Spaghetti Carbonara
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Spaghetti Carbonara is one of the simplest, tastiest, and most popular pasta dishes in the Italian cooking repertoire. In our house it’s a regular proposition when there’s little time, or scarecely anything in the fridge – which is not to take anything away from this hearty dish.
What are the origins of Spaghetti Carbonara
Well, you’ve got us there. There are a whole host of explanations behind this simple dish. The most outlandish, perhaps, associates it with a secret society, the Carbonari, a secret masonic society formed in the Kingdom of Naples that participated in the risorgimento and pushed for the unification of Italy. The society took its name and much of its symbolism from the charcoal burners (carbonari) who would walk around the streets of Naples selling burning coal.
Another tradition suggests it was a dish prepared for the coal miners in regions like Umbria – a full meal that was easy to bring away with them, to eat cold down the mines.
It’s been suggested recently that the dish is actually a modern invention, being created by a resourceful Riccione hotel owner during the immediate post-liberation period using bacon and eggs supplied by the billetted American soldiers in his hotel. This flies in the face of logic, somewhat, given that all the ingredients required for the dish were common in central Italy, and there are various similar recipes dating back into the mists of time. What can’t be argued with, though, is that the dish found huge popularity during the liberation period and into the fifties, being exported to the states by returning-home soldiers.
Another theory behind the name relies on the fact that a liberal amount of pepper is sprinkled on the finished dish, like flecks of coal. In 2000 a film, with Ninno Manfredi, Claudio Amendola, and Valerio Mastandrea, was made entitled La Carbonara – set in Rome during the time of the Carbonari, in a restaurant that serves the eponymous dish.
Ingredients
For two:
200grms of Spaghetti
2 Eggs
100grms Guanciale or, if you can’t get your hands on that, pancetta
Pecorino Romano cheese
1 Onion
Olive oil
NOTE: In the authentic Italian recipe, no cream is used. That’s an American innovation.
How to make Spaghetti Carbonara
This is a quick dish to make, so start by boiling the water for the pasta, in a large pot. Chop up your guanciale and onion.Throw in your pasta when the water is ready, along with salt. The Spaghetti takes about 11 minutes to cook al dente.Gently fry the guanciale and onion in some olive oil, until cooked. Beat your eggs in a small dish, adding some pepper.
When the pasta is ready, drain it, and then add it to the pan where you have the guanciale and onion, and over all this pour the beaten eggs. The heat of your pasta should be enough to cook the eggs – trying to keep them runny and viscous, coating the pasta – though you can mix it all over a very low flame should you wish.
To serve, add generous amounts of grated pecorino and pepper.
What to drink with Spaghetti Carbonara
A Frascati superiore
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Tags: frascati, guanciale, italian culinary history, pecorino romano, quick recipes, spaghetti
