Cook the pasta in abundant water and drain when cooked. While it is cooking, sauté the garlic and the chili pepper without letting them burn, then dress the pasta, sprinkling some finely chopped parsley on top if you like.

Food History

Due to garlic’s pungent odor, it is generally not used when preparing a romantic dinner for two. Garlic, however, was known to be an aphrodisiac thousands of years ago. In ancient India, for example, garlic was considered to be such a strong aphrodisiac that it was forbidden for monks, young women and widows to eat it for fear of temptation. In centuries to follow, garlic was known around the world to spark passion in anyone who consumed large quantities of it.
Garlic was also known for its medicinal properties, especially in ancient Greece, where it was considered a panacea. Due to its antiseptic properties, garlic is tied to a strange occurrence in Marseilles France at the beginning of the 13th century. At that time, the plague was particularly strong in that city and a large part of the population was contagious. There were, however, four crooks who seemed to be immune to the disease who walked freely around the city. Due to their poverty, the men ate garlic and bread almost exclusively. Once the doctors caught wind of this news, they started prescribing garlic to their patients. News of this remedy spread and garlic became known as “the prescription of the four crooks.”

Other suggested recipes

• Spaghetti with Carbonara Sauce
• Spaghetti with red radicchio and prawn tartare
• Spaghetti with Anchovies