Point taken al, and I am a fan of adapting cuisine - it's what British eating is all about
But in the case of carbonara I maintain that the addition of cream is used by those who can't create the adequate texture just with eggs. There is definitely a knack to it.

So because I'm bored, and because carbonara is one of my specialities, here's the recipe in full:

You need about 5 cloves of garlic & 200g pancetta per person (the 200g is a guess, I never weigh stuff when I'm cooking. Just go for what feels right). Also, cured pig's cheek is better than pancetta, but I don't think you can buy it very easily in this country and I've forgotten the Italian for it, we always jsut called it cheek.

Skin the garlic but leave it in whole cloves, don't chop it. Fry the garlic cloves in some olive oil (not extra virgin!) over a very low heat for a couple of minutes, or until the whole house smells of garlic, then whack the pancetta in and crank the heat up. You're aiming for pretty crispy bacon here so don't be afraid of frying it for a while.

Next, put a pan of water on to boil for the pasta. Salt is somewhat unfairly demonised these days, it is certainly the secret to good pasta. You need, no joke, about 15-20g salt to every litre of water you're boiling. I use Maldon, cos I'm a posh cunt. the 75-100g per person they put on packets of pasta is a lie, go for at least 150g. Or maybe I'm just greedy. Also, always boil the water from cold, don't use your hot tap, and add the salt just before it begins to boil.

Meanwhile (and keep stirring the bacon so it doesn't stick to the pan), beat up some eggs in a bowl. Free range cos they taste better, I don't really give a fuck about the welfare of the chickens. About 2-3 eggs per person, depending on the size of the eggs. To the beaten eggs, add a lot of ground black pepper, and a pinch of salt, then shitloads of grated Parmesan or pecorino, the real shit not the feet smelling rubbish as al pointed out above. A very very small dash of milk may help here, I'm literally only talking a tablespoon or so though.

Now, if you've timed this right, the bacon should be ready first. Remove the garlic cloves and bin 'em, strain the pasta which should be nicely al dente by now and throw it back in the pan with the bacon.

Now the bit there's a knack to and is hard to explain! You tip your bowl of eggs & cheese into the pasta/bacon mixture and stir. The heat from the pasta and the bacon should cook the eggs, resulting in the lovely creamy texture we all know and love. It's not a horrendous crime if you have to touch the base of the pan back onto the hob to get it to cook a bit, but don't do it for too long - you're not aiming for pasta with scrambled eggs! It is difficult to explain but there's a knack to the timing of it all, not difficult once you've done it a few times though.

Serve with garlic bread and a nice chianti.
(Son of Sam-i-am We're all as mad as hatters here, Mon 8 Dec 2008, 15:55, Reply)