Carbonara | Basics with Babish

Hey folks,

About a year ago, a group of real-deal Italian chefs

savagely critiqued some of the biggest Carbonara videos on the Internet.

And as you may remember, my entry was not very well received.

Since then I've dreamt of nothing but Redemption.

So today we're gonna take a crack at two different versions of Carbonara,

a real-deal old-school Italian version,

and a more modern less traditional version that's sure to piss em' off!

Let's get down to basics.

[Intro Music]

All right. So before we can make Carbonara, we've got to make "Carbonara"

which by definition, is made with "Guanciale", a type of cured pork jowl.

It is very delicious but a little hard to find.

So if you can't find it, you can sub with Pancetta if you're in a pinch.

I've got maybe a half-pound here that I'm gonna cut into relatively sizable chunks

and then set aside to make one of the essential elements of any Carbonara dish: The Egg Slurry.

Into a medium bowl or measuring cup goes 3 large eggs, and 1 egg yolk for a little added richness.

And then it's time to finely grate and measure out 4 ounces of cheese.

Truly traditional "Carbonara" uses 100% Pecorino Romano Cheese,

but is commonly balanced out with Parmigiano-Reggiano.

If you want it a little less sharp and a little more nutty, I'm going for a 50/50 ratio.

Into which I'm going to dump our beaten eggs.