"chef john" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> In my opinion, one of life's simple pleasures is the classic spaghetti
> "aglio olio." Pasta tossed with garlic, oil, and maybe some butter and
> cheese. For those of us that grew up in Italian-American homes this
> probably was the first pasta dish we ever tasted.
>
> My mother did a variation on this comfort classic by adding chopped
> cauliflower and hot pepper which as a youngster I always enjoyed. BTW
> - like most kids I HATED cauliflower in any other form, but for some
> reason when it was in spaghetti "aglio olio" it was MMMMM Good!
>
> For whatever reason, as an adult I kind of forgot about this dish. The
> cauliflower area of the produce section is certainly not a destination
> by any means. During a phone call recently with mom she told me she
> couldn't talk as she was just about to drain some pasta for this dish.
> It brought back so many happy food memories that I ran out and got a
> head and went to work. It was like running into an old friend you
> havent seen for a long time.
>
> Does anyone else have any similar memories of this ancient dish? It
> seems like this is the type of dish that each family puts their own
> little twist on. Anchovies? Herbs? Broccoli?
>
> If you never made this dish, and would like to see a short vid clip,
> there is a link on my homepage www.lrn2cook.com. The sound and film
> quality are still subpar as I continue my quest to teach myself
> html/web programming etc. BTW ...THANKS to all of you that emailed me
> with comments and suggestions to help me out. I've redigned the site to
> make it friendlier with differnet browsers, but problems still exist
> for some. Hopefully soon it will be accessable to all. i hope you
> enjoy the clip and PLEASE try this dish. It's really simple and
> satisfying. Enjoy.
>

I don't remember where I got the dish from. It was sometime in college -
might've been from one of the tiny family run Italian restaurants in
Syracuse NY. The recipe sounded almost like yours, except it also had some
bruised fennel seeds in the oil, and little bits of crumbled sausage,
usually mild. When I've grown fennel, I've thrown in think slices of that,
too. It pairs well with the cauliflower.

I wish you hadn't mentioned this right now. I just bought a pound of shrimp
and it seems boring by comparison.