Spaghetti all'Amatriciana: why this name?
Amatriciana, or Matriciana is closely related to the “condimento in bianco” (white sauce, because of its color) known as Gricia, a very, very old, traditional preparation.
Amatriciana moved away from Gricia and became a red sauce after the discovery by Europeans of the tomato plant and became the hallmark of the town of Amatrice, hence its name.
While we serve vegetarian dishes, we are passionate about food and Amatriciana is a real classic. Come visit our underground Trattoria in The Hague, Netherlands. We are Home of the home-made pasta, fresh produce from The Hague Market and we have a FREE bottle of Italian wine for you with every meal. Our way of saying "Welcome!". More on us? Click here now.
According to town-hall, the designation Spaghetti all'Amatriciana came to be used only in the late 1700’s.
Amatriciana in its original guise is made with guanciale (see more on guanciale here), not pancetta or bacon or speck. As guanciale is not always easy to find throughout the world (let alone guanciale from Amatrice) nowadays it is often substituted for bacon or sometimes speck.
