When the hilltop medieval town of Amatrice was recently devastated by the recent earthquake that rocked central Italy, the founder and president of Slow Food Carlo Petrini launched an appeal aimed at all restaurants around the world to help rebuild the town.
“Through this iconic dish that is the gastronomic symbol of Amatrice we hope to share the values of solidarity and sharing,” Carlo Petrini, president of Terra Madre and Slow Food said when launching a solidarity scheme to help the people hard hit by the earthquake and give them hope for the future by helping in the rebuilding of the town.
Amatrice is known for a pasta sauce called ‘amatriciana’ which is made with ‘guanciale’, and pecorino which come from the same town, San Marzano tomatoes, white wine, pepper and chilli peppers.
Slow Food launched an initiative called ‘A future for Amatrice’ using #unfuturoperamatrice as the hashtag and have asked restauranteurs around the world to include the iconic dish from Amatrice in their menu for a year. “We are asking clients of these restaurants to choose this item rom the menu. For every amatriciana sold, two euros will be sent to the comune of Amatrice. One is donated by the restaurant and one by the customer.
“In the meantime, we are urging people to choose agriculture and food products from the areas that have been hit by the earthquake to help sustain the local economy.”
Slow Food’s international network will be involved in raising awareness and securing as much collaboration as possible. ‘In this way, we hope that attention will not wane, and will go beyond the emotional wave of the moment: we want people to not only react now and help during the emergency situation but also to help with the reconstruction which would give hope to the people hard hit by the earthquake.
How to get involved
Restaurants that want to take part in the initiative can send an email to Slow Food at unfuturoperamatrice@slowfood.it. The list of restaurants that will take part in this initiative will be published on Slow Food’s website.
If you want to make a direct donation, visit the Justgiving relief fund page.
Recipe for Spaghetti Amatriciana
Ingredients
- 500 grammes of spaghetti
- 125 grammes guanciale
- 400 grammes peeled tomatoes or 6-7 San Marzano tomatoes)
- Half a chilli pepper
- Dry White Wine
- Pecorino Romano
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
Method
Cut the guanciale (the best is the one from Amatrice which is smoked and has chilli pepper) in large chuncks and cook in the olive oil. Add the white wine and reduce. Once reduced add the tomatoes and chilli pepper and some salt and cook for 15 minutes. (If you are using guanciale from Amatrice you do not need to add the chilli pepper).
Cook the pasta al dente in abundant salted water and then mix with part of the sauce. Add the grated pecorino romano and finish off with the rest of the sauce.
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