Puttanesca; Pasta (1840); Dell's not for dunking

[Baker, John]

        Westlaw's earliest puttanesca quote is from a review of Geranio in Alexandria, Va., on July 5, 1984:

        >>For appetizers, split an order of pasta -- especially
penne alla puttanesca, our favorite dish -- simple, small
tubes tossed in a light, intense tomato sauce with shreds of
tuna, black olives and capers. So good it's seductive. <<


        See also this quote from the March 14, 1985 Chicago Tribune:

        >>Italian cooking teacher Maria Battaglia of Evanston explained
the origin of spaghetti alla puttanesca (prostitute style), a dish
of diverse ingredients, which she demonstrated: "It is said, when
the ladies of the evening got home, they were very tired and cooked
with whatever they had in their cupboards."<<


John Baker


-----Original Message-----
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Sent: Thursday, April 18, 2002 12:27 PM
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Subject: Puttanesca; Pasta (1840); Dell's not for dunking


PUTTANESCA

   Emeril has a "Puttanesca" sauce.  I was surprised, but I found that EVERYONE has a "Puttanesca" sauce.
   "Puttanesca" is not in Merriam-Webster, not in OED, and not in John Mariani's ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN FOOD AND DRINK.  The NYPL has a food bibliography on the shelf (1970s & 1980s), and the sauce isn't there, either.  There are a few handy Italian reference books, but not one has it.
   I have the "bad" Lexis/Nexis and no access to the DOw Jones database right now.  The NYPL has EBSCO.  There were ten hits, with the earliet in OPERA NEWS, May 1985, pages 11-14+, "Festa Italiana!"  GLAMOUR magazine, September 1985, pg. 390, also have "Puttanesca."  A NYC restaurant called Puttanesca opened and was reviewed in NEW YORK magazine, May 20, 1996, pg. 144+.  The restaurant was also reviewed in the NEW YORK TIMES, July 5, 1996, pg. C21.