He was an extravagant character who used to personally serve his paper-thin fettuccine with golden forks, apparently donated to him by Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks, the famous silent movie stars. In the fifties and sixties, Hollywood discovered Rome. Paparazzi photographers took photos of actors such as Tyrone Power, Ava Gardner, Richard Burton, Liz Taylor, or Sophia Loren in front of a plate of Fettuccine all’Alfredo, making his restaurant famous all around the world. The restaurant is now run buy his grandson, and the golden forks are still used to serve this dish for special occasions.

Samuel Chamberlain, journalist and food writer, met Alfredo in the late fifties and wrote in his book “Italian Bouquet – An Epicurean Tour of Italy” (New York, 1958): “Finally there is the great Alfredo, showman par excellence, who draws an endless file of amazed and hungry tourists to watch his calisthenics over a dish of hot noodles. The King of Noodles has come out of retirement, and now wields his golden fork and spoon at ALFREDO ALL’AUGUSTEO, at number 31 on the Piazza Augusto Imperatore. His Maestosissime Fettuccine all’Alfredo are most majestic, without a doubt. […] You have to visit this place at least once, we suppose, just to say you have seen this elderly, melodramatic good-hearted clown in action.”

So, forget the heavy cream, the parsley, the garlic, and all the other stuff suggested in the hundreds of Alfredo recipes that circulate around. Take down from the shelf that pasta machine, prepare your fresh fettuccine (you can substitute fresh fettuccine with excellent dry egg noodles), and enjoy the simple Maestosissime Fettuccine al Triplo Burro the way Alfredo himself would do them.