SPAGHETTI ALLA FIACCHERAIA (FLORENTINE COACHMAN-STYLE SPAGHETTI)
SOURCE: GIULIANO BUGIALLI. THE FINE ART OF ITALIAN COOKING.
Prior to the automobile industry exploding onto Italy in the late 1880s, Florentine locals and tourists alike relied on a horse-powered four-wheeler coach to get around the city. This early public transport system, known as a fiacchere, was a Tuscan adaptation of the French hackney carriage, fiacre, wherein the latter taxied passengers back and forth from Hôtel de Saint Fiacre in Paris. Qualifying for the position of a coachman or fiaccheraio in Florence used to be lucrative and debasing at the same time. Despite earning the status as the expert guides to the city with financial benefits through government subsidies on their blue jackets and vehicles, early generations of fiaccherai faced public apprehension on renting their rides due to their apparently tough and boorish stereotypes. Contrast this perception to their descendants, who albeit dwindling in number, have become a cultural heritage and a source of tourism in Florence, dispersed along the city squares from Piazza della Signora to Piazza del Duomo. The only remnant that calls back to their past feisty portrayal is the synonymous spaghetti dish that has hot and spicy red peppers mildly spiked and camouflaged into the tomato sauce.
Ingredients
1 tablespoon/15 mL olive oil
2 ounces/60 grams finely chopped pancetta OR prosciutto
1/2 cup/120 grams coarsely chopped red onions
2 cups/450 grams canned Italian plum tomatoes, preferably San Marzano, drained and seeded
1 tablespoon/14 grams tomato paste, preferably Italian
Salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon/1 gram hot red pepper flakes
1 pound/500 grams spaghetti
1/4 cup/28 grams freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano OR Romano cheese
Specific Equipment
Medium-sized saucepan
Slotted spoon
Deep-bottomed stockpot
Colander or colander
Large mixing forks to toss the spaghetti
Serves 4
Instructions
1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and sauté in the pancetta or prosciutto for 15 minutes or until the pancetta or prosciutto have turned golden. Remove the pancetta or prosciutto from the saucepan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Reduce the heat to moderate low and sauté in the onions for 15 minutes or until the onions are soft and translucent. Stir in the tomatoes and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle in the hot pepper flakes. Simmer the sauce for 20 minutes or until the volume sauce has reduced slightly.
3. Cook the spaghetti in a stockpot of boiling salted water until al dente or almost but not quite tender. Drain the spaghetti in a colander. Transfer the spaghetti to a serving bowl.
4. Return the pancetta or prosciutto to the tomato sauce and continue simmering for 1 minute more. Remove the saucepan from the heat and pour the tomato sauce over the spaghetti. Sprinkle in the Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano cheese. Toss the spaghetti and the sauce altogether using the large mixing forks until well-blended before serving.
