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This is awesome! A question for Italians in the audience though: is using butter as a fat something that’s commonly done? Being Portuguese and fond of Mediterra

This is awesome! A question for Italians in the audience though: is using butter as a fat something that’s commonly done? Being Portuguese and fond of Mediterranean cuisine, I always saw butter as a fat as being a more American thing but maybe that’s just the wrong perception and it’s totally fine if you use a dab of butter? PS: I do it myself, reason being that usually I’ll use extra virgin olive oil while preparing a sauce and I like to add butter to save on the oil, which can be quite expensive.

andrew_mason1 3y ago
Yes. For a long time, butter and cheese were the _only_ toppings for pasta. If you're interested, I'd really recommend reading The Discovery of Pasta by Luca Cesari, which traces the development of a few well-known pasta dishes through historical documents, cookbooks, etc.
klez 3y ago
Depends where in Italy and what you're doing. In the north where I'm originally from we used to use butter more. In the south oil is king. But that's just "historically". Nowadays there's been a big push towards olive oil in the whole country.
frostburg 3y ago
Not commonly in my (Tuscan) experience but there is regional variation, in some areas (mountains, some northern areas) it's used; the French use a lot of it. I would avoid using it as a partial substitute of olive oil, however. Use butter if the recipe calls for it.
babarock 3y ago
The answer is... complicated: - Using butter for pasta is something that is typically reserved for people with upset stomach (understand diarrhea). It's not scientific at all, but just something that is commonly done. - Fettucine Alfredo[1] is a real italian dish invented in Rome. It's made with butter and cheese. It was originally popular in the touristy areas, targeting foreigners, but over time I notice it slowly appearing in "real" restaurants. - "Pasta Fresca" (tagliatelle, raviolis, tortellinis, etc) is often served with butter-based sauces (like a lot of the traditional northern cuisine). A simplistic way to think about it is that butter is a rich luxurious ingredient used in the North, whereas the South is more likely to use Olive oil. Note that other fats can be used, it's not just olive oil: - Carbonara / Alla Gricia will use the animal fat from the _guanciale_ (the cured pig meat) and avoid using any oil or butter - Cacio e pepe will use neither and use the cheese itself as fat for the sauce. It's a simple pasta, but it's difficult to get right, since parmesan/pecorino are diffcult to emulsify. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettuccine_Alfredo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettuccine_Alfredo
williamdclt 3y ago
> I always saw butter as a fat as being a more American thing French cuisine famously uses tons of butter. Depends _which_ French cuisine of course, the Mediterranean south tends to favour olive oil, but holds true for the stereotypical idea of French food

andrew_mason1 3y ago

Yes. For a long time, butter and cheese were the _only_ toppings for pasta. If you're interested, I'd really recommend reading The Discovery of Pasta by Luca Cesari, which traces the development of a few well-known pasta dishes through historical documents, cookbooks, etc.

klez 3y ago

Depends where in Italy and what you're doing. In the north where I'm originally from we used to use butter more. In the south oil is king. But that's just "historically". Nowadays there's been a big push towards olive oil in the whole country.

frostburg 3y ago

Not commonly in my (Tuscan) experience but there is regional variation, in some areas (mountains, some northern areas) it's used; the French use a lot of it. I would avoid using it as a partial substitute of olive oil, however. Use butter if the recipe calls for it.

babarock 3y ago

The answer is... complicated: - Using butter for pasta is something that is typically reserved for people with upset stomach (understand diarrhea). It's not scientific at all, but just something that is commonly done. - Fettucine Alfredo[1] is a real italian dish invented in Rome. It's made with butter and cheese. It was originally popular in the touristy areas, targeting foreigners, but over time I notice it slowly appearing in "real" restaurants. - "Pasta Fresca" (tagliatelle, raviolis, tortellinis, etc) is often served with butter-based sauces (like a lot of the traditional northern cuisine). A simplistic way to think about it is that butter is a rich luxurious ingredient used in the North, whereas the South is more likely to use Olive oil. Note that other fats can be used, it's not just olive oil: - Carbonara / Alla Gricia will use the animal fat from the _guanciale_ (the cured pig meat) and avoid using any oil or butter - Cacio e pepe will use neither and use the cheese itself as fat for the sauce. It's a simple pasta, but it's difficult to get right, since parmesan/pecorino are diffcult to emulsify. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettuccine_Alfredo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fettuccine_Alfredo

williamdclt 3y ago

> I always saw butter as a fat as being a more American thing French cuisine famously uses tons of butter. Depends _which_ French cuisine of course, the Mediterranean south tends to favour olive oil, but holds true for the stereotypical idea of French food