by Louisa Chu

Chicago restaurants are joining a worldwide campaign to bring aid to victims of Wednesday's earthquake in central Italy, creating specials and donating the proceeds to the effort. Because Amatrice, one of the villages most damaged in the quake, is the birthplace of the dish spaghetti all'amatriciana, many of the specials involve that pasta preparation.

Indeed, this weekend the village was to celebrate its culinary patrimony with the 50th annual Sagra degli Spaghetti all'Amatriciana (Amatriciana Festival), and an unknown number of visitors who arrived early this week for the event may be among the vicitms. (The death toll has reached 267.) In Amatrice, purists have said Amatriciana sauce should be made with six ingredients only: guanciale, San Marzano tomatoes, white wine, black pepper, peperoncino and pecorino cheese, then tossed with spaghetti.

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Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/