The last time the question of when a carbonara stops being a carbonara was addressed in this space, the offender was the fourth estate and the hoi polloi were the purists. As our own F. M. Grabulsky wrote at the time, the New York Times was receiving hate mail over a recipe for “Smoky Tomato Carbonara” it had published.
No, the huddled masses cried, carbonara never contains tomato, and the cured pork used in the dish is guanciale, which is unsmoked. The only other ingredients, apart from the pasta itself, are egg yolks, Pecorino Romano, and plenty of fresh ground black pepper.
The debate this time has reached such a level of intensity that an Italian restaurant in London elected to eighty-six carbonara from its menu rather than give in to demands of customers who clamored for cream in the dish.
The restaurant in question is Bottega Prelibato, in London, and its owner, Gianfillippo Mattioli, is from Rome, where the dish originated and where — he rightfully insists — carbonara is done “the right way.” (When in Rome and all that.) Mattioli told The Mirror, “I am from Rome and I actually know how to do it, and my chef does as well. We don’t use cream, we pre-cook the Italian Guanciale and we make it crispy.”
And for those reasons, to paraphrase “Shark Tank,” the dish is “out” — gone from the menu, finito. “Good decision? Bad decision?” Mattioli asked in a post on Instagram. “We don’t know. You can tell us in the comments. However, one thing we do know, is that we respect your preferences, but we are not willing to compromise on our quality and authenticity.”
So how are regulars taking the news? Fellow purists are unhappy. “Serve it without apology. That’s ridiculous. I make my carbonara exactly the same way and it’s the only way I’ll ever make it,” one wrote, while another fumed, “If they want cream/mushroom/chicken etc etc there are plenty of fake ‘Italian’ chefs willing to cook that hunk of junk.”
But the most telling comment was one posted by the restaurant in response to the advice that they “serve it only to people from Rome who would appreciate it.” The reply? “Trust me, also people from Rome sometimes complain!”
See also…
When Does a Carbonara Stop Being a Carbonara? Free Fro-Yo Today Only
