How to make Spaghetti Carbonara the right way | | A typical dish from Italy

Yes, for spaghetti carbonara you need only a few ingredients. But when preparing it, you can make a lot of mistakes. We show you the real Italian recipe for spaghetti carbonara, as it is prepared in Italy's capital, Rome.

CREDITS
Report: Christine Lebert
Camera: Gioacchino Castiglione
Edit: Christian Förster
Supervising Editor: Ruben Kalus

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:44 Ingredients
01:55 Cooking process
04:18 Outro
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[LetsCookasItaliansdo]

Agree!, Carbonara is not so Easy!... but Italian cuisine can be in general truly simple, economical, and made with a few ingredients adapted through countless regional recipes, but with some simple tricks and underlying principles. Learning Italian cooking is really a great investment of time!

[LastOneAlive]

And when exactly did the Guanciale get so brown? 😅Because when he put it out, it barely got any color..

[charliefrago]

i always thought you added pecorino to the egg mixture, and not just at the end???

[douglasboyle]

You say he uses "only the yolks" of the eggs but at 2:50 you show him putting an egg yolk into a bowl with at least one egg that includes its whites. Not very helpful.

[HerrBrutal-blfk]

This chef knows what he's doing, but chefs seldom rely on culinary history or listen much to what experts of gastronomy have to say. Instead, they are taught to do things one way and often stick to it (even if they make slight alterations every now and then).

There are several unanswered questions surrounding spaghetti alla carbonara worthy of attention, for example:

1. Few Italians would argue with l'Accademia italiana della cucina. According to this widely respected gastronomic academy, a carbonara contains garlic. However, many Italians do not use garlic when making a carbonara. Why is that so?

2. I've learned from several Italian articles and videos by people who apparently know their subject that cream was commonly used in carbonara several decades ago. Why did this change? Today, many Italians are strongly opposed to including cream in the dish, but this wasn't always the case as far as I can tell. What caused this change?

3. There is no mention of spaghetti/pasta alla carbonara in any known source before WWII. Many believe the dish was created during, or shortly after, the war. A common theory, for which there is much support, is that American army rations played a key role one way or another. The US troops "had fabulous bacon, very good cream, some cheese and powdered egg yolks" according to Renato Gualandi, who claimed to have invented spaghetti alla Carbonara together with some other cooks he was working with. Carbonara is first mentioned in a 1950 article in La Stampa. According to the newspaper, the dish was prized by American servicemen stationed in Italy back then. To me, it seems likely that carbonara originally was made with American cheese and bacon, which were later replaced with pecorino romano cheese and coppa, pancetta or guanciale substituting the American bacon. If this is the case, bacon can't really be 'wrong' if it was an original ingredient, can it? The same goes for the cream.

[JohnnyC]

I appreciate the traditional ingredients but in small-town Colorado USA you cannot get guanciale so thick-cut bacon is what you use.

[karmesindryade]

There is nothing wrong with good pasta with bacon, egg, cheese and cream. But: It is not a carbonara. Let us appreciate and keep the traditional Italian recipes. And if someone creates something new which might be different but good too - just give it a new creative name. And the most important thing at all: Enjoy homemade dishes with good ingredients - traditional or modern. Just stay away from the industrial garbage. Buon appetito! 😋

[darrenwendell]

Explain why, with so little ingredients, restaurants charge you an arm and a leg for this dish?

[Cryogenic]

The traditional carborana is with guanciale and pecorino romano indeed, however the non traditional (French) version is with cream and bacon. Both versions are amazing when done property with proper ingredients and technique.

[caseymcadams]

So that serving size is just for a small kid? Right?

[Frostmournt]

Why does the lady explain it like a national geography documentary? Here, we see carbonara in its natural habitat and ecosystem.

[rolansanchez]

What is Guancale? Ita not available here in our country, any options for that?

[Uberskull]

How about including the measurements of ingredients so I can actually follow along with this recipe?

[dpwellman]

Ok, now do the same thing for cheesesteak.

[shwee]

I swear I saw a huge amount of egg whites present in the bowl of supposedly only yolks

[davidh]

There is enough proprietary information in this video to start a civil war in Italy. The guy has a great recipe, however, what he shows is NOT gospel!! First, the major battle here is the use of cheese. Some believe you can only use parmigiano, others strictly pecorino. And pecorino from Sardinia would be absolute sacrilege in Rome. Pecorino has a stronger flavor, parmig is softer. Personally, we use a roughly 50-50 combo. As long as you don't use Kraft from Wisconsin, you will be fine! Find your own preferences. Next the eggs. The answer to everything is 42. The answer to eggs here is 1.5 per person. You can use only yolks, you will be fine. God forbid you use the whole egg, you will be fine. But whatever proportion you choose, for God's sake, DO NOT add the beaten egg to the pasta if the heat is on!!! The pepper - absolutely essential ingredient. If you want to toast the peppercorns first, no problem it WILL be better. And lastly, the guanciale. Sue me, I use my own home cured pancetta. Flavor wise, unless you are in Italy, there is NO difference. Guanciale is much fattier than pancetta. If you are desperate, you can use smoked American bacon, it just isn't as good. It works, but... So, gently fry up the guanciale/pancetta until the fat is completely translucent. The meat can be browned or not. Pour off the liquid fat, reserve, put the meat bits to the side. Next boil up the pasta, the proper cooking time to al dente MINUS 3 minutes. Next, heavily beat the eggs with the cheese. You can add the pepper if you choose. A minute or so before the pasta is ready, reheat the reserved oil in the pan, when hot, TURN OFF THE HEAT, Add the mostly cooked pasta to the pan, mix well, add ½ cup of the pasta water, keep mixing. The pasta needs to be hot, add the eggs/cheese, keep tossing. This is the hard part, The pasta needs to be coated with egg, but the egg must not scramble. As long as the oil was hot, the pasta went in hot, the water is hot, a quick mix should be fine and the egg goes creamy. NOW add the panchetta bits, mix well, grind on the pepper and be generous, serve. You can add chopped parsley, or just serve immediately.

[futebolefernando]

Having said that if you live in country where Pecorino or any ingredient shown is too expensive then go and replace by what you want/can afford either being smoked bacon, panchetta or else. And do call it carbonara anyway.

[flashcloud]

Guanciale is not easy to get and the opposite of cheap in many parts of the world. So some of us have to settle for what is locally available. Carbonara is supposed to be peasant food. Not food of royalty. Other than that, yes, it is only a few ingredients. Not peas or cream or ham (ham doesn't have the fat content).

[InterestingMomentsTime]

Replace chicken egg with quail egg and thank me later since the flavor tasted so much better.

[dean]

I learned how to make it from Luciano Monosilio. I think I’ll stick with him.