Just tried making pasta and accidentally broke a sacred rule from the ancient scrolls of Nonna. I added cream to carbonara. Somewhere in Italy, a Vespa crashed, a wine glass shattered, and a man in a linen shirt fainted.
I love how Italians act like any deviation from “authentic” recipes is a direct attack on their national identity. I’m so sorry, Giovanni, that I didn’t hand-milk a goat in Tuscany for my cheese or whisper sweet nothings to the dough for exactly 72 hours.
Newsflash: it’s food. It’s meant to be eaten, shared, experimented with—not gatekept like the Holy Grail. But sure, go ahead and scream “mamma mia” in rage because someone put chicken in pasta. That’ll definitely preserve the sanctity of your cuisine.
God forbid we enjoy cooking without getting a lecture from the International Italian Food Police.
Italians in the past were inventors, creating amazing recipes and currently they are close minded copy machines. Try adding garlic to onion and they are asking ancestors for forgiveness. Garlic is legally married to onion ffs.
Comments
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day!
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
Why are you singling out Italians for this lmao what a weird direction to go
Have you actually ever been to Italy? I bet you’ll say that you have plenty of times and I’d say you’re a liar.
They’re not like this at all. They’re dear about their food sure but who isn’t? I’m sure Japan would take issue with serving spaghetti in chicken broth and calling it ramen.
You can eat your pasta with whatever you want, just don’t call it Carbonara then.
You didn’t make carbonara, you made pasta with cream sauce.
Both are perfectly acceptable but not the same.
OP is yelling at clouds. Nobody gives a shit if you can’t cook carbonara correctly.
No you were entitled to make it any way you like, ust don’t call it carbonara. Therein lies the problem, that people insist to call it their version of that when it’s a bastardization and it’s not the thing. Do whatever you want in the kitchen just respect the old recipe, the tradition and the name and where it belongs. Call your creation something else and you’re all set
It’s ok. Don’t call what you ate a carbonara. Call it fancy creamy spaghetti
Why did the man faint? Was he dehydrated?
You don’t accidentally add cream to your sauce.
A pasta sauce with cream can be delicious but it’s not carbonara.
It’s true, all those Italian cooks on Instagram are so purist about things
Yeah, this a very, very bad take. It’s like making a “PB&J” with sunflower butter instead of peanut butter and then complaining about the guy who calls you out for mislabeling the dish.
Hey, check out my BLT! It’s a sandwich with bacon, spinach, and tomato! What do you mean spinach is wrong? What do you mean it’s not a BLT??? Stop gatekeeping recipes, it’s stupid!
I make a lovely Bolognese that I think Italians would turn their nose up at. Fuck off it’s nice.
Comments are actually proving your point. This is crazy lol
If your culture had it’s own cuisine instead of bastardised version of others’, you’d understand why they get mad.
If I saw you preparing a plate of slop and called it hungarian goulash I’d be pissed too.
Italians are a holes when it comes to food honestly
but i can see why, but they need to chill a bit
This reads like it was written by ChatGPT lol
I say go ahead and experiment with recipes, but like, if you add cream it’s just not a carbonara anymore. I’m sure it’s still delicious but it’s not carbonara.
I’m not Italian. But I get where they’re coming from, I’m Jewish and I saw someone post about making baked latkes. Like… ok, those aren’t latkes anymore then, latkes are fried. You made potato pancakes. Delicious I’m sure! But not a latke.
Pop off queen I love this unpopular opinion.
You didn’t make carbonara so don’t call it carbonara.
Mario faints; “Momma Mia!”
300th generation Italian Americans with their 1% Sicilian ancestry getting ready to tell you how to make a dish they dont even like
Hi, we don’t really care as long as you don’t claim it’s authentic, I myself do eat soy sauce capelli d’angelo but I’d never post “How to make authentic capelli d’angelo” following that recipe. Just call it rivisited or smth, or give it a different name entirely as it’ll make your recipe unique and it won’t confuse tourists.
I think this is less so a true opinion and more about the fact that there is an Italian out there that hurt you deeply. Inauthentic isn’t an insult, it just means it’s… inauthentic. Like, taco bell isn’t really mexican food but we all love it just the same. Maybe blame it less on the Italians trying to drop knowledge for aspiring chefs who want to learn authentic recipes and try accepting that you prefer inauthentic Italian food. Italian-American food is just as delicious- it’s just different. Salut!
More unhinged than unpopular
Italians have different names for straight thin past depending on how many millimeters thick it is. And you’re surprised they call entirely different dishes by different names?
There a reason no one likes italians except italians…
I don’t have a stance but I love the zingers. This was fun to read, keep it up,
You can add whatever you want to it but it’s no longer what it’s supposed to be. Now it’s a fake wannabe
I think this exists to a certain extent in every culture. Do you really feel like this is much more common among Italians than other cultures? My mom’s side of the family are all New York and New Jersey Italians and I haven’t noticed this to be true at all. I’ve got a friend too whos family is extremely Italian and they have never been gatekeeping recipes from others. I feel like this post would be considered extremely racist if it was made about any non-white culture. This feels like a post you made because one single person within that culture disagreed with you. My family and friends have a lot of Italian ties and I don’t think this stereotype is true at all among most Italian people. And the fact that you’re fine with disparaging and entire group of people is pretty ignorant. Do better.
FYI this is clearly Chat GPT rage bait, please don’t fall for this
Jokes aside, by being sticklers, the Italians and the French prioritise fresh ingredients and avoid heavily processed food at all costs.
That’s why Americans find it perfectly normal to use “recipes” that involve dropping the content of 2 cans and 3 jars in a tray and placing it in the oven, or why Americans don’t mind having their GMO ingredients come from a lab, and have all their food heavily processed.
Americans act like have free health care to fix all their junk food induced diseases.
At first I thought this wasn’t an unpopular opinion, people can just be fine with what people cook and call their food.
But then I read the comments.
Why are you calling it carbonara when it’s not carbonara? They’re right to think you’re a fool just like I’d think someone was a fool if they made a BLT sandwich and told me it was a burger
I love cream sauces, but a carbonara anywhere doesn’t have cream. You can’t add cream & call it something it isn’t.
There’s no such thing as authentic food. It’s a farce. People are naturally migratory and cooperative. There is no cuisine in the world that is restricted from intellectual and logistical input from all around the world. Italians never heard of a tomato until a few hundred years ago. Carbonera was coined in the 20th century. Food is always evolving. Don’t listen to the haters.
Are we talking about Italians in Italy gate keeping you- or Americans with some Sicilian ancestry 3-4 generations and a century removed who dont speak the language other than pronouncing the foods with exagerrated affections and have never visited the country?
Both call themselves Italian but they arent the same thing at all. Only one is really Italian. Much like what you are making is not carbonara.
I made a chicago deepdish pizza yesterday, but I didn’t make it in a deep dish, just on a flat surface. No thick crust, horrible.
The day before I made tacos, didnt have taco shells so I just took the fillings and ate them with some bread. I think I do not like tacos that much to be honest.
It’s pretty simple, cook whatever you like, call it whatever you want, just do not expect others to agree with you.
These classic Roma pasta recipes are pretty simple and contain just a handful of ingredients, obviously changing or adding just one makes a different dish, that can still taste amazing but it is a different dish. Hence, one shouldn’t be upset when others point out it is not carbonara.
My favorite cooking lesson with nonna was, oh no what if I don’t have XYZ, and she said we use what we have.
Put some ketchup on some pasta.
Hate the dudes who are slightly related to someone in Italy have a fit over deep dish pizza
Funny way of saying that you are a USian.
Is it more like a British carbonara?
Meanwhile in Italy they are just winging it with whatever is in season and local and doing damn near everything by feel. Recipes are guidelines only.
You can make and eat whatever you want, but don’t call it something it is not. It’s that simple.
Upvoted because I’m italian and I know people that would scream at you for saying it,
It’s only stupid because you care
I don’t think anyone cares if you put cream in pasta sauce. The issue you’re seeing is when you call it carbonara. Cultures have some pride in their cuisine, so when you’re lying about a dish I can understand why it annoys people. Adding cream and calling it carbonara is literally no different than if I threw some eggplant on rice and called it sushi. You can see how that might annoy Japanese people, right?
The 70 year old Italian dudes at the traditional Italian restaurant I used to be a dishy at used cream.
How is this unpopular? I thought we all agreed that Italian culinary pretentiousness was a bit silly
carbonate doesn’t have cream.
don’t call it what it isn’t.
it’s like saying you made fried chicken for dinner, but you end up serving baked chicken breasts.
i’m italian and i really do not care. just eat whatever you like. cream to carbonara? i tried it, it’s actually fine. pineapple on pizza? i tried it, it sucks but who am i to say what you can’t or can do with your pizza
No real Italian would say you broke any rules, just mangiamo! The only rule is don’t break spaghetti
I used to work at an Italian deli and I loved telling my very wannabe Italian coworker that something wasn’t Italian and then she would say swear it was “the true Italian way and would ask me “how do you knew?!” “I lived there for 4 months and have vacationed there at least 5 times. How many times have you actually been to Italy?” Never, I thought so. That’s what kept me entertained.
Calling it carbonara is fine. Calling it traditional Italian cabonara is not.
Just like if you’re making a Shepards pie, you need to use lamb. If you use beef you’re making a cottage pie.
If you’re gonna name the dish, do it like it is supposed to.
Otherwise call it something else.
lmao comments are exactly what this post is about. Yeah, today I am gonna say “I made fancy spaghet that is not entirely carbonara” instead of “carbonara”, sure. And, actually, the most obnoxius examples are “don’t break the pasta” and “ew pizza with pineapples”
Yeah but if you don’t use the ingredients for the recipe, you just made a different dish. It’s like swapping out a hamburger for a hot dog, now you have a hot dog and there’s nothing wrong with a hot dog, but it’s weird that you keep calling it a hamburger.
Italian here, bully us please, insufferable behavior must put to an end🤌🏻
Even Italians break their own rules. If they didn’t then there wouldn’t be regional differences around the country. If the person down the road from you makes the dish slightly different, one of the 2 of you broke “the rules.”
Cook the way you like it and just laugh at the people that tell you that you made it incorrectly.
So I made this pasta sauce a couple of weeks ago, based on what I had in my fridge. It was the most amazing pasta sauce I had ever made! And I immediately thought, boy, an Italian would roll over in his grave if he heard about this. But it is amazing!
I had leeks, bacon, half&half, cream cheese, parmigiano reggiano, and the salt mix that I make myself (Rosemary, sage, garlic, pepperonccino, salt, peppercorns). Cooked the chopped up bacon and took out most of the grease, cooked the leeks. Then added the cream cheese and half&half (and my seasoning) and heated it on low until the cream cheese had melted. Then added a ton of the parmigiano off heat. When the pasta was done, I added it to the sauce, added a bit of pasta water and swirled it all in the pot. I was done. Time to eat. Only took as long as the water to boil and cook the pasta to make the sauce. Easy peasy. Then I took the first bite. I almost cried, it was so good.
I made a double batch the next time and froze half. I think I need to bottle and sell this stuff, it is so good. But an Italian would refuse to eat such a monstrosity, I just know it. Their loss.
Then don’t call it carbonara.
We Italians gate-keep recipes because food is part of our culture and traditions.
We don’t break spaghetti, we don’t top pizza with fruits and we don’t add cream to carbonara.
Confused. Is there a single dish out there that doesn’t have a recipe somewhere online?
The ghost of an Italian nonna is going to beat your head in with a rolling pin in your dreams tonight.
Went to Italy last year for the first time with an olive oil allergy.
Not a single place outside of Sicily cooked with olive oil. 2 places openly stated they did not make Sicilian food. The chef in Rome got so upset that he came out to complain that we were accusing him of being Sicilian until he learned we were tourists and had an allergy.
Yet in the US, everyone claims all the Italian food must be traditionally cooked with olive oil or it isn’t real Italian.
Italian food is mid at best, so gatekeeping it in any way is funny.
Carbonara was invented by US soldiers in Italy, in WW2. It’s not even that Italian.
You were lazy on a recipe just like you were lazy getting a bot to write this. Learn to cook.
Its not stupid to protect something. Otherwise its all meaningless.
Broccoli + bacon and milk = carbonara. When does it stop?
Or just accept that the purest versions of those recipes are protected and if you want to make a bastardised version of it, you do you but dont expect a pat on the back.
Make your cream pasta and dont get mad when someone corrects you if you call it carbonara. Easy.
No one’s gatekeeping you, you just don’t understand what a recipe is. Carbonara does not have cream, so you actually made a different pasta dish (which there’s nothing wrong with) but you don’t need to call it carbonara and pretend. Words have meanings, recipes have specific ingredients.
I mean if you are not skilled and can’t make carbonare without adding cream it’s not our fault
I remember watching a TV program with a couple of Italian TV chefs who were touring Italy and trying fits from various different cooks and chefs getting around Italy. One of them may have been Antonio Carluccio.
Anyway, they visited a cafe or restaurant owned by some young people. The idea was Italian cooking but with some influences from other cultures as well, like from south east Asia, South Asia and other parts of Europe. These people were really excited to show these decrepit old dinosaurs what they were doing and from my very non-Italian point of view, it sounded every. However, the dinosaurs just laid into them for not following traditional Italian recipes and methodologies. They completely missed the point of the place and you could absolutely see the hearts of the people they’re breaking because these old farts couldn’t understand what they were doing.
Yes, a lot of Italian is wonderful but that doesn’t mean that it should never change or that other places can’t influence it. Like… Lionfield Music sketches are funny and you can see where they’re coming from a lot of the time but they can also be mean spirited.