Those Familiar Italian Fares

CEBU, Philippines - Being all about the use of healthy and fresh ingredients, the gastronomic culture of Mediterranean cuisine has brought slews of gourmets and gourmands its way, with specialties and dishes made with passionate care and gusto taking center stage.

Despite the popularity of Italian cuisine in different parts of the world, there are a number of Italian dishes with Italian origins being questioned and argued about over the years. Some of these have been revealed to have been crafted, created or made popular in places outside Italy.

Here are three of these controversial dishes:

Fettuccine Alfredo

Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford were attributed to be responsible for popularizing Fettuccine Alfredo in the United States, which eventually led to the dish’s general association with Classic Italian Cuisine.

Attributed to have been crafted by restauranteur Alfredo di Leilo, the original base of the dish is widely considered to be the equivalent of “chicken soup for the sick” (when someone with a cold finds a certain zing in chicken soup), with de Leilo noted to have modified a simple pasta dish made of Parmesan, butter and plain pasta for his then-pregnant wife.

The dish is said to have inspired the creation of Shrimp Alfredo, Chicken Alfredo and more, with States-side variations including the use of garlic and cream added to Alfredo-based recipes over the years.

It is said that Italians don’t exactly view “Alfredo dishes” as part of Classic Italian Cuisine, but its popularity in the US has made it a generally accepted Italian cuisine specialty dish in different parts of the world.

Caesar salad

Caesar Cardini is credited as the original creator of the most authentic Caesar Salad variant, said to have been originally made in a restaurant founded by Cardini in Tijuana, Mexico.

Immigrating to San Diego from Milan after World War I, Caesar Cardini is credited to be the original creator of the most authentic Caesar Salad variant, with the salad said to have been originally made in a restaurant founded by Cardini in Tijuana, Mexico.  The crouton and Parmesan-based salad’s popularity reached Hollywood, where the penchant of popular personalities and celebrities for the dish propelled it to its status as a Classic Italian dish standard today. 

As a dish, arguments and debates over the salad’s origins is quite well-known and often discussed and talked about in the haute cuisine realms.

Pasta primavera

Noted to have come from NYC’s Le Cirque, one of the world’s most respected haute cuisine venues, Pasta Primavera is a dish borne from an amalgam of French and Italian flavors, crafted in the early 70s.

Classic French Chef Jean Vernges and Sirio Maccioni, co-founders of Le Cirque, are credited to be the dish’s primary creators, using tomatoes, string beans, asparagus and zucchini as its primary ingredients.

The input of French Chef Jean Louis led to the addition of creamy butter sauce and pea pods into the dish, just as Maccioni gave the dish its Italian flair by adding pine nuts, Parmesan and basil.  (FREEMAN)