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Who was Alfredo?

Order Alfredo in Italy and you might get a funny look. The first fettuccine Alfredo was just butter, Parmesan and noodles, made by a Roman named Alfredo for his wife.

Conner Kadziolka smiling

Conner KadziolkaUpdated 4 min read

A paper-cut illustration of a restaurant table at night with a plate of buttery fettuccine, a gold fork and spoon, a candle and a pot of basil, and Roman rooftops and a dome through an arched window

I was just in Italy for my cousin-in-law's wedding, and one of our friends tried to order Alfredo. They got looked at super weird. I didn't get it, because chicken Alfredo is about as normal a dinner as there is here. So I went digging.

I'm on a personal mission to uncover the weirdest fun facts about the food we eat all the time and never think twice about. This one surprised me. Alfredo was a real man in Rome who ran a restaurant, and the dish with his name on it had no cream in it.

in short

Fettuccine Alfredo began in Rome as Alfredo di Lelio's fettuccine with butter and Parmesan, which Italians usually still call fettuccine al burro and make without cream. The cream and the chicken came later in North America, and BetterDay's Herb Roasted Chicken Alfredo gets its creamy sauce from cashews.

Alfredo made the first fettuccine Alfredo for his wife

His name was Alfredo di Lelio. In 1908 his wife Ines had their first son, Armando. The birth left her worn out, and she wasn't eating much. So Alfredo made her something gentle out of fresh fettuccine and butter and Parmesan, with extra butter just for her. The first name for it was fettuccine al triplo burro, which means triple butter fettuccine.

Their granddaughter is named Ines too, and she still tells the story the same way. I love that a pasta this famous started with a new dad trying to get his wife to eat something!

In 1914 he opened his own restaurant on Via della Scrofa, right in the middle of Rome. He called it Alfredo and put his butter fettuccine on the menu.

Two Hollywood stars took the recipe home from Rome

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were silent film stars, and in 1920 they were on their honeymoon in Europe. They ate at Alfredo's and ordered the fettuccine. Then they asked for the recipe and took it home to America with them.

The story goes that they gave Alfredo a gold fork and spoon to say thanks. They were engraved "To Alfredo the King of the noodles." He used them to toss the fettuccine right at the table, and it turned into a bit of a show, with a violinist playing while he mixed.

A paper-cut gold fork and spoon lying side by side
“Alfredo performs the sacred ceremony with a fork and spoon of solid gold.”
George Rector, an American food writer and restaurant ownerWikipedia

Rome now has two Alfredo restaurants

In 1943, in the middle of the war, Alfredo sold his restaurant. After the war he opened a new one with his son Armando, the same baby the dish was first made for. He called it Il Vero Alfredo, which means "the real Alfredo".

Both places are still open today, and each one has a wall covered in photos of famous guests.

Which restaurant is the real Alfredo?

Alfredo alla Scrofa

The restaurant on Via della Scrofa where Alfredo first opened in 1914. It still carries his name.

Il Vero Alfredo

The restaurant Alfredo opened with his son Armando after the war. His grandchildren run it today.

  1. 1908

    Rome

    Alfredo makes triple butter fettuccine for Ines after Armando is born.

  2. 1920

    Rome

    Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford eat it on their honeymoon.

  3. 1943

    Via della Scrofa

    Alfredo sells his first restaurant.

  4. 1966

    Pennsylvania

    A noodle company's Alfredo recipe adds cream and Swiss cheese.

North America added the cream and the chicken

Once the recipe got to America, it slowly changed. Cooks started adding heavy cream to make the sauce thicker and richer. In 1966 a Pennsylvania noodle company put out a version with cream and Swiss cheese in it. And when it's served as a main course, chicken or shrimp or broccoli often go on top.

In Italy, none of that caught on. There it's usually still called fettuccine al burro, which just means butter fettuccine. It's made without cream, and nothing goes on top. So when our friend asked for Alfredo, they were really asking for the North American version, which I guess explains the look.

Our Alfredo sauce is made from cashews

And then there's ours. The Herb Roasted Chicken Alfredo breaks just about every rule in Rome. It's penne instead of fettuccine. It has chicken on it. And the sauce has no butter or cream or Parmesan in it at all. We make it from cashew butter and oat milk and tofu, and nutritional yeast gives it that cheesy taste. The Herb Roasted Chick'n Alfredo is its plant-based twin, with roasted soy curls in place of the chicken.

cashew sauce, penne and herb roasted chicken
Herb Roasted Chicken Alfredo, from aboveAvailablePlant-Based
Herb Roasted Chicken Alfredo

Alfredo would probably give us the same look our friend got in Italy. But it's been on our menu longer than anything else we make. I feel like he'd at least try a bite.

Sources

  1. 1Wikipedia, Fettuccine Alfredo, Ines and Armando, triple butter, the three ingredients, the gold fork and spoon, George Rector, the 1943 sale, no cream in Italy, cream and chicken in North America, the 1966 recipe and February 7
  2. 2Gambero Rosso, Alfredo's granddaughter Ines di Lelio on 1908, the 1914 restaurant and Il Vero Alfredo
  3. 3Wikipedia, Alfredo alla Scrofa, The 1920 honeymoon dinner, both restaurants today and their walls of famous guests
  4. 4History.com, Fairbanks and Pickford's 1920 honeymoon in Europe

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