ROME (AP) – Food lovers and chefs in Italy and beyond are urging restaurants to serve up more pasta all’amatriciana in a move to support the quake-hit hometown of the hearty dish.
The rustic food, made of tomato sauce with pork jowl and topped with pecorino cheese, comes from Amatrice, which was destroyed by this week’s earthquake and the idea is for some of the proceeds to go to help the devastated areas rebuild.
Residents in the medieval hilltop town had been preparing to host a yearly food festival this weekend dedicated to the dish. Instead, they will be burying the many dead men, women and children killed before dawn Wednesday in the violent quake. Altogether, three towns were devastated, with 267 people killed, 207 of them in Amatrice.
Now some food lovers hope that they can at least harness the symbol of the devastated town that lost the most for a good cause.
Italian food blogger and graphic designer, Paolo Campana, launched an appeal on Wednesday, saying on Facebook that “We have to move fast.”