Follow By Email: Who Called the Carbonara Police?

Who Called the Carbonara Police?

It's been bubbling up for a while now. First came the carbonara recipes with pancetta or bacon instead of guanciale. Then the spaghetti started to shape-shift, taking the form of instant ramen, udon, and even pizza crust. Later, a hodgepodge of other vegetables, meats, and alliums started to make their way into the mix.

I'll be honest. I'm part of the problem. I once baked some eggs into a lasagna and called it carbonara. But I'm reaching a point where I'm not quite sure what carbonara is anymore. This week, certified Italian food expert and chef Sara Jenkins took on the recent carbonaraissance and made the argument that pasta rules are meant to be broken and even the most traditional classics are meant to evolve over time.

I thought about this when I ate at Joe Beef in Montreal last week for the first time. Amid the Québécois and French classics like foie gras and côte de boeuf was a goofy riff on a pissaladière—the southern French flatbread topped with caramelized onions and anchovies. This one took the form of a tidy little éclair filled with olive and onion–flavored cheese. Replacing the slick of chocolate icing was a single long Cantabrian anchovy. Was it pissaladière? No! It was something much more fun. —Anna Hezel

READ

Traditional Italian dishes like Bolognese and carbonara are being rethought by creative recipe writers around the world. But what does this mean for the Italian traditionalists hitting social media with a few spicy takes? Chef and writer Sara Jenkins says: food rules are made to be broken.
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COOK

Resist the urge to roast your butternut squash! Scott Hocker has a delicate and refreshing take on the autumnal vegetable, marinated in garlic and mint.
Have stale bread? Make bostock.
Udon doesn't need much more than a soft-boiled egg and some black pepper to be great.
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WATCH, STREAM, LISTEN, DONATE

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The TASTE Podcast has been on hiatus for the last couple years, but we've been back in the studio cooking up some very exciting shows for you. In the meantime, check out some of our favorite episodes, with guests like Robert Sietsema, Laurie Woolever, and Daniela Soto-Innes. Subscribe to the feed for new episodes to drop very soon.
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Follow along with our cooking (and let us know about your cooking) on Instagram. You can follow us at @taste and see what the editors are up to at @ahezel and @mattrodbard.

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