Subject: RECIPE: Spaghetti carbonara
From: [email-masked] (Katherine Rives Albitz)
Date: 5 Feb 88 06:14:55 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.gourmand

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.RH MOD.RECIPES-SOURCE CARBONARA-2 M "30 Oct 30" 1988
.RZ "SPAGHETTI ALLA CARBONARA II" "Spaghetti with raw eggs and Italian bacon"
While there are innumerable minor variations in the way people make this
celebrated Roman dish, there are really only two substantially different
schools of thought.  One maintains that pancetta, a mild, cured, unsmoked
Italian bacon, is the only correct bacon to use.  The other school insists on
the smoked American variety.  Both are good, and both are popular in Italy, but
the version I prefer is the one with pancetta.  The flavor of smoke is not
usually associated with Italian food; certainly hardly ever outside of Alto
Adige, a German-speaking region in the North that was once part of Austria.  In
this dish, I find that smoked bacon adds a sharpness that wearies the palate
after the first bitefuls.  Try it both ways, and decide for yourself.  
.IH
.IG "\(12 lb" "pancetta or bacon" "250 g" 
.IG "2 Tbsp" "olive oil" "30 ml"
.IG "1 Tbsp" "butter" "15 ml"
.IG "4" "garlic cloves,"
peeled and lightly crushed
.IG "\(14 cup" "dry white wine" "60 ml"
.IG "" "salt"
.IG "1 lb" "package thin spaghetti" "500 g"
.IG "3" "eggs"
.IG "\(14 cup" "freshly grated Peccorino romano cheese" "50 g"
.IG "\(12 cup" "freshly grated Parmesan cheese" "100 g"
.IG "" "freshly ground black pepper"
.IG "2 Tbsp" "parsley," "30 ml"
chopped fine.
.PH
.SK 1
Cut the pancetta or bacon into thin strips.
.SK 2
Put the oil, butter and crushed garlic into a saucepan or small saute
pan, and turn on the heat to medium high.  When the garlic becomes colored
a deep gold, remove and discard it.
.SK 3
Put the pancetta or bacon into the pan, and saut\z\(aae until it begins to be
crisp at the edges.
.SK 4
Add the wine, and let it boil away for a minute or two; then turn off the 
heat.
.SK 5
In a large pot, bring 
.AB "4\-5 quarts" "4\-5 liters"
water to a boil.  Add
.AB "2\-3 Tbsp" "30\-40 ml"
salt, and when the water returns to a boil, put in the spaghetti.
.SK 6
Take the bowl from which you'll be serving the spaghetti later, and into it
break the three eggs.  Beat them lightly, then mix into them both grated
cheeses, a liberal grinding of pepper, and the parsley.
.SK 7
When the spaghetti is tender but firm to the bite, drain it, and put it into
the serving bowl with the egg-and-cheese mixture.  toss rapidly and
thoroughly until it is well coated.
.SK 8
Reheat the pancetta or bacon quickly over high heat, then pour the entire
contents of the pan over the spaghetti.  Toss again thoroughly, and serve
immediately.
.SH RATING
.I Difficulty:
moderate.
.I Time:
20 minutes.
.I Precision:
Approximate measurement OK.
.WR
Katherine Rives Albitz
Hewlett-Packard, Ft. Collins, Colorado, USA
hplabs!hpfcla!hpcnof!k_albitz