Alla marinara is an expression with a fairly broad meaning, which generally indicates the type of cooking which involves aromatic herbs from the Mediterranean area such as basil and oregano, sometimes also olives, capers and salted anchovies; usually these ingredients are accompanied with tomato sauce, but it is not a required ingredient. It is widely used in Italian-American cuisine, in which its ingredients are different.[1][2][3][4] It is used for spaghetti and vermicelli, but also with meat or fish.[5]
Several folk theories exist as to the origin of this sauce. One version states that cooks aboard Neapolitan ships returning from the Americas invented marinara sauce in the mid-16th century after Spaniards introduced the tomato to Europe. Another theory states this was a sauce prepared by the wives of Neapolitan sailors upon their return from the sea.[6]
Historically, however, the first Italian cookbook to include tomato sauce,[7]Lo Scalco alla Moderna ('The Modern Steward'), was written by Italian chef Antonio Latini and was published in two volumes in 1692 and 1694. Latini served as the Steward of the First Minister to the Spanish Viceroy of Naples.[7][8][9] This early tomato sauce was more like a modern tomato salsa.
A sauce similar to Italian-American marinara sauce is known in some areas of central Italyassugo finto[10] (lit.'fake sauce').
The terms should not be confused with spaghetti marinara, a popular dish in Australia, New Zealand, Spain, and South Africa, in which a tomato-based sauce is mixed with fresh seafood.[11][12] In Italy, a pasta sauce including seafood is more commonly called alla pescatora.[5]
^ abMarco Guarnaschelli Gotti (2007) [1990]. Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche (ed.). Grande enciclopedia illustrata della gastronomia [Great Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gastronomy] (in Italian). Milan: Mondadori. ISBN978-88-04-56749-3.
^ abElizabeth David, Italian Food (1954, 1999), p 319, and John Dickie, Delizia! The Epic History of the Italians and Their Food, 2008, p. 162.
^Alan Davidson, "Europeans' Wary Encounter with Tomatoes, Potatoes, and Other New World Foods" in Chilies to Chocolate: Food the Americas Gave the World, (University of Arizona Press) 1992.
^Paolo Petroni (1985) [1974]. Il libro della vera cucina fiorentina [The Book of True Florentine Cuisine] (in Italian) (13 ed.). Florence: Bonechi. p. 41. ISBN88-7009-023-X.
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