Lazio · Roma
Spaghetti alla carbonara
Roman carbonara
Guanciale, egg, Pecorino Romano and black pepper — the Roman carbonara as it is made today, and the most argued-about pasta in Italy.
- Course
- Primo piattoPasta & rice
- Serves
- 4
- Prep
- 10 min
- Cook
- 15 min
La provenienza
Where this recipe comes from
Carbonara is younger than most people think, and its history is now well researched. It first appears in print in 1950, in the newspaper La Stampa, as a dish loved by American soldiers in post-war Rome. The first published recipe came out in Chicago in 1952; the first Italian one, in the magazine La Cucina Italiana in August 1954, used pancetta, Gruyère and garlic. Guanciale appears in Luigi Carnacina's ‘La grande cucina’ in 1960, and the Roman version took its present shape in the decades that followed.
The popular story that it was invented by the ‘carbonari’, the charcoal burners of the Apennines, has no documentary support. There is no official recipe: what follows is today's Roman standard, on which Romans agree — the sauce is an emulsion of egg and cheese, set by the heat of the pasta, never by the flame.
- Provenance
- Documented traditionA regional tradition documented in cookbooks and local practice, with no single official text.
- Defined by
- Roman culinary tradition
- Reference
- First printed in 1950; first Italian recipe in 1954
Ingredienti
Ingredients
Preparazione
Method
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Errori comuni
Common mistakes
- Adding cream, garlic, onion or parsley.
- Mixing the eggs in over the flame: they scramble.
- Using Parmigiano only. Pecorino Romano gives the sharp, salty backbone.
Fuori dall'Italia
Cooking it outside Italy
- If you use pancetta, choose unsmoked. Smoked bacon makes a different (if pleasant) dish.
