Amatrice is a remote town along a mountainous stretch in northern Lazio, Italy. If you look at a map, it seems to sit right in the middle of the country.
mapsoftheworld.com
Their website carries this banner:
City of Amatrice, one of the most beautiful villages in Italy
As we all know now, yesterday, at about 3:30 am, a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook the region. “The town is no more,” Amatrice Mayor Sergio Pirozzi told CNN affiliate Rai of the village, which has a population of around 2,000 people. (CNN)
Before social media and news channels carried the devastating photos, you may have thought you had never heard of Amatrice. Include me in that list, even though we had travelled near that region last year. And then, after reading about the town, I quickly realized that it is home to a favorite pasta dish, Amatriciana, (or pasta alla matriciana), a traditional pasta sauce based on guanciale (cured pork cheek), pecorino cheese, and tomatoes. The recipe dates back to the 1700’s.
This weekend was to be the 50th annual celebration of the town’s Spaghetti all’ Amatriciana Festival.
Instead, hundreds have lost their lives and most that survived cannot return home.
In honor and memory of the town and its people, I plan to make Amatriciana in the next few days. As with all recipes, there are slight variations, so I’ll ask local friends, who are all great cooks, what recipe has been handed down to them over the years.
Judy
Blogging In Italy 
Judy, I’ve been holding my breath waiting to
see you post and hoping that you had not taken a trip to Armatrice this week. So happy you and Len are safe. Beautiful post, very sad for the people of Armatrice and Italy.
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Thanks, Paula, we are fine and did not feel the quake but nearby friends did. So sad for so many. xo
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Judy, it’s terrible isn’t it. I have had RAI Radio 1 on live almost non-stop hoping to hear more people have been found alive but it’s getting more and more unlikely. And now there have been further quakes too. On the BBC news this morning they showed a ten year old little girl being pulled out from under the rubble, apparently unharmed. It brought tears.
Un abbraccio.
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Patricia, It’s so hard to see the photos and the destruction. Tears indeed. xo
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Thank you for your post Judy! Such devastation and sadness, your post is a nice way to honor the people that have been so terribly harmed by this earthquake. Glad friends that we have over there are safe, heartbroken for those that have lost lives and loved ones. See you in Cortona soon, we arrive on the 22nd.
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Yvonne, we were all so fortunate to be a bit over 100 miles from some of the destruction; so very sad. See you soon.
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Judy, on a Catholic website that features the recipe it says that restaurants all over Italy are donating one or two Euros from each order of it to the Earthquake efforts. Could you check with your restaurant friends in Cortona to see if they are part of that? If so, I expect both Yvonne and myself will be ordering lots of it on our upcoming trips.
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Jean, last I saw there are over 600 restaurants participating. Not yet sure which Cortona ones are involved, but will be checking that out this weekend.
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Hi Judy, So happy to hear from you and that Cortona was spared earthquake damage. The news brought tears to my eyes. I immediately thought of you and Len and your safety. This is such a tragedy and the after shocks continue. It is very, very sad. Your plan to honor Amatrice with an Amatriciana dinner is very moving. I too hope once again the town will be able to celebrate the Amatriciana Festival.
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Sandy, thanks for for note. We are well, but hard to imagine the pain so many are suffering. I expect you might be cooking some Amatraciana with some friends soon. xo
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Wonderful commemoration. Amatrice is in my prayers. Glad to know you are safe. Xo
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Thanks and yes we are all well. xo
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Such a tragedy. I have to admit that I always knew there was a town in the Province of Rieti where the amatrice sauce came from, but I never bothered to look at the map to see where it was. I’ve even stayed with friends in the town of Rieti many times and I love the sauce. Very sad to learn of its exact location in such an awful way.
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I always find it interesting when I learn the origin of a food that is familiar to me, yet I hadn’t made the connection. As you say, in this case, so sad to have to learn it this way.
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Judy – Grazie for your Blog on Amaatrice. Che peccato! I heard of the tragedy while here in Kennebunkport, Maine – here for five days vacation with another Friar. Abbiamo pregato per loro. How good of you to prepare a meal in their honor of their specialty. Pace e Bene!
Fr Chuck Faso OFM
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As you say, che peccato! We can only wish for them pace e bene!
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My thoughts are with the people who have lost everything in this terrible tragedy.
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Agreed, so very sad.
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Been glued to the TV. So exciting when they saved that little girl.
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The events sound tragic but the pasta looks terrific!
Thank you
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I do hope you’ll post the recipe so that we can all honor the people of Amatrice.
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Hi Judy, So happy to hear from you and that Cortona was spared fearthquake damage. The news brought tears to my eyes. I immediately thought of you and Len and your safety. This is such a tragedy and the after shocks continue. It is very, very sad. Your plan to celebrate with Amatriciana
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