History of Carbonara

Carbonara had its beginnings in Rome in either the mid 19th or 20th century – depending on who you’re asking. Its origin is often associated with coal miners (known in Italian as carbonai) who were said to have gathered the ingredients from local farmers, cooked it over a wood fire with just one pot, then brought the recipe with them down from the mountains.

A still spoken but more highly disputed claim is that the dish came from American GIs from WWII who had locals cook from their rations of bacon and eggs. Of course there is no proof to this story and it seems unlikely that carbonara was made from powdered eggs.

We also don’t know when cream was added to the carbonara recipe, though some believe it was brought in during a time when one of the key ingredients in the traditional dish was scarce (likely eggs). Luckily restaurants in Rome, as well as many amazing chefs around the world, continue to preserve the very basic, authentic, and incredible carbonara recipe – which I find far superior.

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