Cookthink

All'amatriciana is an Italian pasta sauce made with guanciale or pancetta, tomatoes, and dried chile peppers. Although it is often associated with Rome, it actually gets its name from its hometown of Amatrice in northern Lazio. This piquant red sauce can be eaten with spaghetti or bucatini. Romans -- who call it Matriciana either because of their regional accent or to strip it of its ties to Amatrice -- add onions and eat it with rigatoni. All'amatriciana is thought to be a variation on a dish called pasta alla gricia, a shepherd's favorite made with guanciale and sausage, freshly ground pepper and sprinkled with Pecorino Romano. The sausage was snubbed and the tomatoes were added in Amatrice, although apparently restaurants there still offer "Amatriciana bianca" or "rossa" depending on whether or not you want tomatoes.

What does it mean to mince something?

On the scale of cutting things into little pieces, a mince is smaller than a dice, shred or chop, but not quite puréed, pulverized or squashed to a pulp. Things that are typically minced include shallots, garlic, ginger, onion, lemongrass, peppers, herbs, meats, words. Why mince? Mince when you want to make sure that a powerful flavor is spread evenly throughout a dish. Also, mince if you want to make sure that you won’t bite into a too-big chunk of something potent, like garlic, or something difficult to chew, like ginger or lemongrass. How to mince? Some cooks are born to mince with a chef’s knife, swiftly and precisely yielding the smallest bits of garlic, onion and herbs. For the clumsy and the lazy, a garlic press will mince several cloves at a time, a grater will work for ginger, and a vegetable chopper or baby Cuisinart will mince vegetables and herbs. A butcher is your best bet for mincing meat. Caution: Mincemeat does not equal “minced meat.” Aside from contributing a little suet to the cause, the butcher can’t help you make a mincemeat (or mince) pie, which contains minced fruits, nuts and spices. The butcher may, however, send you off with “minced meat,” such as ground beef or pork, for your kibbi or larb.

What's the difference between a sardine and an anchovy?

Though they are both small saltwater fish with soft bones and Mediterranean origins, the sardine and the anchovy are not the same fish. Sardine is an imprecise term for any number of small, silvery saltwater fish related to the herring and found throughout the world. They tend to travel in large schools close to the water's surface and are harvested fresh in the summer. In the U.S., sardines are mostly found canned in oil or sauce, salted or smoked. In Europe, larger sardines are also eaten fresh, roasted in the oven or cooked on the grill either whole or in fillets. The name "sardine" may be a reference to the Sardinian coast, where pilchards were one of the first fish to be packed in oil. The sardine is rich in Omega-3 fatty acids and is generally considered to be a brain food. Anchovy refers to a family of small fish found in the Mediterranean, the Black Sea, the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. Anchovies are sold flat or rolled, filleted and either salt-cured or oil-packed. In Europe, however, marinated fresh anchovies are eaten frequently, available in restaurants and Spanish, Greek and Italian groceries. Known mostly for their strong flavor (and aroma), anchovies can be soaked in water to remove excess brininess. Anchovies are used in everything from Caesar salad dressing, bagna cauda, Worcestershire sauce and English "gentleman's relish." Recipe: Radicchio And White Bean Salad With Anchovy Vinaigrette (Cookthink) Recipe: Italian Green Sauce (Cookthink)