Carbonara

What carbonara is not

No cream. This is the most important thing. Authentic carbonara uses the emulsification of egg fat and pasta cooking water as the sauce. Cream is not a Roman ingredient and produces a heavier, less precise dish. No garlic. No onion. No mushrooms. These are additions from outside the Roman tradition.

Guanciale, not pancetta or bacon

Guanciale is cured pork cheek — fattier, less smoky, and more flavourful than pancetta or bacon. It is rendered in a dry pan until the fat turns translucent and the meat is barely crisp. The rendered fat is the cooking medium for the pasta.

The egg technique

Whole eggs plus extra yolks are beaten with finely grated Pecorino Romano and pepper. The cooked pasta goes into the pan with the guanciale off the heat, then the egg mixture is poured over. Vigorous tossing while adding small splashes of hot pasta water creates the sauce — the proteins in the egg set gently from the residual heat rather than scrambling.

Origins disputed

The dish appears in Roman records from the late 1940s–1950s. One theory links it to American soldiers in Italy during WWII who combined their ration bacon and powdered eggs with pasta. Romans dispute this origin. The name may derive from carbonaro (coal-worker) or from the generous black pepper that resembles coal dust.