Today we celebrate Carbonara Day, the favorite pasta of Italians and not only. Thanks to a long list of spokespeople for Italian cuisine abroad, this iconic dish of Roman cuisine has expatriated, enjoying enormous success. Pasta, guanciale, eggs, Roman pecorino cheese, salt and pepper are the ingredients needed to prepare “pasta alla carbonara“.
According to some figures, global pasta production amounts to almost 15 million tonnes, a growth of 3% over the previous year. One out of every four dishes eaten in the world is made with pasta produced in Italy. Of all Italian recipes, pasta carbonara is the most reinterpreted or, better said, twisted abroad: from the addition of onion or cream, to courgettes in the English version or chicken in the Far East. Italians are all agree that for Carbonara no changes are allowed, otherwise ‘it is no longer Carbonara!’.
In Rome, of course, the textbook recipe is respected without any variation on the theme.
Historically, the birth of this dish is traced back to the region of Lazio, but there are several versions on the history of Carbonara. Everyone agrees on one thing: true Carbonara is only made with guanciale (lard).
We asked ITA0039-certified restaurants to send us their Carbonara, with the result that from France to Malta, from Greece to Poland, travelling through England, this plate remains intact in its execution and as good as tradition demands.
Congratulations and good Carbonara to all!
