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Articles from March 2002:

Spaghetti a la Carbonara ››:

Spaghetti a la Carbonara is really bacon & eggs with pasta. OK, in the serving bowl, on the plate and in the mouth it's a whole lot more than that. When done right, the eggs (with some parmigiano reggiano) create a creamy sauce and the pancetta adds a salty meaty tasty thang that makes me wonder why they waste pigs on truffle hunting. Unfortunately, it's pretty easy to overcook it and break the sauce; scrambling the eggs and clumping up the cheese. The trick here is really to have the heat of the pasta rather than the heat of the pan cook the egg and cheese sauce. But, honestly, if it breaks, don't worry. Just do as I do and tell your family and friends that it's supposed to be like that. Because, once they get a fork full in their mouth, they won't remember how it looks. I should know. I've only successfully made carbonara a hand full of times, but I've attempted it dozens of times. In not one instance has anyone done less than smile while eating it (and eat it all).

The keys to the flavor are, of course the bacon and cheese. The bacon has to be good, thickly sliced pancetta. American style bacon doesn't really work. It's too smokey and salty which tends to overpower everything else. Fortunately pancetta is available at the deli counters of most American markets today (if you don't see it, just ask - they most likely have it). And, don't let them slice it into paper-thin wafers on one of those machines. You basically want to fry up little diced cubes of pancetta, so don't let them cut it less than 1/4" thin. For a pound of pasta you'll need a half pound or so of pancetta.

The cheese should be freshly grated parmigiano reggiano. Traditionally the recipe calls for pecorino romano. Straight romano, however, overpowers pretty much any dish it's served in. Most people like a mix of parmigiano and romano, though I prefer straight parmigiano.

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Posted in scripts on Mar 17, 2002 @ 02:32 PM [7 Comments on Spaghetti a la Carbonara]