For those who don’t have access to guanciale… ignore the gatekeeping Italians. Thick cut bacon is perfectly fine and so is pancetta. Edit: sure there is a slight difference in flavor… but not even remotely as much as y’all are making it out to be
I use pancetta in my carbonara all the time, I prefer the taste over guanciale but once you use any other ham or cheese it’s no longer traditional recipe
Guanciale wasn’t even particularly widely available outside central Italy only a few years ago, never mind outside of Italy. Italians abroad usually had to use bacon or pancetta for carbonara unless they had a very good deli nearby. And it was banned in the USA until 2013 and took another few years to proliferate there. We shouldn’t be so absolutist about something that not everyone can get and that those who can have often only heard of it in the last five years.
Yeah, om the other hand, though, who the fuck needs approval from some internet randoms? I make my carbonara with grana padano and bacon, because guanciale is unobtainable, same with pecorino romano or parmesan. To be honest I prefer it over parmesan anyway.
As an Italian, this was excellent. However, bacon and pancetta would work just fine. My Sicilian father uses bacon due to the lack of usage of guanciale and expenses. It’s more convenient and not traditional, but not a bad swap-out. Either way, awesome video. Enjoy that man
@@eganc1976 Interesting joke. My grandmother would be split between slapping my head due to paying too much or not having the right thing. She wouldn't approve the absurd prices over the "so much worse" ingredient
@@JerryEboy69 I was only playing, there was a live morning TV show where an Italian chef was engineering his carbonara, you might see it one day on YT...I meant no disrespect...I bet the recipe used in the family was delicious, and more importantly, shared amongst loved ones. That to me = perfection 🤌🤌🤌
I like the classic approach, and I think it's good to learn the traditional way. But, I feel like it should be a spring board into the realm of experimental cooking that suits you, the one who's gonna eat it. If you wanna use local ingredients because you can't get traditional ingredients at a fair price, do that. This is how food evolves and grows and new culture is formed. Eat for you, not for others.
I actually prefer bacon. I also like to mix in a little bit of cream into my it makes it a little bit more creamy still has the egg flavor in it but it’s not as powerful. So trust me there’s more than one may to make that pasta and it’s still delicious.
You can (and should) definitely add some parmesan with the pecorino! It balances very well the saltiness of the pecorino which is absolutely delicious! Guanciale is the best, but pancetta or bacon can still do the job just fine!
The pan is not " pretty cool" when the sauce is added. Still needs to be quote warm, just not fry. Otherwise, you're eating raw eggs. Add the spag, let the pasta cool the pan, once the sizzling stops, its sauce time. YOU STILL NEED TO COOK IT.
I make carbonara with pancetta. Whenever I’ve asked people about it both in person and online the majority of Italians say it’s fine. At that point, that’s good enough for me. Maybe one day I’ll find guanciale available and make it more authentically, but I no longer get worked up over this.
Yeah, if you don't find guanciale it's not that big of a deal to be honest. Although it's always better to make a recipe with all the correct ingredients, that difference is almost similar to using one type of tomato instead of the other. We still appreciate our traditional food being enjoyed around the world. 💙
In Rome, we usually crush the black pepper and sometimes use a mixture of different black pepper. Also, the pan should be warm, but not hot (I’m not sure why this guy is saying it should be cold).
I think the container you mix everything in should be room temperature. not cold, not warm, not hot. The heat comes from the pasta water and noodles. At least that's how I'd do it.
@@CaptainMurdock1337, Yeah, room temperature is fine and frankly safer. If you have everything ready and can move quickly enough though, I think a pan at low heat to finish the dish is best because it allows the pasta to be served hotter and I have a particular preference when pasta is served very hot so by the last bite it’s still warm if that makes sense.
You get engagement with this comment regardless, but if we're being traditionalist, you've missed out a few steps and can improve on ratios and ingredients. For others, this is a simple dish. The base is all there, but it's really a springboard for you to make alterations. Use 50/50 pecorino and parmigiano. Grind different black peppercorns (tellicherry, sarawak) to make your pepper. Have fun with it. Lived in Rome for 2 years. They certainly do. :)
Our recipe is based on guanciale because it releseas way more fat than pancetta and you can use it to mix it with eggs and pecorino for a way more rich taste. Obviously if you can't get guanciale use pancetta, but there's a reason for it
So if I can't get or want to pay $$$ for guanciale, I'm going to add bacon and maybe even ham and I'll break my pasta if I want. It will be great and I'll eat every bite. Last time I added some mushrooms, spinach, and I had 1/2 a boursin cheese and threw that in too. Awesome!!!
I’m looking trough carbonara videos so I can impress a girl(😂) but I have to say, this is one of if not the best carbonara’s I’ve seen so far! You get my sub just from this short and I already can’t wait to learn more from you❤
Question for the Italians/cooks. Every person I see making this dish always seems to put such a small amount of guanciale, like the meat to pasta ratio is low compared to other pasta dishes I’ve seen. Is that just how it’s traditionally supposed to be? Is guanciale considered expensive?
Typical ratio is one jowl per 4 servings of pasta (about 1 lb of dry pasta). Depending on the size of the jowls, this is usually about 8 oz of meat, which cooks down substantially. Not sure why, exactly! That's just the standard. I love me some meat, so....
Actually, many of us eat quite a lot of meat amd seafood. But guanciale is very fatty and, as you said, very rich. Too much would be too strong in this dosh.
I don't think we have guanciale here in my country. So im using bacon i dont care how many italian dies in the process 😂😂😂 also i noticed there's thick cut bacon now in our supermarket. It's a better alternative to bacon because our thick cut bacon here is very salty.
Guanciali hard to find here but we have it. .i usually save the guanciali for when i make carbonara for visitors, but i use pancetta when its just for myself.
Not everyone can find Guanciale? They don't sell it in some parts of America. All we have is different types of bacon. Do you all know where I can find Guanciale in Tucson AZ?
That is the classic text book way of making Carbonara. People who don’t know how to manipulate eggs and egg yolks under heat will add completely unnecessary ingredients like heavy cream in order to reach the desired texture and consistency. Any real Italian will tell you all you need is some pasta water and some elbow grease to get to the final result you’re looking for. Thank you for sharing this wonderful dish and recipe!
Instead of putting the guanciale fat and black pepper into the eggs and cheese, toast the black pepper in the fat and then add it to bring out more flavour
This is how the ancient Romans made this pasta recipe. Thank you for preserving the simplicity of this wonderful dish. Less is more. You would make them proud.
@@maryyoung6380 The first recipe for a dish called carbonara published in Italy appeared in 1954 in the magazine La Cucina Italiana, some time after the Roman Empire. That recipe had pancetta, garlic, and Gruyere cheese. There was an earlier recipe for pasta cacio e uova, which had cheese and eggs, but no meat, and can be dated back to the 1830s. It appears that pasta carbonara was invented after the US Army arrived in Italy in World War 2, because American soldiers liked their bacon and eggs. Pasta was not eaten in the Roman Empire.
Takes (over)confidence to say “the only way”. Nobody likes cold pasta either, should work on that last part of the dish, double boiler while emulsifying the sauce works better, and that’s not even breaking news All in all great techno que, not need to over extend
Just made Carbonara for the first time ever a half hour ago...wish I saw this. I absolutely made scrambled eggs and spaghetti. Goes without saying that it came out absolutely horrible.
Is there any good beef type as a substitute for the pork? I'm muslim and want to recreate Carbonara at least a little faithful to the traditional recipe
If you can find “beef pancetta” or cured beef belly, it could be similar. Wouldn’t be exactly the same as guanciale but would give you the closest effect.
I do a few things that would make Italians cry but unquestionably improve the dish. I use penne instead of spaghetti, I use parmigiano instead of pecorino, and I put 2 whole cloves of garlic in with the meat while it cooks, although I remove it before adding it to the egg yolks. The one thing I don't do though is add cream. No way.
I put cream in mine, not a lot, probably a quarter of a cup for each portion and then just a little bit of sour cream or Greek yogurt give it more cream
You can do this all with one pan. Once toast your pepper, render the fat. Then you let the fat cook down a little add the pasta and pasta water boil till al dente and emulsify the fat and water. Let it cool a bit more then add the egg pecorino, mix’y mix’y baddah bing baddah boom carbonara
The same goal is achieved however you’re transferring the pasta less so you’re losing less heat with the pasta itself and allowing the dish to be served hotter without curdled eggs
Yup I'm am from Rome, we Use one pan, because you want all that Guanciale flavors to marinate with the egg and Pecorino Romano. My Nonna & Mom taught me how to cook Carbonara since I was 5 year's... it's simple but when I moved to America in Tucson AZ...I can't find any authentic Italian dishes except for one or two true Authentic family made restaurants and I can never find Pancetta or Guanciale 🫣 I miss my Nonnas and moms cooking.
The most important things you have to have if you can get guanciale near your home are the right aged cheese (in the US at least, I find most places don’t use an aged enough cheese) and the right type or blend of fresh black pepper (if you use just regular black pepper corns you find in the US at the ratio Romans use, it will be way too peppery).
@@geoffreyk9164yeah I agree hundred percent. Fortunately I am in the UK and we have plenty of pecorino and good pepper. The guanciale is a little more difficult to find but possible
@@kristianj1977, What is typically used in Rome is a blend of different black peppers so that is what you should look for if you want to make a Carbonara. There is an Eataly on Bishops Gate near Liverpool Street Station in London if you’re there or going to be there.
it's okay because some twits went to culinary school thinking it's gonna be a 200k job then started a youtube channel thinking they're Gordon Ramsey's entire team and now we need a video made. Just fry up Canadian bacon and don't eat it alone and you're golden.
I find it funny that all these keyboard Italians argue the proper way to make a dish that originated in China, without the cured pork...by the way tomatoes originated in the Americas and were brought back to Spain by Columbus in 1495
