Cream or no cream? Onions or no onions? What kind of cured pork or cheese should we choose? It’s intriguing to think that spaghetti ‘carbonara’ likely didn’t come onto the scene until after 1950.
Ada Boni, a trailblazer in home economics, launched a magazine called Preziosa (Precious) in 1915. Just six years later, her collection of slender monthly issues laid the foundation for her legendary cookbook, Il Talismano della Felicità (The Talisman of Happiness), which is still in print today. Boni ran Preziosa until 1959, creating a dynamic synergy between the magazine and her cookbook, each influencing culinary trends as they evolved.
I happen to own a fabric-covered 18th edition of Il Talismano from 1949. It boasts an impressive array of recipes sourced from Italy and beyond. Since Boni was Roman, it’s fascinating to see how she interpreted classic pasta dishes during that time—like spaghetti all’amatriciana (featuring guanciale, onion, tomato, and either pecorino or parmesan), spaghetti al guanciale, and spaghetti con tonno e funghi (with tuna and mushrooms). Yet, there’s no sign of a carbonara recipe at all, which didn’t appear in print until several years later.
There are suggestions that chef Renato Gualandi from Bologna may have created a dish similar to carbonara for American soldiers stationed in Rome toward the end of World War II. Others speculate that traditional Abruzzese recipes, which combined pasta with cheese, egg, and cured pork, could be the origins of carbonara. However, as food historian Luca Cesari notes in his biography on carbonara, the first documented recipe emerged in America in 1952, found in Patricia Bronté’s book, Vittles and Vice: An Extraordinary Guide to What’s Cooking on Chicago’s Near North Side. The recipe was straightforward: boil one and a half pounds of tagliarini and fry half a pound of Italian bacon. After draining both, mix four eggs with a quarter-pound of grated parmesan, whip them, and then combine with the pasta and bacon over a flame.
In August 1954, La Cucina Italiana published Italy’s first carbonara recipe, spurred by reader requests. It called for pancetta, Gruyère, eggs, and garlic.
While I don’t yet have a 1960s edition of Il Talismano, I do possess a notable 1961 cookbook titled Il Carnacina by Luigi Carnacina, which includes a carbonara recipe that features spaghetti, guanciale, olive oil, butter, parmesan, and “a few” tablespoons of fresh cream. Additionally, a 1979 edition of Il Talismano suggests that carbonara should include onions and pancetta cooked in butter and wine, along with eggs, parsley, parmesan, and pepper, while a 1999 edition omits both onion and wine.
This illustrates a fundamental truth: recipes are always evolving. Through the contributions of Ada, Renato, Luca, Patricia, and Luigi, we combine elements like bacon, butter, parmesan, pancetta, wine, onion, garlic, and cream into our understanding of carbonara. For this week’s recipe, I’m recommending the 1979 version, adjusted for six servings to honor Ada’s proportions.
This recipe uses a clever “bowl” technique to prevent the eggs from scrambling. The residual heat in the warm bowl allows the beaten egg, cheese, pork, and its fat to come together as a sauce. I’ve made a couple of adjustments: I found that using three whole eggs was challenging to incorporate, so I suggest using three egg yolks and one whole egg instead. Also, the recipe advises against salting pasta water, a step I’m skipping from now on. Feel free to experiment with Il Talismano’s suggestions or stick with your go-to recipe, which may insist that carbonara must contain only guanciale, pecorino, and egg—at least for now.
**Spaghetti alla Carbonara, 1979 Style (Serves 6)**
– 1 onion, peeled and sliced
– 200g pancetta, diced
– 30g butter
– Half a glass of white wine
– 3 egg yolks, plus 1 whole egg
– 50g grated parmesan
– 1 small bunch parsley, minced
– Black pepper
– 600g spaghetti
1. In a frying pan, sauté the onion and pancetta in butter until lightly colored, then add the wine and let it simmer until it evaporates slowly.
2. In a large bowl, beat the egg yolks and whole egg with the cheese, parsley, and black pepper.
3. Cook the pasta in plenty of water until al dente, then drain or lift it directly into the bowl with the cheese and egg mixture. Mix well, then add the very hot pancetta and onion, mix again, and serve immediately.
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