Carbonara () is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

pasta dish Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, are som ...

from

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

made with eggs,

hard cheese There are many different types of cheese. Cheeses can be grouped or classified according to criteria such as length of fermentation, texture, methods of production, fat content, animal milk, and country or region of origin. The method most co ...

, cured pork and

black pepper Black pepper (''Piper nigrum'') is a flowering vine in the family Piperaceae, cultivated for its fruit, known as a peppercorn, which is usually dried and used as a spice and seasoning. The fruit is a drupe (stonefruit) which is about in dia ...

. The dish arrived at its modern form, with its current name, in the middle of the 20th century. The cheese is usually

Pecorino Romano Pecorino Romano () is a hard, salty Italian cheese, often used for grating, made with sheep's milk. The name "pecorino" simply means "ovine" or "of sheep" in Italian; the name of the cheese, although protected, is a simple description rather t ...

Parmigiano-Reggiano Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' i ...

, or a combination of the two.

Spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...

is the most common pasta, but

fettuccine Fettuccine (; lit. 'little ribbons'; sing. ''fettuccina'') is a type of pasta popular in Roman and Tuscan cuisine. It is descended from the extremely thin capelli d'angelo of the Renaissance but is a flat, thick pasta traditionally made of egg ...

rigatoni Rigatoni () are a form of tube-shaped pasta of varying lengths and diameters originating in Italy. They are larger than penne and ziti, and sometimes slightly curved. If so, they are not as curved as elbow macaroni. Rigatoni characteristically ...

linguine Linguine (, English: ; sometimes anglicized as linguini) is a type of pasta similar to fettuccine and trenette but elliptical in section rather than flat. It is about in width, which is wider than spaghetti but not as wide as fettuccine. The na ...

, or

bucatini Bucatini (), also known as perciatelli (), are a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the center. They are common throughout Lazio, particularly Rome. The similar ziti are long hollow rods which are also smooth in texture an ...

are also used. Normally

guanciale Guanciale () is an Italian cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from ''guancia'', the Italian word for 'cheek'. Production Pork cheek is rubbed with salt and spices (typically ground black or red pepper, ...

pancetta Pancetta () is a salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas. (in Italian). Uses For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di pancetta''). In Italy, ...

are used for the meat component, but

lardon A lardon, also spelled lardoon, is a small strip or cube of fatty bacon, or pork fat (usually subcutaneous fat), used in a wide variety of cuisines to flavor savory food and salads. In French cuisine, lardons are also used for larding, by thr ...

s of smoked bacon are a common substitute outside Italy.

Origin and history

As with many recipes, the origins of the dish and its name are obscure; however, most sources trace its origin to the region of

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. The dish forms part of a family of dishes involving pasta with bacon, cheese, and pepper, one of which is ''

pasta alla gricia ''Pasta alla gricia'' is a pasta dish originating from Lazio. It consists of pasta, Pecorino romano, black pepper and Guanciale. Origin of the name According to the most likely hypothesis, the name of the dish derives from the romanesco word '' ...

''. Indeed, it is very similar to ''

pasta cacio e uova Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ar ...

'', a dish dressed with melted lard and a mixture of eggs and cheese, which is documented as long ago as 1839, and, according to some researchers and older Italians, may have been the pre-Second World War name of carbonara. There are many theories for the origin of the name ''carbonara'', which is likely more recent than the dish itself. Since the name is derived from ''carbonaro'' (the Italian word for '

charcoal burner A charcoal burner is someone whose occupation is to manufacture charcoal. Traditionally this is achieved by carbonising wood in a charcoal pile or kiln. Charcoal burning is one of the oldest human crafts. The knowledge gained from this industr ...

'), some believe the dish was first made as a hearty meal for Italian charcoal workers. In parts of the United States, this etymology gave rise to the term "coal miner's spaghetti". It has even been suggested that it was created as a tribute to the ''

Carbonari The Carbonari () was an informal network of secret revolutionary societies active in Italy from about 1800 to 1831. The Italian Carbonari may have further influenced other revolutionary groups in France, Portugal, Spain, Brazil, Uruguay and Ru ...

'' ('charcoalmen') secret society prominent in the early, repressed stages of Italian unification in the early 19th century. It seems more likely that it is an "urban dish" from Rome, perhaps popularized by the restaurant La Carbonara in Rome. The names ''pasta alla carbonara'' and ''spaghetti alla carbonara'' are unrecorded before the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

; notably, it is absent from

Ada Boni Ada Boni (; 1881–1973) was an Italian chef, magazine editor, food writer and book author. Her most famous book, '' Il talismano della felicità'' (''The Talisman of Happiness'' in English), published in 1928, is considered one of the classic Ital ...

's 1930 ''La Cucina Romana'' ("Roman cuisine"). The ''carbonara'' name is first attested in 1950, when it was described in the Italian newspaper '' La Stampa'' as a dish sought by American officers after the Allied

liberation of Rome The Battle of Anzio was a battle of the Italian Campaign of World War II that took place from January 22, 1944 (beginning with the Allied amphibious landing known as Operation Shingle) to June 5, 1944 (ending with the capture of Rome). The op ...

in 1944. It was described as a "Roman dish" at a time when many Italians were eating eggs and bacon supplied by troops from the United States. In 1954, it was included in

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

's ''Italian Food'', an English-language cookbook published in Great Britain.

Preparation

The pasta is cooked in moderately salted boiling water. The guanciale is briefly fried in a pan in its own fat. A mixture of raw eggs (or yolks), grated Pecorino romano and a liberal amount of ground black pepper is combined with the hot pasta either in the pasta pot or in a serving dish, but away from direct heat, to avoid

curdling Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming, and coalescence. Curdling is purposeful in the production of cheese curd and tofu; u ...

the egg. The fried guanciale is then added, and the mixture is tossed, creating a rich, creamy sauce with bits of meat spread throughout. Although various shapes of pasta can be used, the raw egg can only cook properly with a shape that has a sufficiently large ratio of surface area to volume, such as the long, thin types

, or

spaghetti Spaghetti () is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta.spaghetti
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com Unabridg ...

Guanciale Guanciale () is an Italian cured meat product prepared from pork jowl or cheeks. Its name is derived from ''guancia'', the Italian word for 'cheek'. Production Pork cheek is rubbed with salt and spices (typically ground black or red pepper, ...

is the most commonly used meat for the dish in Italy, but

and

pancetta affumicata Pancetta () is a salt-cured meat, salt-cured pork belly meat product in a category known as salumi, salume. In Italy, it is often used to add depth to soups and pastas. (in Italian). Uses For cooking, it is often cut into cubes (''cubetti di p ...

are also used republication of ''La Buona Vera Cucina Italiana'', 1966. and, in English-speaking countries, bacon is often used as a substitute. The usual cheese is

; occasionally

Parmesan Parmesan ( it, Parmigiano Reggiano; ) is an Italian hard, granular cheese produced from cows’ milk and aged at least 12 months. It is named after two of the areas which produce it, the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia (''Parmigiano'' ...

. Recipes differ as to how eggs are used—some use the whole egg, some others only the

yolk Among animals which produce eggs, the yolk (; also known as the vitellus) is the nutrient-bearing portion of the egg whose primary function is to supply food for the development of the embryo. Some types of egg contain no yolk, for example ...

, and still others a mixture.

Variations

Some preparations have more sauce and therefore use tubular pasta, such as

penne Penne () is an Extrusion, extruded type of pasta with cylinder (geometry), cylinder-shaped pieces, their ends cut at an angle. ''Penne'' is the plural form of the Italian ''penna'' (meaning ''feather'' but ''pen'' as well), deriving from Latin ' ...

, which is better suited to holding sauce.

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

is not used in most Italian recipes, with some exceptions. However, it is often employed in other countries. Similarly, garlic is found in some recipes, but mostly outside Italy. Outside Italy, variations on carbonara may include green peas, broccoli, broccolini, leeks, onions, other vegetables or mushrooms, and may substitute a meat like

ham Ham is pork from a leg cut that has been preserved by wet or dry curing, with or without smoking."Bacon: Bacon and Ham Curing" in ''Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 39. As a processed meat, the term "ham ...

or ''coppa'' for the fattier guanciale or pancetta.

Carbonara sauce

Carbonara sauce is sold as a ready-to-eat

convenience food Convenience food, also called tertiary processed food, is food that is commercially prepared (often through processing) to optimise ease of consumption. Such food is usually ready to eat without further preparation. It may also be easily p ...

grocery store A grocery store ( AE), grocery shop ( BE) or simply grocery is a store that primarily retails a general range of food products, which may be fresh or packaged. In everyday U.S. usage, however, "grocery store" is a synonym for supermarket, a ...

s in many countries. Unlike the original preparation, which is inseparable from its dish as its creamy texture is created on the pasta itself, the

commercial Commercial may refer to: * a dose of advertising conveyed through media (such as - for example - radio or television) ** Radio advertisement ** Television advertisement * (adjective for:) commerce, a system of voluntary exchange of products and s ...

versions of carbonara are prepared sauces to be applied onto separately cooked pasta. They may be thickened with cream and sometimes

food starch Starch or amylum is a polymeric carbohydrate consisting of numerous glucose units joined by glycosidic bonds. This polysaccharide is produced by most green plants for energy storage. Worldwide, it is the most common carbohydrate in human diet ...

, while often using bacon or cubed pancetta slices as its meat of choice instead of guanciale.Cooking Sauce Carbonara, 15 oz. Jar (Directions For Me)
/ref>

References

Bibliography