DON’T BURN THE PANCETTA!
DON’T BURN THE PANCETTA!.
For a long time, I have been asked about recipes of Italian cuisine.Most Italian recipes are family treasures, jealously held in secret by our mothers and grandmothers, passed on verbally, if ever, and never written. But, as I lived by myself since age eighteen, over the years I acquired an entire vocabulary of recipes and their secret ingredients, learning that the procedure is more important than the ingredients themselves. So, I decided to start from “pasta alla carbonara” a famous traditional recipe, alas occasionally “perverted” by “creative” wannabe chefs, with the addition of extraneous ingredients that have nothing to do with the classic recipe. It is worth noting that this particular recipe did not exist prior to 1945, when the American troops arrived in Italy to liberate the peninsula from fascism and the Germans. It has been argued that the American troops were missing their traditional breakfast of eggs and bacon, and that some chefs in Napoli and Roma decided to improvise a pasta that provided those flavors. It has not been confirmed.
The original recipe calls for Guanciale, which is hard to find and can be substituted with Pancetta. Please don’t use bacon instead: it is cut too thin and has a different smoky flavor. The first common error is to overcook the pancetta to the point of making it crispy. The second mistake is to leave in the pan the fat produced by the pancetta. Sop, here is how you do it:
* buy sufficient pancetta for the number of people you plan to feed (between 100-120 grams per person/ one pound for four to five.
* Dice-cut the pancetta and put it on a sauté pan. Cook to medium. Do not burn its edges
* In a separate pan, sauté with olive oil a gold or sweet onion that has also been diced; It should cook to be translucent, not yellow; when done, throw it into the pan with the pancetta and turn off the heat.
* In a separate bowl, whisk one egg per person and leave it alone
* In a separate pot, cook your pasta AL DENTE – the ideal shape is linguini or fettuccini (any organic Italian brand like Rummo, De Cecco or Voiello is best)
* Before you strain the pasta, collect about 2 cups of pasta water and set iot aside.
* Get a non-metallic large bowl (metal absorbs the heat) and IMMEDIATELY put the strained pasta in it. The original pot may work well. Don’t let the pasta get cold. Do it right away because the pasta contains the heat to cook the whisked eggs. If you wait even a minute, the eggs may remain too raw. Throw the eggs in the hot pasta and start stirring immediately, though gently. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT sauté the pasta and the ingredients on a pan, like many restaurant chefs do, or you will end up eating a frittata.
* As you stir the pasta, the bottom of the bowl will show you if there is any liquid left. Add a little leftover hot water, as the pasta keeps absorbing moisture. This is an exercise of balance. You have about 30 seconds to do this operation.
* Now you may combine the pancetta and onions into the pasta. NEVER, EVER, add crème, butter or other ingredients: they are pure and utter blasphemy!
* Grind fresh black pepper – it adds dimension and brings a perfume to it.
* DO NOT ADD ANY CHEESE YET or, if steered, it will clump up.
* Serve the pasta on the dishes. Only THEN you may grate fresh parmesan cheese on top of each dish as a topping – don’t steer the cheese!
* Last but not least, make sure everyone is already seated to eat. If you wait even 5 minutes (American style) this type of pasta will easily oxidate and get too hard.
ALWAYS cook for a person more than the number of your invitees. I guarantee that someone will go for seconds.
REMEMBER: the secret is in the preparation.
I hope you let me know how it goes.
Giancarlo Pirrone