h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Excellent recipe. Purists would disagree on the use of olive oil to fry the bacon, and even more on the use of cream (here in Italy it is widely considered heresy) but they're both accepted variations.

It's one of my favourite dishes, incidentally Quick and easy to make. Do you know where the name comes from? The Carbonari were a secret society during the Italian Risorgimento (the period that led to the unification of the various states that the peninsula used to be divided into. The pasta is called that because the pepper on top looks like coal dust, and carbone is Italian for "coal" (these people, it must be said, had to meet in dark and secluded places: coal sheds and warehouses were ideal for secret meetings).

I agree with leaving the cream out. I generally just use two whole eggs and 2/3 of a cup of grated cheese beaten together (for each pound of pasta), sometimes a little more cheese (I like cheese). Works quite well. Again, it's up to personal taste.

One thing that is true for any taste bud is that freshly grated cheese is far superior to grated-at-the-store. A little extra effort, but well worth it.

Absolutely. No contest.

When researching this, I found many different combinations of eggs and cream. In the end I went with the version that I personally cook, rather than slavishly follow one of the half dozen or so variants that I found.

I will have a go with the "no cream" variant at some point. One question though, how many eggs would you use for 4 people? And do you use the whole egg or just the yolks?

Depends on how much the people like to eat. For 2 people (1 lb. pasta, I guess that's about a half-kilo for you) I use 2/3 cup cheese and 2 whole eggs, beaten together (then just pour the mixture into the pasta in the pan w/ the bacon). For 4 I would use 2 lbs. pasta (1 kilo), 1 1/3 cups cheese, and 4 whole eggs.

Mmmm.