Fettuccine Alfredo Was Introduced To The US Thanks To One Old Hollywood Couple

Fettuccine Alfredo is everywhere in the culinary sphere — the frozen section of the grocery store, the Olive Garden menu, and pretty much every Italian bistro. But, have you ever wondered where it began? 

The father of this pasta was Alfredo Di Lelio, the late chef and owner of an eponymous restaurant on the famous Via della Scrofa in Rome. Back in 1914, Di Lelio and his wife had just welcomed a baby, but she thereafter developed a sensitive stomach. So, Di Lelio made a dish many Italians cooked for their children who were not feeling well, fettucine al triplo burro: pasta engulfed with butter, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and pasta water. 

Fast forward to 1920, when a Hollywood celebrity couple, actors Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford, traveled to Europe for their honeymoon. They found Di Lelio's Italian trattoria, ordered the fettuccine-based dish he had since put on the menu, and fell in love with it — so much so that they asked him for the recipe. 

Fairbanks and Pickford couldn't wait to recreate the recipe once they returned to America. But, they kept failing to duplicate the deliciousness of Di Lelio's creation. The problem was they didn't have access to the same ingredients that he used back in Italy (like ground wheat flour or rich Italian butter) and chefs back home in the States were not experienced in emulsifying cheese, butter, and pasta water into a sauce. So, to make it thicker, heavy cream was added, and the fettuccine Alfredo we know today was born.

While the heavy cream is fettuccine Alfredo's American calling card, that is not how the Italians intended the dish to be served. Here's what's key: less is more. To make the traditional style of this pasta without cream, all you need are four ingredients — fettuccine noodles, Kosher salt, unsalted butter, and most importantly, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. 

While you can buy the cheese nearly everywhere, an Italian market like Eataly might have the best selection of finely-aged cheeses. And Italian-made Zanetti butter, available online or through Instacart, contains the same milk as the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and would be a great fit here.

After cooking the pasta, you'll want to save some of the salted pasta water and pour it into a large skillet while slowing melting the butter and gently adding the cheese. That will make the sauce you can stir the noodles into. If you'd like, sprinkle some salt, pepper, or more cheese on top (remember, the simpler, the better). But, if you want to doctor it up a little more, you could add the American standards in the dish like chicken, cream, or parsley (even though Forbes notes that Italians mock the ingredient by saying, "parsley is like children; it gets into everything").

And if you're ever in Rome, you may visit Afredo alla Scrofa, which is still run by the Di Lelio family, and enjoy the dish that has been around for over 100 years.