Spaghetti alla Carbonara is one of the four Roman classics along with cacio e pepe, pasta alla gricia and amatriciana. It most closely resembles pasta alla gricia, along with the addition of eggs, and has a relatively recent yet still significantly rich history in Italy.

I chose pasta alla carbonara not only because it is absolutely delicious, but most importantly because it represents a new form of the classic idea of “cucina povera” or “cooking of the poor” that is highly thematic within Italian cooking. It involves the use of simple ingredients that are relatively widely available combined with scant and limited amounts of precious ingredients such as salted pork. This is complimented by the utilitarian inclusion of eggs to the sauce, which guarantees its placement within “cucina povera”, a term that is argued to be less of an indication of price and family economics, and more a reflection of simply a “use what you have” mentality to cuisine.

Although pasta alla carbonara is an old-world style dish and considered a classic Roman pasta dish, the origin of the name “carbonara” is a topic of debate. “Carbonara” in Italian means “in the manner of the coal miners”. It is thought that in the mid 1900’s Italian coal miners would make a variety of pasta alla gricia, the oldest of the four Roman sauces, with the addition of powdered eggs and salted pork from the Allied rations in the Second World War to create a rich, calorie and protein dense, delicious new pasta dish. The Allied liberation of Italy in 1944 after World War II coincided with a great increase of coal mining within the area surrounding Rome, which supports this theory. The addition of eggs to the dish created richness, simplified the emulsion process of the pasta water and cheese, and added a dose of protein and caloric intake for the hard-working miners, who used the easily preserved and readily available ingredients that they could find. As a result, the dish was adopted by the Italian-American communities after the war and became very popular both in Italy and back in the United States. An alternate theory is that the term “carbonara” refers to the flecks of pepper, which resemble little pieces of coal, found within the silky sauce of the dish. The history of pasta alla carbonara, at least the WWII narrative, clearly placed the dish in the category of a dish designed as a response to making something delicious out of what was available, and therefore a fair and relatively modern take on the idea of “cucina povera”.

There are few key points about what is considered “authentic” pasta alla carbonara. Predominately, the inclusion of any vegetables or cream, or really anything other than the five listed ingredients, and pepper and cheese to taste, is considered an adaptation and not true pasta alla carbonara.

I found this project to be a joy. Similar to the other four classic Roman pasta dishes, carbonara is a delicate, complex creation composed of simple ingredients, simply cooked well. The only potentially decadent ingredient is the salted pork product. However, even in this case, the rare expensive guanciale or pancetta can very easily and very successfully be replaced by the humble slab of American bacon. Overall, what determines the success of this dish is not in rare or fancy ingredients but in the simple execution of the recipe. Like many of the greatest dishes in the zeitgeist of human cuisine, technique reigns supreme.