Amatriciana derives from a dish called "pasta alla gricia".[4] The origin of the word gricia is unclear. In papal Rome, the grici were sellers of common edible foods,[5] who got this name because many of them came from Valtellina, at that time a possession of the Swiss canton of Grigioni.[5] According to another hypothesis, it is named after the frazione (hamlet) of Grisciano, in the comune (municipality) of Accumoli, near Amatrice. The sauce—nowadays named also amatriciana bianca[6]—was, and still is, prepared with guanciale (cured pork cheek) and grated pecorino romano.[7] At some point, a little olive oil was added to the recipe. In the 1960s, amatriciana sauce was still prepared in this way in Amatrice itself.[7]
The invention of the first tomato sauces (and the probably earliest date for the introduction of tomato in the gricia, creating amatriciana) dates to the late 18th century. Tomatoes were introduced to Europe through the Columbian Exchange via Spain.[8] The first written record of pasta with tomato sauce can be found in the 1790 cookbook L'Apicio Moderno by Roman chef Francesco Leonardi.[9]
The amatriciana recipe became increasingly famous in Rome over the 19th and early 20th centuries, due to the centuries-old connection[10] between Rome and Amatrice.[11] The recipe was well received and rapidly went on to become a classic of Roman cuisine, although it originated elsewhere. The name of the dish in the Romanesco dialect eventually became matriciana due to the apheresis typical of this dialect.[2]
While tomato-less gricia is still prepared in central Italy, it is the tomato-enriched amatriciana that is better known throughout Italy and elsewhere. While in Amatrice the dish is prepared with spaghetti,[12]bucatini is now most commonly used in Rome.[1] Other types of dry pasta (particularly rigatoni) are also used.
The recipe is known in several variants depending, among other things, on the availability of ingredients. In Amatrice, use of guanciale and tomato is typical and onion is not favoured,[13] although it is shown in the classical handbooks of Roman cuisine.[14][15] The former mayor of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi, went so far as to say, "Garlic in amatriciana, never. And no onion, either, whatever some may say."[13] When the celebrity chef Carlo Cracco stated that an unpeeled clove of garlic could be sautéd with the other ingredients and removed before serving, calling it his "secret ingredient",[16] the municipal government of Amatrice retorted on its official website that "the only ingredients in a true amatriciana sauce are guanciale, pecorino, white wine, San Marzano tomatoes, black pepper and peperoncino".[13] For frying, olive oil is most commonly used, but strutto (lard) is used as well.[14] For cheese either pecorino romano[14][15] or Amatrice's pecorino (from the Sibillini MountainsorMonti della Laga areas) can be used.[12]
^Faccioli (1987), The culí di pomodoro recipe is found in the chapter devoted to Leonardi, at pg.756
^InPonterione, a lane called "Vicolo dei Matriciani" and a locanda bearing the same name are documented as having existed since the 17th century. Blasi (1923), sub voce.
^The town was originally part of the Abruzzo Ultra Department of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, but was annexed to the Abruzzo region of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861, and was finally incorporated into Lazio as part of the province of Rieti when the latter was created in 1927.
