When there were spaghetti and the most famous sauces to them

Does anything bring more pleasure than a plate of spaghetti with sauce at the end of a long working day? Few dishes can be so enjoyable. But the history of Bolognese sauce, Carbonara, Putanesca is not as simple as it might seem. Italian pasta with sauce has a rich history, which can be traced throughout many centuries, up to Ancient Rome. And the decision to make carbonara sauce with cream, to use several types of meat in stews or to put cheese in pasta with seafood can cause conversation at the table in the Italian family much more often than the latest political events.

1. Lasagna

Historians believe that lasagna is one of the oldest types of pasta in the world. She probably was ate in ancient Greece and Rome. This long flat noodles were easy to roll out and dry in the sun or bake in the oven, and the cheese became one of the ingredients of lasagna from the very first days. The recipe book of the 14th century urges housewives to prepare lasagna in a baking dish, adding grated cheese and ground spices. Not oregano and garlic, as we do now, but, most likely, cinnamon, nutmeg and black pepper.

2. Pasta with tomato sauce

Although spaghetti with tomato sauce is considered to be a truly Italian dish, but tomatoes were not part of the diet of Italians until the 1800s. And the first recipe for pasta with tomato-based sauce was found in the French recipe book of 1797. Therefore, sauces based on tomatoes, which are considered Italian - Bolognese, Pomodoro, Putanesca - in fact have a longer history.

3. Putanesca

The most rich story is putane sauce. This is an acute dish with pasta, tomatoes, capers, anchovies and garlic. Its name literally translates as "spaghetti for the putane". According to a popular version, this dish was prepared by representatives of the most ancient profession in anticipation of the next meeting. In fact, the dish was prepared after a group of night visitors ordered the owner of the restaurant to give them "facci una puttanata qualsiasi". From Italian it translates roughly like "any kind of garbage". The word "garbage" in Italian slang is "puttana", which has one more meaning - putana. That's how this sauce had its big name.

4. Carbonara

This is a delicious sauce made from fresh egg yolks, crispy pork (usually bacon or pancetta), grated cheese and lots of black pepper. The name of the sauce comes from the word "carbonaro" or "charcoal burner", which can refer to the type of oven on which it was first cooked by workers. But it can also be a reminder of the Carbonarians - a secret society that played a key role in the first attempts to unite Italy.

Another creamy sauce debuted in 1914, when restaurateur Alfred de Lelio created a sauce rich in butter, grated parmesan and black pepper to restore the strength of his wife after she gave birth to her son. It also became the birthday of the popular alfredo sauce.

5. Primavera

Pasta primavera is a relatively new addition to the pantheon of sauces. It was created in New York, not in Italy. In 1977, Sirio Massioni, owner of the famous restaurant Le Cirque, quickly prepared a new sauce, which consisted of cream, garlic and fresh spring vegetables. The new dish quickly became the most discussed in the city, but Massioni did not try to understand the new culinary heights. He just improvised, as the kitchen did not have enough of the right ingredients for the already known sauces.