Notes From Nowhere

Earlier in the summer, I wrote about spaghetti all’Amatriciana and how much it matters to the people from Amatrice that, if you call your dish this way, it had better be true to the original recipe. Meanwhile the city has been in the news for so much sadder reasons, the August 24 earthquake and the shocking destruction resulting from that.

In order to help the people of Amatrice, there is an initiative by the Italian organization Slow Food. They are asking restaurants to put spaghetti all’Amatriciana on the menu and to donate 2 Euros per order. Here’s a map and a list with places that participate.

Just found this, an art project on life as a graduate student. Reminds me why I became an artist rather than academic.

When Audrey Hepburn, in the movie Sabrina, goes to Paris culinary school, the stern instructors say that the true chef is recognized by her egg cooking skills. Apparently this is a French adage, I’ve heard it any number of times. For the Italian chef, however, there’s another benchmark for the aspiring cook: spaghetti al pomodoro.

If I were to set up a cooking contest, I would ask everyone to prepare three kinds of spaghetti al pomodoro, and only those who serve three delicious meals get into the next round. The hardest version of this task doesn’t permit any ingredients other than tomatoes for the sauce. An easier version permits whatever people feel like adding, as long as the outcome is still very much a tomato sauce. That’s how I’m approaching today’s lunch. I’m adding a tiny bit of prosciutto to the small tomatoes, cut in half, which are the starting point of my quick pasta lunch.

Next comes a splash of cream and fresh rosemarin, cut into tiny bits.

And here’s the kind of easy lunch that’s compatible with a grander dinner. Enjoy!