The Ultra-Rich Ingredient That Makes Olive Garden's Alfredo So Delectable
One of the most quintessentially Olive Garden dishes has got to be the fettuccine Alfredo. That big bowl of creamy pasta is just begging to have some all-you-can-eat breadsticks dipped into it.
One of the things that makes it so great is its use of heavy cream. While this might seem like a standard inclusion in an Alfredo sauce for most Americans, it actually makes this dish distinctly different from its Italian counterpart.
No one is surprised that Olive Garden is doing something that isn't quite "authentic" to its Italian inspiration, but lots of folks might be surprised to find out that Alfredo pasta sauce was invented in Italy. The original version of fettuccine Alfredo was invented in Rome in 1914 by Alfredo di Lelio.
The legend goes that di Lelio's wife had lost her appetite after giving birth to their firstborn son. He tried whipping up an average plate of fettuccine al burro (pasta in a sauce of butter and cheese) but decided to jumpstart his wife's appetite by increasing the amount of butter in the mix. He added more butter to the recipe and got the richest kind he could find. His wife loved the dish so much that she suggested that di Lelio put it on the menu at his restaurant Alfredo's and pasta history was made.
How did the cream get involved?
Fettuccine Alfredo would later make its way across the Atlantic sometime after World War II. As Rome was returning to normal after the destruction of the war, a number of Americans visited the Italian capital on vacations. Alfredo had opened a new restaurant on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore and quickly charmed American tourists. By the 1950s, similar recipes started popping up on American menus.
Supposedly, it was at this time that cream was introduced to the recipe. American butter and cheese at the time couldn't compete with the richness of Italian butter and real Parmigiano Reggiano. Cream was introduced as a way to return the decadent flavor to the sauce. Over the years, even more folks would recommend things like using flour to thicken the sauce and adding other ingredients that would take the dish even further from its origins.
Now, the Olive Garden take on the dish with its garlic, heavy cream, and parsley garnish is the prevailing version of Alfredo.
How to prepare an authentic fettuccine Alfredo
Everyone has their personal preferences, but make no mistake these two recipes are profoundly different. You should make whichever you prefer but know that the heavy cream version will not have the same complexity as the original. Yes, both are decadent; but working with an extravagant amount of butter opens up the doors to browning and developing complex flavors that build on the black pepper and parmesan.
To make the original (no cream) Alfredo sauce, all you'll need is fettuccine, good-quality butter, parmesan, and black pepper. While the fettuccine boils in well-salted water, start melting the butter down in a pan. Then, just before the pasta has finished cooking, take some of the pasta water and add it to the butter. Mix it all together, and add freshly grated parmesan cheese and let it melt. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the pasta. Toss it together with the sauce and add extra cheese and some black pepper just before serving.
Saveur points out that this act of tossing the elements together is important because doing so will help them emulsify into the creamy smooth sauce that we all love and hope to see when we serve up the pasta. Enjoy it immediately to then make the most of Alfredo's ingenious creation.