Carbonara is bacon, egg, Parmesan….that’s it.

[Notsympatheticenough]

I’ll accept garlic.. WTF is this?

Carbonara recipr

Ooh what was the previous recipe @BananaGrana? I’m intrigued now!

I don’t want to face the wrath of the Condensed soup haters so I’ll pm it to you😀

I love the real carbonara but also love my other variation with mushrooms & cream 😆

Well, it has cream in basically and the author is a big advocate for its inclusion. The book is called A Short History of Pasta.

@greenacrylicpaint my Sicilian friend adds cream or crème f, that's where I got my variation from.

My word. I'd like to see the guests' faces as the proud hostess explains the special ingredient in those cupcakes! However, as it is extremely sweet, maybe it's just akin to adding more sugar and some red colouring?

@Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g

I saw emmymade make it on YouTube. She has loads of these "recipes" and she's just deliciously polite about them: "Well, I can't say I care for that flavour..."

I never used soup to make carbonara nor knew anyone that did and if soup was used, it wasn’t considered a carbonara. Guess it depends on the region of the US one grew up in.

Guanciale, egg yolks, salt, pepper, pecorino, pasta water and spaghetti.

You don't put cream in carbonara.

You definitely don't put chicken soup in it!

@ScrambledSmegs agreed.
The funny thing is, on these threads, people always insist that dishes (almost invariably Italian) MUST only be made with X ingredient.

Whereas here, in Italy 😂, we're a lot less proscriptive. I often read these threads to dp (an Italian chef) and his answer is almost always- if you prefer pancetta use pancetta, if you prefer guanciale, use guanciale etc. The historic reason for guanciale is that it's mainly fat, so the cheapest bit of the pig left. Carbonara is a poor man's dish. Hence traditionally Pecorino which is cheaper. I don't like guanciale because the real stuff is too fatty.

The only thing he'd take issue with with some of these (almost) traditional recipes is he'd definitely use 1 whole egg as well as extra yolks and no onion or garlic.

What would he say to cream?

Black pepper is part of the recipe, that's why it's called carbonara.

I actually asked about this.
It's something to do with seasoning.
Also Americans put ranch seasoning in everything.
Probably even in their Carbonara.

@wannarunfromitall that a bacon and cream sauce exists, but it's not called carbonara. He'd be wrong- as seen below (translated from Il Gambero Rosso)

"Most of the anecdotal origins of the dish are just that- it's an urban myth that the dish was invented to feed coalminers, hence the pepper. The name "carbonara" was first used in a film in the 1950s but referred to amatriciana not carbonara and the first published recipe using eggs, guanciale and cheese wasn't even Italian. An egg sauce with pasta recipe dates back to the 18th century- but no bacon or cheese, while a bacon and cheese pasta, but no eggs from 1949.

Trigger warning for the anti-American faction (and Romans)- the first published recipe for Carbonara as we know it was in Chicago. Three years before the first Italian one. 1951 and 1954 respectively. The first published recipes sometimes used garlic and gruyere.

Guanciale replaced pancetta in the 1960s. Cream was typically used until the end of the 1980s. At various stages: wine, red peppers, onions, chili and garlic have all featured in the "traditional" and "authentic" carbonara recipe.

Only in the last couple of decades has it been reduced to eggs (with 1 extra yolk per person on top of the original 1 whole egg) guanciale and pecorino."

I suppose it's like mincemeat. Or the urban myths that everyone in England has a full English every day and stops for tea and cake at 4pm. There is a grain of historical truth in there, but most of it is, and always has been anecdotal. Also I imagine because of a lack of written, prescriptive (or) proscriptive recipes for everyday dishes.

@GGeamhradh, thank you, that was fascinating. I'm the only one who likes spaghetti carbonara in our house. I must have it next time I'm on my own.

I'm the only one who likes it too. So it's my go to night in on my own dish.

The article is good. Felicity Cloake in teh Guardian says something similar.

I still hold that there shouldn't be soup in it. guardian

There used to be a cookbook using Campbells soups, some of the things were actually quite good if you were in a hurry.

So true, in every country so-called traditional recipes vary by area, even in this country there are numerous variations of a 'proper' Yorkshire pudding for example and also things change over time.

Nothing wrong with having chicken or cream or mushrooms or whatever you want with your spaghetti - but why people insist labelling it a carbonara I will never understand. You may as well serve up your creamy mushroom pasta and call it spaghetti puttanesca. It’s just not the same thing.

I think I used that book at school or possibly leaflets they sent out.

Quoted the wrong person there. Sorry.

I used that book at school.

I still keep tins of Campbell's condensed soup in the cupboard, mainly for use as a quick casserole sauce. Mushroom soup makes an excellent quick sauce for a casserole of chicken, turkey or quorn + mushrooms and onions.

Years ago I would often use a can of Campbells cream of chicken with lots of chopped mushrooms, white wine instead of the water and some extra seasoning like paprika.

I once had a flatmate whose "speciality" was a pasta dish which was (over)cooked spaghetti, tins of condensed soup (1 mushroom, 1 chicken), a pre cooked chicken breat cut up, a pack of sliced mushrooms and some grated cheese (from a packet). Mix together and bake... occasionally if feeling fancy add some cooked, frozen teeny tiny prawns...