Published for the first time in Italy in 1954 in the periodical 'La Cucina Italiana', the carbonara recipe is 70 years old. The pasta makers of Unione Italiana Food remember this on the occasion of the eighth edition of #CarbonaraDay on April 6th presented today. Thousands of interpretations and its controversial origins confirm it as the most loved, interpreted and discussed recipe in the gastronomic world. If for purists there are only the 5 canonical ingredients: pasta, bacon, pecorino, egg, pepper, innovators instead believe that there should be no limits to the variations.
According to the New York Times there are, in fact, 400 versions of carbonara around the world. And, more and more often, inspiration comes from the web, given that to date there are over 1 million contents on Instagram of the hashtag #Carbonara.
A survey by AstraRicerche shows that 7 out of 10 know the necessary ingredients, considering bacon (and, with a fair tolerance, bacon), eggs, pecorino or parmesan and pepper as essential. But if 6 out of 10 Italians declare themselves faithful to the classic recipe, there is a certain interpretative flair: 1 out of 5 Italians (especially men) ventures into "differently carbonara" with an ingredient outside the box: cream (6.5%) or milk ( 3.1%), chilli pepper (5.2%), parsley (4.4%), tomato (3.8%). Not only that: there are those who use ham instead of bacon (3.5%) or 'veg' components (mushrooms 2.5%, peas 2.2%, courgettes 2.1%).
A super popular dish even at home: according to the Just Eat Observatory, almost 23 thousand kg of carbonara were ordered in 2023.
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