The ins & outs of carbonara

Carbonara is a widely known Italian dish that originated in Rome. It’s incredibly simple, with only 5 ingredients (guanciale, egg yolks, pecorino romano, pepper, and the pasta itself) but just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy.

It’s really easy to overcook the eggs and turn the sauce into scrambled eggs if you’re not careful and very fast. A good way to fix that problem, though it’d make the Italians mad, is to add cream to the sauce. This would prevent you from breaking the sauce.

There are many ways that people change the original recipe to make it easier on them, from using cheaper ingredients… to adding cream!

As I stated earlier, carbonara is made with guanciale which comes from the pork cheek or jowl but there are substitutes that are cheaper which is important to know when you’re going to an Italian restaurant outside of Italy.

One such substitute is pancetta, which comes from pork belly. They can, at times, look very similar but besides coming from a different part of the pig there are other things that differentiate them: guanciale has a higher fat content than pancetta, also, despite the fact that they’re both cured meats guanciale is cured for longer, leading to a more robust flavor.

They’re also spiced slightly differently with the guanciale favoring more savory spices like garlic, rosemary, and sage while pancetta favors sweeter flavors like juniper berries and brown sugar.

Now, I’ve said a lot about the differences and similarities between guanciale and pancetta, but what exactly are my thoughts on it?

I believe that if you’re going to a restaurant and support their business, they should provide guanciale because restaurants are expensive and you deserve an authentic experience. Now, if you’re cooking at home, and crave carbonara, pancetta will work just as well… and keep the cream handy just in case 😜