# Creamy Carbonara



## andyhome (Nov 17, 2008)

Hi,
I made my usual Carbonara style dish last night but can never seem to get it like the restaurants do. Also, all the internet recipes seem to be the same. My Version is below. Could fry bacon in olive oil & garlic...and I know I could always add more cream (maybe they mix garlic sauce & cream to add?)
Can someone give any tips? 

Thanks  
  Andy

Carbonara, Andy Style
Grill Bacon, Cook Pasta. Fry sliced mushrooms with garlic and butter, gently. Wisk double cream and eggs plus parmesan, plus season. Drain Spaghetti, add small bit butter to pan, then add egg mix, stirring. Add Bacon


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## ironchef (Nov 17, 2008)

andyhome said:


> Hi,
> I made my usual Carbonara style dish last night but can never seem to get it like the restaurants do. Also, all the internet recipes seem to be the same. My Version is below. Could fry bacon in olive oil & garlic...and I know I could always add more cream (maybe they mix garlic sauce & cream to add?)
> Can someone give any tips?
> 
> ...



Real Carbonara doesn't contain any cream or butter. The eggs should add enough creaminess and richness. The addition of cream makes the dish gummy and heavy. Carbonara should not be a cream based sauce. You also need to render the bacon in the pan. The fat from the bacon adds flavor and depth to the dish. Then, you don't need to add butter. What you're doing is basically adding bacon bits. Try using pancetta or guanciale if you can find it.


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## jennyema (Nov 17, 2008)

Ironchef is right on.

Carbonara doesn't use cream but does rely on bacon fat for richness and flavor.

To make it you first render your bacon in a skillet.  Soften onions or leeks if you want to.  Remove bacon and crumble.

Boil the pasta.

While pasta is cooking combine raw eggs and cheese thoroghly but don't overbeat.

Drain pasta -- save some of the cooking water.  IF you are using frozen peas, add them right before draining pasta.

Add pasta to skillet with drippings.  Add egg mixture and pasta water.  Stir to combine.  Some people temper the eggs with the water.

Add bacon back in.


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## PieSusan (Nov 17, 2008)

If you use the pasta right away and have saved some of the boiling water, you shouldn't have to temper the eggs if you are fast enough.


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## FincaPerlitas (Nov 18, 2008)

Carbonara can be made with or without cream.  Both styles are completely authentic.  I prefer creamy carbonara also.  For a good recipe using cream, check out Giada De Laurentis' recipe on food network.


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## jennyema (Nov 18, 2008)

FincaPerlitas said:


> Carbonara can be made with or without cream. Both styles are completely authentic. I prefer creamy carbonara also. For a good recipe using cream, check out Giada De Laurentis' recipe on food network.


 
Of course you can add cream if you wish to, but I will entirely disagree with you about cream being "completely authentic."  Pasta with bacon and eggs is not made with cream in Italy.  The cheese and the egg yolks give it it's rich and silky texture.

Cream is fine, but it's an American variation, IMO.

Here is Marcella Hazan's recipe and it's good and easy:  Recipe 157958 --- Marcella Hazan's Spaghetti Carbonara: Main Dish Pasta


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## DramaQueen (Nov 18, 2008)

jennyema said:


> Of course you can add cream if you wish to, but I will entirely disagree with you about cream being "completely authentic." Pasta with bacon and eggs is not made with cream in Italy. The cheese and the egg yolks give it it's rich and silky texture.
> 
> Cream is fine, but it's an American variation, IMO.
> 
> Here is Marcella Hazan's recipe and it's good and easy: Recipe 157958 --- Marcella Hazan's Spaghetti Carbonara: Main Dish Pasta


 

*I'm with you all the way on the cream not being authentic. No genuine Italian recipe I've ever seen for Carbonara sauce uses cream. The creaminess comes from scrambling the eggs with the parmesan cheese and just as you drain the pasta drizzle this mixture into the hot pasta while mixing. This will give a silky texture to the sauce. You have to do this immediately while the pasta is very hot so it "cooks" the eggs.*

*Done right, this is one of the best pasta sauces you can eat. And if you want to add cream that's your choice of course. The eggs, parmesan cheese and bacon or pancetta give this sauce a very rich flavor. The cream makes it a little too rich.*

*As a side note, while several of us were in Boston recently we ate at an Italian Restuarant. Three of us ordered Pasta Carbonara and it was served with a raw egg laying on the top of the pasta. None of us could believe it. What were they thinking? It was very unapplealing.   *


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## jennyema (Nov 18, 2008)

DramaQueen said:


> *As a side note, while several of us were in Boston recently we ate at an Italian Restuarant. Three of us ordered Pasta Carbonara and it was served with a raw egg laying on the top of the pasta. None of us could believe it. What were they thinking? It was very unapplealing. *


 

gross.  where was this?


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## FincaPerlitas (Nov 18, 2008)

Apparently carbonara isn't usually made with cream in Italy. However, in the US (and in Costa Rica, where I now live) cream is commonly used. I prefer the version with cream.


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## DramaQueen (Nov 18, 2008)

jennyema said:


> gross. where was this?


 
*It was Croma on Newberry Street. *


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## jennyema (Nov 19, 2008)

DramaQueen said:


> *It was Croma on Newberry Street. *


 
That's only a few blocks from where I am sitting now.  My office window looks down on Newbury St.

I have only been there once and wasn't that impressed.  Now I know not to try it again.


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## DramaQueen (Nov 19, 2008)

jennyema said:


> That's only a few blocks from where I am sitting now. My office window looks down on Newbury St.
> 
> I have only been there once and wasn't that impressed. Now I know not to try it again.


 
Sorry about the incorrect spelling of Newbury St.  
Gorgeous area, we were very impressed.  Too bad about Croma.


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## LPBeier (Nov 19, 2008)

I first learned to make carbonara from my chef instructor who was from Nice, France.  Of course he taught us that it was made with cream.  The cold cream was supposed to help make it easier to "not scramble the eggs" and to give it a rich flavour.  Since I had been to many authentic Italian restaurants and it was one of my favourite dishes, I knew there was no cream and chalked it up to the fact the French use cream and butter in everything.

I make it myself sans cream and like many others here use the rendered bacon fat for flavour.  

Recently I made it as we had in school, with cream, just for fun and was not happy with the way it turned out at all.  It is creamless for me from now on.


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## ironchef (Nov 19, 2008)

LPBeier said:


> I first learned to make carbonara from my chef instructor who was from Nice, France.  Of course he taught us that it was made with cream.  The cold cream was supposed to help make it easier to "not scramble the eggs" and to give it a rich flavour.  Since I had been to many authentic Italian restaurants and it was one of my favourite dishes, I knew there was no cream and chalked it up to the fact the French use cream and butter in everything.
> 
> I make it myself sans cream and like many others here use the rendered bacon fat for flavour.
> 
> Recently I made it as we had in school, with cream, just for fun and was not happy with the way it turned out at all.  It is creamless for me from now on.



IMO the cream just makes it too heavy. There's already a lot of rich flavors with the egg and guanciale/pancetta/bacon. The cream takes it too over the top and makes the pasta taste too one note. The cream actually mutes the other flavors. It would be like serving something like duck confit with a beurre blanc. Way too heavy, unbalanced in flavor, and too rich.


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## LPBeier (Nov 19, 2008)

I totally agree, Iron Chef.  But then again, I think my French Chef Instructor WOULD serve duck confit with a beurre blanc! LOL!!!!!


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## DramaQueen (Nov 19, 2008)

*You nailed it perfectly Iron Chef. Italians keep their pasta sauce on the simple side and the cream would, as you say, mask the flavor of an already rich dish.   Pancetta or bacon, eggs and parmesan cheese. That's it for me. Maybe a little chopped fresh parsley, I have a thing about parsley but that's not traditional.*


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