PHOTO BY LA CUCINA ITALIANA
A brief history of carbonara
The origin of Pasta alla Carbonara is a matter of debate – as it happens when something is this popular and beloved. If it is true that there's a halo of mystery surrounding the history of one of the most famous pasta dishes in the world, it is also true that we do know a few things for sure.
For example, we know that Pasta alla Carbonara is not ancient matter. It's a pretty recent dish. In a 1951 movie called "Cameriera bella presenza offresi..." one of the characters, the employer, asks the maid if she knows how to make spaghetti alla carbonara. This seems to indicate that the dish was not yet widely known, and it was somewhat of a special skill being able to prepare it.
Another early mention dates back to 1952, when the first Carbonara recipe was published on a restaurant guide from Chicago called “An extraordinary guide to what’s cooking on Chicago’s Near North Side,” authored by Patricia Bronté.
The first Italian recipe for the dish is said to have been published in August 1954 in the magazine La cucina italiana, which lists spaghetti, egg, bacon, Gruyere cheese, and garlic as ingredients. That's right, pancetta and not guanciale. Guanciale comes only later, with Luigi Carnacina's “La grande cucina,” published in 1960. For those who don't know who Luigi Carnacina is, think of him as the father of modern Italian cuisine. It is worth mentioning how "il Carnacina" also includes "panna" – heavy cream – in his Pasta alla Carbonara recipe.
But where does Pasta alla Carbonara actually come from? Where was the idea of pasta with bacon, egg, cheese, and black pepper put together? We have a few hypothesis, but there's one origin story that was never disproved, Renato Gualandi's story.
Renato Gualandi was a young chef of Bolognese origin who was hired on September 22, 1944 to prepare a lunch on the occasion of the meeting between the Eighth English Army and the Fifth American Army in Riccione just liberated (this was during World War II). Making the best of what he had, he unwittingly created a dish destined to become famous worldwide. In his words: "The Americans had fantastic bacon, delicious cream, cheese, and egg yolk powder. I put everything together and served this pasta to the generals and officers for dinner. At the last moment, I decided to add black pepper, which gave it an excellent taste. I cooked the pasta al dente, and they were won over by the dish."
This is what we are able to say with some degree of certainty about the origins and history of Pasta alla Carbonara. Of course, if you ask someone from Rome, they'd very likely tell you a different story. But that's part of the game when we talk about traditions, food, wine, and people. Myth and reality can become almost undistinguishable.
Carbonara ingredients (serves 4)
- 320g (11 oz) spaghetti
- 150g (5 oz) guanciale
- 6 egg yolks, from medium eggs
- 50g (1.8 oz) Pecorino Romano DOP, grated, plus more to serve
- Black pepper
- Salt, for the pasta water
How to make pasta alla carbonara
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta.
- Cut the rind off the guanciale. Slice it, then cut the slices into strips about 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick.
- Brown the guanciale in a nonstick pan over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes. Do not let it burn.
- While the guanciale cooks, boil the spaghetti until al dente.
- Put the egg yolks in a bowl, add the grated Pecorino and black pepper, and whisk until you have a smooth cream.
- Turn off the heat under the guanciale. Lift the guanciale out with a slotted spoon and set it aside, leaving the rendered fat in the pan. Add a ladle of pasta water to the fat.
- Drain the spaghetti straight into the pan and toss it briefly in the fat.
- Take the pan off the heat, pour in the egg and Pecorino cream, and stir quickly so the eggs coat the pasta without scrambling. Add a little more pasta water if the sauce is too thick.
- Stir the guanciale back in and serve at once, with more Pecorino and a pinch of black pepper on top.
Recipe adapted from GialloZafferano, Spaghetti alla Carbonara.
Wine with pasta alla carbonara
Crisp, dry Italian whites are the classic wines for carbonara: Frascati and other whites from Lazio, Verdicchio or Soave. A dry sparkling wine or a light, low-tannin red such as Pinot Noir also works. Read the carbonara wine pairing guide.
