This week, the American company Heinz launched something previously unthinkable in Italy: carbonara in a can.
The product, described by the manufacturer as a “pasta with a creamy sauce with pancetta” that is the “perfect solution for a quick and satisfying meal at home”, is due to arrive in UK supermarkets later this month for £2 (R$16), but has already caused a stir among Italians around the world.
Chef Gianfranco Vissani, for example, declared that “this is how you destroy Italian culture”.
But this is not the first controversy involving the dish, one of the most traditional in the “Belpaese” culture.
In the version accepted in Italy, carbonara is made with spaghetti di grano duro, but variations with rigatoni or penne pasta also exist in the country. The recipe also includes guanciale or pancetta, eggs, pecorino cheese and black pepper.
However, outside Italy there are versions of carbonara made with cream, bacon, butter and other ingredients, depending on your creativity.
“Versions of the original recipe have spread throughout the world due to the difficulty of finding the original products in many countries that received Italian immigrants decades ago.
In Brazil, for example, guanciale and pecorino were not found until the mid-1990s,” explained Gerardo Landulfo, delegate of the Accademia della Cucina Italiana in São Paulo, during the Carbonara day 2024, celebrated worldwide on April 6.
Established in 2017 by the Unione Italiana Food and the International Pasta Organization, the date aims to promote what is one of the most consumed dishes in the European country. (HANDLE)
