Advertisement

'Disgusting knockoffs': Italians warn foreign cooks over carbonara recipes

AFP/The Local
AFP/The Local - [email protected]
'Disgusting knockoffs': Italians warn foreign cooks over carbonara recipes
(FILES) This file photo taken on April 05, 2019 shows a traditional famous Italian pasta dish "spaghetti alla carbonara", taken during a preview for the press on April 5, 2019, on the eve of the international event Carbonara Day (#CarbonaraDay) in Rome. - Italian gourmets celebrating on April 6 one of the country's classic pasta dishes, carbonara, have a simple message for foreigners : keep it simple, and don't betray the tradition. "The secret to a good carbonara... is more about what you don't put in it, rather than what you put in it," Eleonora Cozzella, a food journalist and carbonara expert told AFP. (Photo by Andreas SOLARO / AFP)

After recent "disturbing" adaptations of the classic spaghetti carbonara recipe left Italians outraged, the country's gourmands have reminded foreigners attempting the dish to "keep things simple".

Advertisement

"The secret to a good carbonara... is more about what you don't put in it, rather than what you put in it," food journalist and carbonara expert Eleonora Cozzella told AFP on Tuesday.

She was speaking in Rome at the launch of "CarbonaraDay," a once-a-year online marathon of carbonara-themed events organised by Italy's pasta-makers' association.

READ ALSO: The recipe for a classic Italian spaghetti carbonara

Classic pasta alla carbonara, typical of Rome and its surrounding Lazio region, is made with eggs, pork cheek (guanciale), pecorino cheese and pepper - and, as any Italian will tell you, absolutely no cream.

As you might expect, many Italian cooks get touchy when ingredients are changed or added to the mix - often saying anything that deviates from the classic recipe should not be called carbonara.

Advertisement

There was outrage earlier this year when the New York Times' cooking supplement featured a "Tomato Carbonara" recipe, which included tomatoes along with the eggs, and replaced pork cheek and pecorino with bacon and parmesan.

https://twitter.com/dami_dv/status/1362812003836981249

Coldiretti, a farming association, called the US newspaper's recipe "a disturbing knockoff of the prestigious dish from Italian popular tradition," and complained that carbonara was "one of the most disfigured Italian recipes".

But some gourmands are more tolerant of carbonara adaptations, pointing out that the recipe has evolved over time.

The dish was developed in Rome towards the end of World War II, when US soldiers brought bacon to Italy.

Advertisement

A spokesman for the pasta-makers association, Matteo de Angelis, said some old Italian recipes for carbonara - from the 1950s - included incongruous ingredients such as garlic and gruyere cheese.

READ ALSO:

Cozzella said she is "never scandalised" by unorthodox variations on carbonara. But she added: "Some versions may be seen as a homage, and other ones more as an insult."

"The important thing is never to cross the line that betrays the spirit of the dish."

"The problem is never tradition versus innovation, but tradition versus betrayal," she concluded.

You can find the classic carbonara recipe here.

A chef prepares traditional spaghetti alla carbonara during Carbonara Day 2019 (#CarbonaraDay) in Rome. Photo by Andreas Solaro/AFP.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also