Pasta alla gricia or pasta alla greca? A near-perfect homonym.

Among the most famous first courses of Lazio, gricia is appreciated by both tourists and locals, combining in the simplicity of its recipe spaghetti, guanciale, the indispensable Pecorino Romano, and finally the spiciness of salt and pepper.
 

Its name often raises some etymological questions, as it cannot be traced back to a clear origin: the hypotheses mainly link the term “gricia” to the toponym of Grisciano, a fraction of the municipality of Accumoli that claims the paternity of the recipe, or to the dialectal term used in Rome in the 15th century to refer to the bakers from the Canton of Graubünden (i.e., “grici”).

For sure, Greece has absolutely nothing to do with this.

A deceptive similarity

Pasta alla gricia or simply gricia has nothing to do with recipes for first courses inspired by Hellas: let’s list the main differences!

- first of all, pasta alla gricia is only enjoyed hot, while the Greek-style recipe (or whatever you want to call it) can be eaten cold as well, especially in the summer;

- the pasta formats used for the Greek-style dressing are the most varied, while for gricia, spaghetti is mainly used;

- the ingredients of the Greek pasta are feta cheese, cherry tomatoes, olives, and Parmesan, with the option to add basil leaves or a handful of capers to your main dish.

The best choice for the autumn season

Among the two dishes mentioned, it is obvious to rush to get the ingredients to make your version of gricia at this time of year: there will be plenty of time to reclaim Greek pasta in the summer! Even though this October is not particularly cold, the aroma of crispy guanciale and Pecorino becomes more tempting in the October atmosphere, and it will be even more so in the coming months.

We therefore recommend getting the aged guanciale from Fattoria Lepini and letting yourself be tempted by the shapes of Pecorino from Milk Coop: we guarantee that if there are any leftover ingredients, they will soon find an alternative use in the kitchen... or serve as a great appetizer for your lunch ;)

S&M