Spaghetti Carbonara

Spaghetti alla carbonara is a Roman pasta built on just four ingredients: eggs, aged pecorino romano, cured guanciale (pork cheek) and plenty of black pepper. The heat of the freshly drained pasta gently cooks the beaten egg and cheese into a glossy, clinging sauce.

Authentic carbonara contains no cream, garlic or onion. The technique is everything: the egg must emulsify rather than scramble, coating each strand while the rendered guanciale adds crunch and salt.

Carbonara emerged in Rome in the years around the Second World War and spread quickly through Italy and beyond. Its name is often linked to carbonari (charcoal workers), though the true origin is debated; some trace its popularity to encounters between Roman cooks and Allied soldiers who supplied eggs and bacon.

Today it is one of the four classic Roman pastas and a fiercely defended tradition — Italians will tell you that cream, and the wrong cut of pork, have no place in a real carbonara.