The Perfect Carbonara

Sometimes I feel like carbonara...

As the great grandchild of immigrants, I never felt entitled to Italian Citizenship, but it felt great to be welcomed by my ancestors' country. We are all on this Earth together, so the more love the better and the more carbonara the better.

Recipe for 2 People

Ingredients:
180g Bucatini
20g Grana Padano (Sub: Parmesan)
40g Pecorino Romano
1g (8-12 Whole Peppercorns)
100g Guanciale
2 Yolks
1 Whole Egg

Steps:
For MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY for this dish, I’ve included some of the PREP steps that can be done during cooking. If it’s your first time making this dish or you like taking your time, you can do all of the steps labelled PREP before cooking.

Start heating a pot of lightly salted water. The sauce is already pretty salty.
PREP your guanciale by removing the outer layer and slicing into small 1cm blocks.
Fry the guanciale on LOW, allowing the fat to render and the fat to turn translucent.
Once there is a bit of grease in the pan, add your whole peppercorns and toast for 1 minute.
Remove the peppercorns and continue frying the guanciale until golden brown. Then remove from the heat and set aside.
By now, your pasta water has probably reached a boil, add your pasta and cook until 1 minute shy of al dente.
PREP your sauce in a large heatproof bowl by separating your egg yolks, grating your cheese, and grinding the pepper.
After the pasta has cooked for about 5 minutes, add a spoonful of the starchy pasta water to your sauce bowl. Make sure to stir while slowly adding the water OR use a serving dish to cool the pasta water before adding it.
OPTIONAL: Add some or all of the guanciale grease to your sauce bowl. I like adding it all, but I LOVE the taste of guanciale. It’s a strong flavor, so taste to make sure you like it first.
When the pasta is done, add it to your sauce bowl and mix everything vigorously over the steamy pasta pot. Continue mixing until the sauce thickens up, then add some pasta water to thin the sauce to your liking.

#carbonara #italianfood #pasta

[TriggTube]

What this video IS: A creative way for me to express the feeling of heartbreak I had when a country that I love changed their invitation to a rejection suddenly and without warning... and it's also a carbonara recipe.

What this video is NOT: Ignoring or diminishing the struggles and heartbreak of anyone else in the world who struggles with citizenship, identity or acceptance. I am very lucky to have a place to call home, and though it hurts to put in years of time and thousands of dollars towards a "second home, " There are people in this world who don't have anywhere they feel safe or welcome, and that is a pain that I could never put into a video like this. All I can share is my own story and my own feelings in hopes that it resonates with the stories and feelings of others.

This video is also NOT a statement on what citizenship law should be or what anyone with immigrant ancestors is entitled to. Parents, grandparents, great grandparents. 2 years, 5 years, 10 years. Wherever you draw the line, people will feel excluded. And though exclusion is bad, I understand why governments need to draw a line. There is nuance to this topic that a 70 second video just can't dive into, and there are nuances to my family history that this video also leaves out.

This is the START of a conversation, the beginning of my personal journey towards citizenship, and the initial expression of a unique personal feeling in my own unique personal way... and it's also a carbonara recipe.

I hope you enjoyed it.

[claudiorestivo]

For those who don’t know he is referring to the recently introduced law that allows only children and grandchildren of Italians to get the citizenship. Before you could get it if the blood line was uninterrupted, regardless of the generational gap with the ancestors who left Italy.

[aaronjoseph]

The fact that you took the time to make this in English and Italian as well as took what I’m sure was several attempts to make sure it’s not misconstrued by anyone in the comments. My man you don’t owe any of us justification for how you’re feeling.

You don’t seem like a genuine person you ARE a genuine person. I hope you get to see your dreams come true one day

[Rxon]

As an uruguayan with italian great grandparents, this video hitted me. I travelled alone to Italy for the first time october last year, spent a month there, and I fell in love. I started planning everything to move there, and suddenly, all those dreams were broken by the new law.

[TheDjmathe]

My dad's family also migrated to a different country over a century (or more) ago.
My immediate family were all born in Brazil including me. My parents migrated back to Italy in 2000 after a better life for my brother and I.
While my dad worked tirelessly to afford our living mostly by himself, my mom went church to church looking for old docs, including birth, death, marriage certificates. All in order to verify our acenstry and the name which had been butchered and translated along the years in South America. Now we all hold our Italian passport and I understand exactly how you feel after the new rules in Italy. We were only lucky to be able to find and prove where we came from.

Best
Matheus

[handelowino]

If anyone tries to argue that Cooking is not a form of art, just show them this video (and channel in general).

[mr_mic]

As an Italian living in Italy, I'll be 100% honest, lucky you. It's one thing coming to Italy for a vacation, enjoying the food, the weather, the culture. Living here is a whole other story; you would have to deal with a terrible economy, very high taxes (for the average income), unemployement, useless bureaucracies for anything (especially for a content creator) and so on.
There is a reason as to why your ancestors wanted to get to the US so desperately: unless you are very well off financially, living here is a nightmare, and it's especially bad for content creators.

[tysoncable]

There's plenty of immigration stories like this, i knew one friend who did the university courses including masters to qualify to migrate. Each graduation was met with a change in immigration rules. He eventually made it after 7 years and nearly a hundred thousand in costs. Still felt like a close call.

[danielecatonica]

As an italian if someone love our culture and contruies so much I considere him a real italian, more than a lot of people in this country

[angelo.i]

Bravissimoooo, si vede che hai l’Italia nel sangue 🇮🇹🇮🇹🇮🇹

[Steppi_r]

With this carbonara you're granted italian citizenship dude :) great job.

[pasandesilva]

I just wanted to give you a long hug! I'd say, you are Italian-American-Italian, but also, you are global! ❤

[morenoragona]

date a questo ragazzo la sua possibilità, non ho mai visto nessuno cucinare una carbonara così bene

[SteveKilgore]

Don’t get me wrong, I’m proud of my Italian heritage, but also… the USA is my home. 75% of my heritage is American melting pot, I bleed red white and blue, and while my great grandfather loved Italy, he fought for America in WW1, and was exposed to mustard gas while doing so. He was willing to risk death to gain citizenship in this great country. My ancestors believed in America, I still believe in America. 🇺🇸

[francescogiacovelli]

Probably it won't be much, but I'm Italian and whenever I see a short about Italian cuisine made by a foreigner I always scroll... except if I see your channel's name

[uncreativename]

I did not expect a Carbonara poetry slam to go so hard

[eduardomolinov]

My heart goes to you, truly. I got my citizenship some months ago after moving into Italy for those quiet winter mornings and hot summer evenings. I was lucky. I hope this really gets rolled back.

[jjoy]

This whole video from the words to the food to the music is such a symphony. Bless ya brotha and it doesn’t matter what u r, ur the best regardless 👌🏽🫶🏽

[natashatilikj]

If you love Italy so much you should consider helping it by being critical of all the gentrification that's going on because of Americans moving there

[captaincrgi]

Some families lost their names at ellis island, others gave it up for a chance to forge a new life and family. I know we all feel for them, but my family was the same and they never regretted it. I wont waste their effort abandoning what I still have. Not until my life becomes as intollerable as theirs will I abandon this beautiful country my family helped build