I remember seeing a cooking show on TV a number of years ago where they said that the only ingredients should be pancetta, eggs, grated cheese and freshly ground black pepper. Nothing else. No cream, half-and-half, red pepper flakes or anything like that. This was supposed to be the "authentic" pasta carbonara.

However, I will confess to using cream, as well as both red pepper flakes and freshly ground black pepper.

I also remember an episode of Lidia Bastianich's cooking show in which she explained that the red pepper flakes were not originally native to Italy, and therefore, the pepper should be black.

Interesting...


Signor V.

"For me, there's only my wife..."

"Sure I cook with wine - sometimes I even add it to the food!"

"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?"

"It was a grass harp... And we listened."

"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"

"No. Saints and poets, maybe... they do some."