Garlic Pasta Sonnet 116
Garlic Pasta Sonnet 116
“And scorne not Garlicke like to some, that think / It onely makes men winke, and drinke, and stink.” Joannes De Mediolano, The Englishman’s Doctor, 1608
Garlic Pasta has become a motto for the recent revival of simple, good, healthy traditional cuisine. The recipe states right off the bat not to mess with timeless, quality ingredients, “Let me not…Add ingredients.” Here Shakespeare is saying: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Much of the rest of the recipe disparages the obfuscation of traditional local cuisines by the onslaught of globalization and the trendy, often “tacky” foods thereby resulting.
Let me not to spaghetti with garlic
Add ingredients. This plate’s not a plate
That weighs on your gut like a heavy brick
Nor to order or make on a first date,
O no, it is an ever smelly dish
That’s been around for a very long time;
It’s constant, repaying that garlic wish
All Italians appreciate sometimes.
It’s cheap but not tacky, so newer go’s
Like sushi and tapas might limit it,
Yet pasta, ‘olio and aglio’
As a dinner staple will always fit.
If I’m proven wrong, I’ll give you my seat,
I’ve never cooked before, nor did I eat.
The real recipe:
Ingredients per person:
100 grams of pasta
1-2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic
Salt & fresh black pepper
Pecorino and/or Parmigiano
Boil the pasta, in salty water. Crush the garlic and on low heat in a pan let it flavor the olive oil for a few minutes. Set aside some of the cooking water. Drain the pasta a couple minutes before it’s al dente and transfer it still wet into the pan with the garlic oil. Sauté the whole, adding the cooking water as necessary, to complete the pasta’s cooking. Once done, add freshly grated Parmigiano and/or Pecorino Romano (on low or no flame) and as much freshly grated black pepper as you want. For a twist, add some diced capers on top or make a puree of artichokes or fava beans ecc., below. Plate and eat. Goes well with a simple red or white table wine. Then go out, maybe see a movie, exhale without inhibition and have some fun watching anyone seated near you change their seats after 15 minutes or so.
link- garlic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic
link – Dinner at The globe on sale: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B082RFLCXK
link – a garlic sauce from Will’s days: http://www.godecookery.com/nboke/nboke41.htm