Pasta alla gricia is a pasta dish originating in the Lazio region of Italy.[1]

Pasta alla gricia
CoursePrimo (Italian pasta course)
Place of originItaly
Region or stateLazio
Main ingredientsGuanciale, pecorino romano, black pepper

Origin of the name

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According to one hypothesis, the name of the dish derives from the Romanesco word gricio. In papal Rome, the grici were sellers of common foods,[2] and got this name because many of them came from Valtellina, at that time possession of the Swiss canton of Grigioni.[2] Pasta alla gricia then would mean pasta prepared with the simple ingredients (guanciale, pecorino romano, and black pepper) readily available at the local gricio.

Another theory about the origin of this dish claims that it was invented in the hamlet Grisciano, in the region of Lazio, near Amatrice. Buccini (2007) argues that this theory is more likely correct, citing a name spaghetti anna machiciana from the 1920s, referring to the neighboring region of Le Marche. The name would've started as alla grisciana, then modified to alla gricia to fit the occupational theme of carbonara and carentierra.[3] It should be also noticed that in Amatrice as late as the 1960s, amatriciana sauce was prepared without tomato, therefore coinciding with gricia.[4] Due to this reason, gricia is also named "amatriciana bianca".

Pasta alla gricia is a member of a family of four basic Roman pasta dishes, along with bucatini alla amatriciana, spaghetti alla carbonara, and spaghetti alla carentierra.[3]

See also

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  Media related to Pasta alla gricia at Wikimedia Commons   Pasta alla Gricia (Pasta with Guanciale) at the Wikibooks Cookbook subproject

References

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  1. ^ "Pasta alla Gricia". La Cucina Italiana. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  2. ^ a b Ravaro (2005), p. 329
  3. ^ a b Buccini, Antony F. (2007). "On Spaghetti alla Carbonara and related Dishes of Central and Southern Italy". In Hosking, Richard (ed.). Eggs in Cookery: Proceedings of the Oxford Symposium of Food and Cookery 2006. Oxford Symposium. pp. 36–47. ISBN 978-1-903018-54-5.
  4. ^ Gosetti (1967), p. 686

Bibliography

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