The pasta carbonara is one of the most famous and celebrated dishes of Italian cuisine, a beloved recipe that for many is almost a religion: those who choose bacon accuse those who prefer bacon and vice versa of heresy, both united in anathema against those who adopt variations with cream , mushrooms, gruyere or even clams (the latter version which appears in some recipe books from the 1950s). The diatribe is destined to heat up on Tuesday 6 April, the day in which the Carbonara Day 2021 and for which a social spaghetti meal is planned.
Carbonara Day 2021
Born five years ago thanks to an initiative of the Unione Italiana Food and International Pasta Organization, Carbonara Day now boasts a huge international audience. The 2021 edition is scheduled a series of virtual initiatives which can be followed through the hashtags #CarbonaraDay and #MyCarbonara. It starts at ten in the morning with a live twitting and from noon we will be able to attend a live social on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Special guests the UIF pasta makers, the chef Luciano Monosilio, the youtuber and actor Willwoosh and the food journalist Eleonora Cozzella, author of the book ‘The perfect Carbonara’.
How carbonara is born
The origins of this recipe are uncertain and there are three valid hypotheses on its birth. The first story takes place during the Second World War, when US soldiers went up Italy taking theirs with them rations K: among the ingredients of the latter there were also bacon and powdered egg yolks. Many Italians suffered from hunger and so, to be well-liked, the Americans gave them K rations: in this way some local cooks would have drawn inspiration to elaborate what would become carbonara.
A second hypothesis shifts the spotlight in the Aquila area, in Abruzzo, and in particular on the charcoal burners who produced charcoal: to obtain this product it was necessary to remain in the charcoal pit for a long time and therefore the workers brought with them food that was easily available and stored. In short, carbonara was born from an evolution of the traditional “cacio euovo” dish. The third and final narrative around the birth of this recipe traces it back to Neapolitan cuisine and in particular to the treatise ‘Theoretical-practical cuisine’ by Ippolito Cavalcanti, published in 1837.
The carbonara recipe
Trying to summarize the different traditions, it emerges that the ingredients of carbonara are five: meanwhile, durum wheat semolina pasta to be cooked in salted water (the most frequent formats are spaghetti and rigatoni). Then eggs, pepper and grated pecorino to add after cooking. In addition, bacon or even, less quoted, pancetta. About this last ingredient we point out that cooking in strips brings out greater flavor than that in cubes.
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