Every April 6, Italy celebrates carbonara day, a day dedicated to one of the country’s most iconic pastas. Particularly associated with Rome and the Lazio region, the pasta, which is often referred to as “liquid gold,” is made from four simple ingredients: eggs, pecorino cheese, guanciale (pork jowl), and black pepper. While variations of this classic dish abound, including the controversial addition of heavy cream and more unorthodox ingredients such as mushrooms, white wine, and peas, the meal is a staple of Italian cuisine, renowned for its simplicity and heartiness.
However, despite its ubiquity, the dish hasn’t actually been around that long, and no one can really quite pinpoint when, or how, it came into existence. There are, of course, theories and rumors, guesses and assumptions, but surprisingly no common consensus, which has inevitably shrouded this iconic dish in mystery. So, when was carbonara invented, and who was the mastermind behind it?
Some foodies trace the dish’s origins to historical Italian textbooks, including “Il cuoco galante” (the galant cook), published in 1773 by Neapolitan cook Vincenzo Corrado, according to food magazine Gambero Rosso. This book most likely has one of the first examples of mixing pasta and eggs. Not too long after, in 1837, fellow Neapolitan cook Ippolito Cavalcanti published his own cookbook titled “Theoretical-practical kitchen,” in which eggs are once again mentioned in relation to pasta. Now, what’s important to underscore is that in both instances, the cooks used eggs only as a thickening agent for pasta cooked in broth and fried dough balls, according to Gambero Rosso. And while these may be the first humble beginnings of a marriage between egg and pasta, they are also very distant relations of the carbonara we know, and love, today.
One popular theory regarding carbonara’s existence implies that the dish isn’t even Italian, but an American concoction. Some argue that carbonara’s origins can be traced back to the Allied liberation of Rome in 1944, when American GIs brought with them rations of eggs and bacon. Knowing the American inclination toward a hearty breakfast of eggs and bacon, it’s entirely plausible that the two were mixed together with Italy’s penchant for pasta and cheese to create carbonara.
While Gambero Rosso gives this theory some weight, it still argues that the dish was an Italian product, created as a result of Americans during World War II, citing a young Italian cook as evidence. In September of 1944, Renato Gualandi, a young cook from Bologna, was hired to prepare a lunch for the official meeting between the English Eighth Army Division and the American Fifth Army Division in the recently liberated city of Riccione. According to Gambero Rosso, Gualandi threw together a medley of Italian and American ingredients to create the carbonara. “The Americans had fantastic bacon, delicious heavy cream, cheese and powdered egg yolks. I put it all together and served this pasta to the generals and officers for dinner. At the last moment I decided to put some black pepper that gave off an excellent taste. I cooked the egg quite "runny" and they were conquered by the pasta.” Gualandi later became a cook for the allied troops in Rome from September 1944 to April 1945, according to Gambero Rosso, which allowed for carbonara to spread and form roots in the Eternal City.
(Photo Credit: The Spruce Eats)
Another theory, although less advanced than the previous, gives credit to working men. According to La Cucina Italiana, as carbonara can be derived from the word “carbonaro,” meaning “coal burner,” some believe the dish was the brainchild of men who spent long periods of time working outdoors, away from home. It is presumed that they carried the ingredients to make carbonara in their pockets, since they could easily be preserved, and threw them together out of a sheer necessity to eat something that would sustain them during their grueling hour of work.
We may never know where carbonara truly comes from. It may have been an invention of a young, resourceful cook, or it could be the product of generations of influence and inspiration. Regardless of the dish’s origins, there is one thing we know for certain: it’s absolutely delicious.
Asia London Palomba
Asia London Palomba is a trilingual freelance journalist from Rome, Italy. In the past, her work on culture, travel, and history has been published in The Boston Globe, Atlas Obscura, The Christian Science Monitor, and Grub Street, New York Magazine's food section. In her free time, Asia enjoys traveling home to Italy to spend time with family and friends, drinking Hugo Spritzes, and making her nonna's homemade cavatelli.