Fettuccine Alfredo Origin: From Rome to the World

Fettuccine Alfredo originated in Rome, where restaurateur Alfredo Di Lelio created it in the early twentieth century, usually dated to 1907 or 1908. The original was simply fresh fettuccine tossed with butter and Parmesan; the cream found in many versions today came later, and largely outside Italy.

The story has a new father, a pair of Hollywood stars and a golden fork. Some of it is well documented, and some of it is family lore.

A dish made for one person

Alfredo Di Lelio was born in 1882 and, according to family accounts, began working as a boy at a restaurant his mother ran in Piazza Rosa in Rome. In 1907 or 1908 his wife, Ines, gave birth to their first son, Armando, and struggled to eat afterwards. The story goes that Alfredo made her a dish of fettuccine with a generous amount of butter and Parmesan to tempt her appetite.

The sources differ a little on the details. Rome's official tourism site gives 1908, says the pasta was made with semolina, and records that Alfredo called his fettuccine "Le Bionde", the blondes. Wikipedia gives 1907 or 1908 and calls the early dish fettuccine al triplo burro, triple-butter fettuccine. Both accept that the recipe rested on three things: pasta, butter and young Parmesan.

Butter and cheese on pasta was not a new idea. Wikipedia points to a recipe of around 1460 by Martino da Como for "Roman macaroni" served with butter and cheese. What Alfredo added was a name, a personality and a sense of theatre.

Via della Scrofa and the golden fork

When his mother's restaurant site was cleared for new building work, Alfredo opened his own restaurant on Via della Scrofa, in about 1914. The dish was mixed at the table with some ceremony, and that performance became part of the attraction.

The most famous chapter involves the Hollywood stars Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks. On their honeymoon in Rome they ate Alfredo's fettuccine, and the story goes that they later gave him a golden fork and spoon engraved "To Alfredo the King of the noodles". Rome's tourism site dates the gift to 1927. Wikipedia places their visit in the early 1920s and is careful to say the cutlery is "said to have been" their gift, so treat the details with some caution.

Either way, American visitors carried the story home. Writers in the United States described "Alfredo's noodles" in the 1920s and 1930s, and the name "fettuccine Alfredo" was appearing in print by the 1950s, although nobody is sure exactly when it first came into use.

Two restaurants, one name

The later history is tangled. Alfredo sold the Via della Scrofa restaurant around the Second World War: Wikipedia says to two of his waiters in 1943, while Rome's tourism site says just before the war. In 1950 he and Armando opened a new restaurant in Piazza Augusto Imperatore, which the family still runs. Today both sites in Rome claim a connection to the original dish.

Where did the cream come from?

In Italy, a dish of fettuccine with butter and Parmesan is usually still called fettuccine al burro, and outside Rome it is rarely called Alfredo at all. Cream is not part of the Italian version.

Abroad, the dish changed. Wikipedia cites a 1966 recipe printed on an American noodle packet that added Swiss cheese and cream, and over time cream became the norm in many countries, often with chicken, prawns or broccoli added. Some cooks and writers argue cream has no place in it; others simply see two related dishes, one Roman and one international.

At Bigoli

Our Alfredo follows the international style rather than the Roman one: chicken, mushroom and onion in a cream and Parmesan sauce. If you know Alfredo from abroad, this is the version you will recognise.

Fettuccine is one of our six shapes, extruded on site every morning from durum wheat semolina and water, and our fresh fettuccine is a natural match for cream sauces. The other shapes are penne, rigatoni, spaghetti, fusilli and bigoli, and any sauce goes on any shape. Choose your sauce, choose your shape and add extras; it is cooked to order and ready in minutes. Every pasta dish except Dello Chef can be made with our gluten-free penne. Some add-ons, such as meatballs, contain gluten. Not a gluten-free kitchen.

You will find us at 123 City Road, by the Old Street roundabout, about a minute's walk from Old Street station. We open from 11:00, and close at 23:00 Monday to Thursday and on Sunday, and at midnight on Friday and Saturday.

Frequently asked questions

Who invented fettuccine Alfredo?

Alfredo Di Lelio, a Roman restaurateur, in about 1907 or 1908. Sources differ on the exact year.

Is fettuccine Alfredo Italian?

Yes, it began in Rome. The butter-and-Parmesan original is Italian; the cream-based versions developed mostly abroad.

Does original Alfredo sauce have cream?

No. The Roman dish used only butter, Parmesan and fettuccine. Cream was added later, largely outside Italy.

What is fettuccine Alfredo called in Italy?

Usually fettuccine al burro, or butter fettuccine. The Alfredo name is mostly used in Rome and abroad.

Come in for a plate: plan your visit or see the menu.