticking after you cut it helps too, which dry pasta doesn’t have..
Wonderful. Sweet simplicity!
It's kinda incredible just how little ingredients are in such a Iconic Dish made at the Restaurant
Proves yet again that simplicity equals felicity.
That one pot of pasta water is a thing to behold…
People throw it away like nothing but boiling water contains all the goodness.
Truly, how they manage a boil with such starchy water and so little foam is a mystery.
You can actually make a pot of starch water by boiling pasta until it dissolves, let cool, stir it up, put in ice cube trays and freeze, then keep the cubes in a bag in your freezer, anytime you need some starch water thickener, presto..
@@christopherkarr1872 little butter or oil in the water.
@@johncspine2787 Or just use some wheat flour and do it the right way. But what am I? A chef? Oh - that's right. Yeah, I am.
@@johncspine2787 True, but let's just rest in awe as opposed to being reasonable.
I would love this!
I love love love silky soft eggs pasta. My grandmother used to make pasta here in the states without the semolina and it was so silky soft. Oh that sauce look sooo amazing.
Traditionally, we Italians prepare this dish for someone who may have an upset stomach, as pasta "burro e parmigiano" is much more gentle on the digestive system than say an acidic tomato based sauce. It's interesting to see how such a simple dish has had such a global impact.
Alex, when it comes to making genuine foods, it is great to enjoy the small things in life and the effort necessary to achieve that.
...I mean, you are correct in saying that "pasta Alfredo" is almost unknown here in Italy, but that is only the name, the dish itself is actually pretty common (usually given to kids when they're sick), most people call it "pasta burro e parmigiano" (butter parmesan pasta)... Personally I love it even when I'm healthy, especially with some freshly grinded black pepper on top!
The restaurant as usual for tourists trap uses a very gimmicky way to prepare it, in reality the main thing to make it creamy is to mix it vigorously so as to properly emulsify the parmesan, the butter and the starchy pasta water...
While it is certainly for show and likely not the best possible way, if they have done that in this way for such a long time it is more than "a tourist trap" in my mind, or am i missing something? But it would be interesting to compare this dish with "pasta burro" in other highly appreciated italian restaurants.
It’s more fun to hear people who can’t boil water lecture you about a dish you ate every time you got sick as a child. I don’t know why UA-cam thinks it’s necessary to make fifty thousand videos about emulsifying pasta sauces. My mother has no idea it was such a fancy technique when she did it every time she made a white sauce.
Overcooked fresh pasta a nice mappazzone
Brought back memories, I was here with my dear friend in 2016, sadly he passed away in 2022.
One of the most important UA-cams I've ever seen! The gold utensils gifted by Fairbanks/Pickford, two very influential celebrities of their day, validate the authenticity of this simple dish. Without the utensils, this culinary example would be just another interpretation, albeit, nevertheless from Alfredo's ristorante.
By the way, where are your Gallic companions, Asterix and Obelix? I expected them to show up at this most important Roman dinner table.
I’m currently studying abroad in Rome, so it’s cool to see you do a video here!! This video is making me crave some Fettuccine Alfredo now 🤤, I think I now know what I’m doing for dinner haha.
a fully grown adult trying for the first time a dish I grew up with my mom making, but from the establishment of it's origin, fantastic
Respecting the purity of how something was designed to be, and then imitating that pure design in its simplicity is what you do best and what I need most in my life. Honestly, @alex and @frenchguycooking I appreciate your commitment to doing it right and showing us how to do it right.
Alex, you are a very inspiring person. Thank you for videos. You share your experiences and make us want to do more, to do better. Maybe you could come to Brazil. I am sure you will be surprised with the people and the country. All sorts of good food. From small villages to big cities. If you consider this ideia, I would love to help you to come to Brazil.
such beautiful work!
Thanks Alex for all these ideas about the dish! Very inspiring!
This story explains a lot, bravo et merciiii Alex!
As always a fantastic video!
It is nice to know about from the source. ThanksAlex!
The pasta we eat as kids when we are sick, and as adults when we are lazy. Spaghetti (or whatever you have at home, really), a bit of butter and parmesan.
Beautiful! Thanks, as always, Alex!
Wish I knew you were in Rome! I was there at the same time but didn't have this amazing meal. Cheers
Sometimes less is more… the technic is also one of the most important aspects.
Alex, you never fail to teach me something new. Thank you 🙂
One of my favorite restaurant when I was living in Rome!
I have to stop watching Alex at 3 in the morning... Now my ramen is almost ready
I loved this episode. I love fettuccini alfredo. I can't wait to see you make it. I always have it the American way, because I'm American, but I would love to try making it the original way.
Alex, please make a "Salud to 'insert location here' - Alex" series. I love your growth and always support your channel. Been here since your Jamie Oliver days
In Rome we call it "pasta burro e parmigiano" or "la pasta dei cornuti". The reason is simple, in the family only the man worked and left his wife to take care of the house (not that much has changed...), if when he came back he found such a simple dish, evidently the wife had had "other things to do" during the day, then "the pasta of cuckolds".
Love this video!
I love the way you perfectly use italian words while speaking in english
I think the one thing to be taken from this episode for the ramen series is simplicity. Focus on just a few ingredients, aim for harmony between them and get all the little details such as temperature, timing and so on right.
Your cacio e pepe video (and all my attempts) made me understand what I was missing when making pasta, thus, this dish, which is as simple as cacio e pepe, made me intrigued what I will discover on the road to make it. Keep it up, Alex, you get the spirit of this art.
it's "cacio" but whatever
How amazing to eat it in the place they invented it! Looks tasty.
The cheeky joy and adventurous glint in your eyes as you eat it off the spoon after saying your probably not supposed to 😅 😎🙏😊
1:48
You are correct. A lot of Italians think Fettucini alfredo is an American dish.
To be fair, our version of this dish adds a lot of unnecessary ingredients that diminish the flavor of the Parmigiano. I worked at one restaurant in America that had a (ahem) Frenchified version with heavy cream and tempered egg.
It's truly disappointing what is sold as 'alfredo sauce' in American stores. I can get behind some of the tomato sauces, as tomato sauces are usually made from canned tomatoes anyway, but to heat a parmigianno to canning temperatures is a sin, and requires so much emulsifier that the entirety of the funk and bite is lost. And then they throw in cream to dilute it further.
I, too, have made restaurant 'alfredo sauce'. I refused to call it as such and instead called it 'white sauce'.
Beautiful video!
Every time I watch your videos, I just feel so hungry and feel like cooking! But then I realise, you'll talk about making the pasta yourself, maybe even making the butter yourself etc. and I probably won't be making pasta nor butter! But I will definitely want to try this.
When there is so few items on the ingredient list, the quality of them is paramount.
man I really love your vids, wish it was longer
"What can go wrong?" basicly the begining of every 10 episode serries Alex ever made
Sono italiano e confesso di non avere mai mangiato questa pasta.
Credo sia più diffusa nella cultura italo-omerica che, con l'Italia, ha poco a che fare.
In USA gli italo-americani hanno creato una tradizione tutta loro, un misto di ricordi della fine del secolo e gusti propriamente americani.
La proverò. Grazie per il tuo lavoro e passione.
Fascinating. I never thought it was so simple
Thanks Alex for again introducing me to something new. Look forward to trying this.
Musso & Frank is one of the most iconic restaurants in LA, and many, many classic movies were conceived of there over lunch and martinis.
that's the pasta we eat when we are sick :) kids are grown with pasta butter and cheese :)
This is one of those dishes, where the ingredients really speak for themselves. Where the butter matters, the cheese matters, and it wouldn't all come together if that pasta water pot wasn't constantly simmering away, cooking serving after serving of pasta.
That's italian cooking in a nutshell. Every ingredient is intentional and technique can make or brake the dish.
I'm south Asian and in south Asian cuisine it's almost the complete opposite philosophy. It's lots of spices and no specific ingredient takes center stage. I like to say South Asian food is like an orchestra where Italian food is like a small ensemble.
5:06 "a pretty good amount, like a French amount [of butter]"
Such a perfect description of the appropriate amount of butter 🤣
Alex, no fettucine alla alfredo should have cream. Period. Glad you put out the video that clarifies this!
This video paired perfectly with your cacio e pepe one Alex!🎉🎉🎉🎉
I was really taken aback by how they make it. Did not expect it to be made table side
Fork in dominant hand and spoon is second hand you take some noodles with fork and twirl them in the spoon then proceed to eat. This prevent scratches to plates and controlling how much you want at once very well.
Hey Alex, ça fait quelques années que je regarde tes vidéos, et à chaque fois c'est un vrai plaisir ! :-)
Alex, your beginning took the words right out of my mouth.
I am smiling from ear to ear. To get _Fettuccine Alfredo_ in *Rome* must be truly breathtaking.
One of my favorite dishes. Simple with a deep flavor. I must try to make that.
"Fettucini alfredo is macaroni and cheese for adults." - Mitch Hedberg.
It’s sooo good when it’s made the correct way!❤
Ive eaten there. It is such a good experience and very affordable. Split the fetuccine with an entrecote there and it was amazing.
The hand gesture at 2:25 ; Like a true Italian
Love the video Alex. Did you ever solve the mystery to stopping your dried pasta from breaking in the pasta series?
I like how you greeted him like 🤌
Your videos always inspire me to want to go to the kitchen and start cooking. Love the videos mate
To me the funniest thing is that for decades all of my Italian friends insist that Alfredo is NOT and Italian dish. I'm also cracking up that you don't know who Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks is.
The more you know...
If you ask the Italians they are still of the same opinion, this is a marketing operation of a single individual
Worth it if only for Alex to learn about Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks.
Fettuccine Alfredo is a dish that originated with two ingredients (butter and parmigiano reggiano). Once arrived in America, the Americans then in their “American way” (but also in other countries) added several other things, changing the original and authentic dish, somewhat as was also the case with some other Italian dishes. However in Italy it is known simply as “fettuccine burro e parmigiano”.
I've seen this in other videos, and I would certainly give it a try as we don't produce the dish in this manner here in the U.S. It's interesting to see how they use the butter, and especially the water with the dish. It does look "mushy" a bit, so I'm very curious how it feels, and tastes.
Who doesn’t produce the dish in this manner?
@@WinstonSmithGPT Americans..we are taught all pasta should be firm, or that Italians never cook past Al dente.. I’m not fond of overly cooked pasta..
@@johncspine2787 The fact is that fresh pasta cannot be al dente. It can be firmer by cooking it less, but you will never get the feel of dry pasta.
Nice video. Jacques is a truly nice guy. I have played "boules" as he says in the video with him many times, petanque is the name of the sport. He now lives on Amelia Island, FL home of the largest petanque tournament in the USA in mid November each year. Jacques still participates. Great Chef, Great guy, great omelets :-)
Being an expat living in the US for many years, I can confirm that Alfredo sauce is really different. I never liked it. Some restaurants add some sauce Béchamel to the sauce... I miss the Alfredo that I ate back in Switzerland (we had so many Italian restaurants). But thanks to your video, I may give another chance and go to Musso & Franks here in LA! Or just buy some decent Parmesan and use some Irish butter...
I'm Swedish, when I was little my very Swedish grandfather used to make this, the cheese used was aged cheese that gone dry in the fridge. It was just called Butter pasta. I still do it -
I love this dish. It was one of the first I learned how to make growing up. In the US we call it butter noodles and it's incredibly easy to make in the microwave *gasp*! It also tastes great using leftover noodles.
The microwave version: Take plain leftover noodles from a previous dinner, put chunks of butter on the noodles, throw in microwave until butter is 90% melted, then put lots of cheese, mix it up. While I default to reggiano, this dish works surprisingly well with American Powdered Parm. It's a quick 60 second meal and super tasty. (Ofc you can make it fresh too like in the video.)
Butter noodles is one of my staple dishes at home when I'm tasting a new fresh noodles I made. It's a great way to test your noodles, and an excuse to eat the dish.
Butter noodles only include butter.
Wow this is wild! I’m from Canada and “fettuccine Alfredo” is super common here, but I’ve only seen people make it by making a roux sauce with flour and butter, then adding cream or milk! I had no idea this wasn’t the original way!
I'm sitting here at my desk watching this vid and I can taste the pasta. I can also feel the texture. Someday I'll make it to Italy
Wait what? So fettuccine Alfredo Is Just fettuccine burro e parmigiano?😂 Is basically the pasta we do when we don't really wanna cook😂😂
esattamente!
That’s basic lazy or kid’s food in Argentina as well.
Slowly morphing into a Bourdain prodigy, great as always Alex!
Good call.
I like the shots Thomas was getting. He does good work
2:45 Shout out to Thomas! Your homeland is as incredible as your camerawork!😊😊😊❤❤❤
I agree that the name "Fettuccine Alfredo" and its specific preparation aren't as well-known in Italy. While many people on UA-cam have likely encountered the recipe, a simpler pasta dish with the same basic ingredients (butter and Parmigiano Reggiano) is a common favorite from the Alps to Sicily. We call it "pasta burro e parmigiano." It's also known as "La pasta dei cornuti" (The Cheating Wife Pasta) because its quick preparation time (about the same it takes to cook the pasta) would allow an unfaithful wife who spent the morning with her lover to still serve her unsuspecting husband a delicious meal.