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.

"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.

sounds great. had a similar version with fennel, sausage and broc.
rabe. that was killer also.


JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
> "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.

> 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?

We had it a lot growing up. The secret to a good one lies in properly
using good ingredients more than anything else. We always just called
it Pasta & Oil. Sometimes red pepper flakes find their way into it, but
I didn't realize there were so many variations. We always made it by
copying the way great-grandma made it, which was to slowly cook a *lot*
of finely chopped garlic (maybe half a dozen large cloves) in enough
olive oil to liberally coat all the pieces but not enough to float
them. She would cook it until the garlic was done but before it turned
brown. Then she would toss about three quarters of a cup of warm tap
water into the pan after turning off the heat. This stops the cooking
process, gives the cheese something to stick to and keeps the final
dish from tasting too oily. Add the garlic/water mixture to drained,
unrinsed, hot vermicelli or angel hair, add maybe a little parsley and
black pepper, toss it all together and that's the dish. Plate up and
grate a lot of really good, aged, hard cheese on top. Pecorino Romano
and Parmesan both work nicely but others like Greek Kassiri are good,
too. For whatever reason, it's never watery and there's never a pool of
water in the bowl. The hot pasta apparently absorbs it.

Christopher Helms wrote:

> We had it a lot growing up. The secret to a good one lies in properly
> using good ingredients more than anything else. We always just called
> it Pasta & Oil. Sometimes red pepper flakes find their way into it, but
> I didn't realize there were so many variations. We always made it by
> copying the way great-grandma made it, which was to slowly cook a *lot*
> of finely chopped garlic (maybe half a dozen large cloves) in enough
> olive oil to liberally coat all the pieces but not enough to float
> them. She would cook it until the garlic was done but before it turned
> brown. Then she would toss about three quarters of a cup of warm tap
> water into the pan after turning off the heat.


Whereas my folks would cook whole cloves are garlic until lightly
browned and the oil well flavored, but then take the cloves out. Red
pepper flakes were added, but no water as your folks used. Cheese added
at serving if desired.
I recall as a teenager being embarrassed by this type of food-too
ethnic, I thought then. None of my WASP-y friends ate food like this..
where were the "meat and potato" meals like their mom's made?! LOL..
Obviously I grew up and got wise. And it turned out a lot of my
boyfriends, and future husband loved eating at my house for the same
reasons I wanted to eat at their homes.

Goomba38 wrote:
> Whereas my folks would cook whole cloves are garlic until lightly
> browned and the oil well flavored, but then take the cloves out. Red
> pepper flakes were added, but no water as your folks used. Cheese added
> at serving if desired.
> I recall as a teenager being embarrassed by this type of food-too
> ethnic, I thought then. None of my WASP-y friends ate food like this.

They were probably eating Creamettes macaroni and velveeta...

I love stories of how kids thought their own food inferior to that of
their peers. I was always glad my Mom was a good cook because I didn't
consider the food at my friends' homes to be as tasty. One exception
was a family down the street who made tacos - which at that time and
place was considered exotic. I always loved eating there because that
was something my Mom never made.

-L.

"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.
>

just the other day I had a hankering for spaghetti and broccoli di
rabe/rape, so went to the weekly farmers' market and bought 2 great
bunches...gave one bunch to mum, other bunch I divided in half

one half (chopped) was added to pot of spaghetti that was near its cooking
end, drained, then garlic lightly fried in OO added together with the tbspn
or so of the oil; also added some of the cooking water, "juices" soaked up
with crusty bread

other half I added to some OO, chopped garlic and can of chopped tomatoes,
add broc and a little water and cooked til tender...mum calls this broccoli
stuffati (sp?), also eaten later with crusty bread

mmmmmmmmm mama!! lol

Goomba38 wrote:
> Christopher Helms wrote:
>
> > We had it a lot growing up. The secret to a good one lies in properly
> > using good ingredients more than anything else. We always just called
> > it Pasta & Oil. Sometimes red pepper flakes find their way into it, but
> > I didn't realize there were so many variations. We always made it by
> > copying the way great-grandma made it, which was to slowly cook a *lot*
> > of finely chopped garlic (maybe half a dozen large cloves) in enough
> > olive oil to liberally coat all the pieces but not enough to float
> > them. She would cook it until the garlic was done but before it turned
> > brown. Then she would toss about three quarters of a cup of warm tap
> > water into the pan after turning off the heat.
>
>
> Whereas my folks would cook whole cloves are garlic until lightly
> browned and the oil well flavored, but then take the cloves out. Red
> pepper flakes were added, but no water as your folks used. Cheese added
> at serving if desired.

I have yet to find anyone else who added water to it. That was one of
grammas odd culinary ticks, I guess. She had a few others, too. Like
throwing a little bit of dried basil into a pot of simmering tomato
sauce whenever she would walk by it. There's an old myth that basil was
growing at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion. She was deeply
religious and I think that had something to do with it. Like some
people unconsciously reciting a prayer whenever an ambulance goes by.
Food, God, Christ, poverty and prayer were all sort of massed together
inside her tiny 5ft. 2 inch frame and sometimes it was difficult to
tell where one ended and another began.