My sister found a recipe for an Italian pasta dish called Bucatini Alla Carbonara, and made it for us on Memorial Day. She told me she’d heard about the dish from one of her online buds, someone from Italy who loves this dish.
Here’s another view of it, nestled on top of a lot of kitchen clutter:
It’s nice to have Italian food that isn’t Spaghetti and Meatballs, Lasagna, or Veal Parmigiani. I am convinced that those food items are the equivalent of Chinese-American staples like Sweet and Sour Pork, General Tso’s Chicken, and Beef with Brocolli…sorta ethnic, but varying wildly in quality and completely lacking in authenticity.
I think the main problem with these foods is that people know how the dishes are supposed to look, which makes it easy to meet expectations through visual presentation alone. That doesn’t mean that the food is good. It’s often mushy, overcooked, oversalted, and lacking in distinct flavor. I think of most bad Italian food I’ve had as “red and noodly with sausage and green peppers”, bad chinese as “fried and sweetish-brown with celery and carrots”, bad mexican as “beany, cheesy, and crunchy”, and bad thai as “coconut and lemon grass in brown sauce”. At my favorite restaurants, the dishes have to transcend these stereotypes for me to feel happy. There are a couple kinds of food that I still don’t really have a good feel for and enjoy most of the time: korean and indian; I am still developing my palate, I guess.
Oh, the Bucatini Alla Carbonara was excellent…good job, sis! You can make it for me anytime :-D
4 Comments
Excuuuuuuuuuuuuuse me, Dave. You are in clear violation of posting a gorgeous photo of great looking food without posting the recipe. Repent now and make amends before it’s too late!!!
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Deb, the link is in the first paragraph! Eyes up! :-)
The link you provided is the exact same recipe I used…the only adjustment I made is that I didn’t cook 1 1/4 lbs of pasta…that’s way too much pasta! I cooked half a box of bucatini (not sure how much was in there but it was less than a lb). I kept the measurements of the sauce the same though because it’s always good to have a little extra. :)
Ergh! That’s it—no more posting for me on caffeine-free days! Thanks, and please pass me some tea!