spaghetti alla puttanesca
Yummy dish, dirty name. “Whore’s spaghetti” has a sauce made from easy pantry items: canned tomatoes, olives, capers, red pepper flakes, and anchovies. Wikipedia includes three theories for how spaghetti alla puttanesca got its name:
- An Italian restaurateur found himself with hungry guests who had dropped in late at night. The ingredients he had on hand were limited, but his guests insisted that he use whatever garbage was around (using the word puttanata, which translates to “garbage” but comes from the word for “whore”). Interestingly, this origin story (the last-minute improvisation) is also thrown around for Caesar salad and the reuben sandwich, to name a few.
- Back in the 1950s, brothels were state-owned in Italy (wha??). Prostitutes were were only allowed to go to the market once a week, so they had to create meals using odds and ends from the larder.
- This is a dish that’s easy, quick, and cheap enough for prostitutes to whip up in between turning tricks.
Well, it’s easy and tasty enough for us ordinary non-prostitutes too. Though my John (omg get it? gross) and I over-achieved a bit by making fresh spaghetti with that brand new pasta machine that I can’t get enough of.
