When history collides with the kitchen …… three tomatoes, two chilli's and a bit of garlic ..... cooking from home no. 6

 The challenge is a simple one.

Three tomatoes, two chilli's, one garlic and some pasta, 2026

Take a handful of ingredients from the kitchen and come up with a favourite meal, while at the same time exploring its history. *

Now Spaghetti aglio, olio e peperoncino, or spaghetti with garlic, oil and chilli is a favourite in our house and is simple, consisting of just chilli, olive oil and garlic. 

Now my Silver Spoon Cookbook says I should just fry the garlic and chillies in some olive oil and add the spaghetti by pulling the pasta out with a fork rather than draining it which keeps the pasta moist and just softens the dish. **

As a variation I prefer using linguini and throw in just enough tomato sauce to add a bit of extra colour. 

At which point purists will sniffily point out that I have wandered into making Spaghetti All’ Amatriciana, which blends my chilli, garlic and tomato mix with diced pancetta, which is close, but as a vegetarian would never include meat.

The finished deal, 2026

But then this Neapolitan dish like all peasant meals will change slightly depending on what ingredients are available and on the preferences of the cook.

And essentially whether it is eaten in a rural village or in a tenement in the heart of Naples it essentially just flavoured pasta and all the better for that …… cheap, cheerful and quick to make. 

So today while pasta, garlic and chilli pasta graces the tables of posh restaurants its origins are rooted in poverty.

The same poverty that saw poor Neapolitans living in the back streets of the city use the recycle the water from the cooked pasta to wash the pots, because access to water meant a walk down two flights of stairs to a pump in the courtyard.

And before I am accused of making it up this was the everyday chore of a close friend who grew up in Naples during the 1940s, when poverty busied itself in the back streets.

Location; our kitchen

Pictures; from the collection of Andrew Simpson, 2026

*When history collides with the kitchen, https://chorltonhistory.blogspot.com/search/label/When%20history%20collides%20with%20the%20kitchen

 **The Silver Spoon, 2005, 2000 Italian recipes