Day 74: carbonara day

Carbonara Day was celebrated on the 6th of April. A no in-person-attendance event that saw thousands of people around the world pay tribute to it with pictures and videos of their creations across social media.

There were many, what Italian’s would probably call 'unforgivable’, twists on the classic carbonara, such as the addition of tomatoes, tomato puree, and perhaps the worst of all: cream. I think the issue here is adultering a classic so far beyond its provenance that it in fact becomes an entirely different dish, and whilst it may taste delicious, the creator should probably think twice before calling it a carbonara.

Indeed, until a few years ago, I used to make carbonara quite often. Although it wasn’t a carbonara, was it: I used cream and lots of it. Even petit pois made their way into it too. Yes, it was delicious, but not deserving of the name carbonara. And I soon stopped referring to it as so when I asked in an Italian restaurant why there was no cream in my carbonara and nearly got a glass of wine thrown over me. Don’t worry, I was polite and all was in jest, but it raises a very good issue on authenticity and our perception of what is.

I have never made carbonara the right way (using raw eggs), so what better place to start - and keeping it relevant to this cookalong - than with Nigella’s Spaghetti Carbonara from the esteemed How To Eat.

Nigella’s Spaghetti Carbonara

My only change here, and not by intention but by necessity, was to use a piece of fatty, smoked streaky bacon from the local Polish deli. I couldn’t get a piece of pancetta or guanciale and I do not like the pre-cubed supermarket packets of it - I find it chewy and bland (even if I do splash out on a good one).

Of course, my biggest fear here was ending up with a bowl of spaghetti with scrambled eggs, and I very nearly did: I used a cast iron pan, which takes considerably longer to cool after taking off the heat than a regular pan might, and if I had added the egg straight away it would have most certainly turned into a bacon-studded, spaghettified omelette. I called upon my patience and held back a minute or two after adding the spaghetti to the smokey bacon fats - until the sizzling stopped - and then proceeded to add the egg and parmesan mix.

Flavour musings

This is Nigella’s Spaghetti Carbonara from How To Eat: there’s no cream(!), but the buttery, eggy-richness is enough to make you think you’re eating a cream-laden, salty bowl of spaghetti. And it was exceedingly delicious. I think I was a bit over-enthusiastic with the nutmeg, but I know for next time.