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Heavy cream?
I saw a receipe for pasta carbonara and was going to make it. Calls for heavy cream (sometimes other recipes do too).
When I was at the store yesterday, all I saw in the dairy section was some small containers that said whipping cream (not the Redi cannister; these were in little small milk carton containers), & had pics of fruit with some type of well, whipping cream on top. I'm not sure that's what the recipe means. Going to another store's website, this is what comes up when I type in heavy cream. https://www.meijer.com/shopping/sear...roup_id=L1-865 Which should I buy to do the carbonara? Note, I live in a small town of 30,000, but I can't be the first person who needs heavy cream for a recipe. Any input appreciated. Cheers. |
Heavy cream = whipping cream in the little pint cartons. If you put it in a bowl and whisk it vigorously with a little sugar and maybe a touch of spiced rum you'll have a delicious whipped cream.
But traditional/real carbonara has no cream in it, so I'm not sure what the recipe writers were thinking. In real carbonara the sauce is egg, parmesan, and a little of the rendered fat from frying guanciale/pancetta/bacon. |
Originally Posted by gfunkdave
(Post 35013565)
But traditional/real carbonara has no cream in it, so I'm not sure what the recipe writers were thinking. In real carbonara the sauce is egg, parmesan, and a little of the rendered fat from frying guanciale/pancetta/bacon. That's what I thought (about the no cream in carbonara, at least from prior recipes I've read and I think what I've eaten at restaurants. A quick google search shows some recipes w/ cream though. I may put this off until Saturday when I'm off again & read through some more. I have to get TV & I-Net Service sorted, as my promo deal w/ Spectrum just expired. If anyone has input on that type of stuff, I just posed in the cutting the TV cord in Omni lite thread. Cheers. |
Cream? Strict no-no for carbonara*. Bacon is a no-no either as pancetta isn't smoked. Save the cream for making mascarpone**.
I think the UK. uses the term "double cream" for whipping cream (~33% m.f.) and "single cream" (~18% MF). * = been eating more than usual since I've started making my own pancetta from side belly pork. ** = which I also make because one supermarket insists on selling 2 x 1l container of whipping/heavy cream (33% milk fat) for about the same as 1 x 1l. |
Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
(Post 35013609)
A quick google search shows some recipes w/ cream though.
Originally Posted by YVR Cockroach
(Post 35013623)
I think the UK. uses the term "double cream" for whipping cream (~33% m.f.) and "single cream" (~18% MF).
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Originally Posted by gfunkdave
(Post 35013692)
I suspect these correspond to "heavy cream" and "half and half" in the US.
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There is no cream of any kind in carbonara. The starchy pasta cooking water mixed with the other ingredients creates an emulsion that is creamy but for sure I would never add cream I don't want to discourage you but pasta carbonara can be a tricky one to make. You have to get it just right so the eggs don't scramble.
And although pancetta or guancale is traditional, bacon is just fine if that is all that you can find. |
Originally Posted by travelmad478
(Post 35013741)
No, there's heavy cream (a.k.a. whipping cream) and light cream, and then there's half-and-half. I have no idea what differentiates heavy from light, but half-and-half is something else.
Someone with good algebra or chemistry can concoct their own mix. |
Originally Posted by corky
(Post 35013753)
There is no cream of any kind in carbonara. The starchy pasta cooking water mixed with the other ingredients creates an emulsion that is creamy but for sure I would never add cream I don't want to discourage you but pasta carbonara can be a tricky one to make. You have to get it just right so the eggs don't scramble.
And although pancetta or guancale is traditional, bacon is just fine if that is all that you can find. |
I'm pretty sure that the restaurants didn't have cream in theirs, so I'll take a pass on that.
My local grocery store has Boar's Head pancetta & they often will slice 1/4 lb or whatever I need in the deli section, vs. getting pancetta that's shrink wrapped. I also have bacon. I forgot that I'm out of the cheese so will get that tomorrow after work. And corky, re: what you posted, I remember reading a carbonara recipe & thought holey moley, you have to be fast when you're putting this all together & the warning about the eggs so they don't get scrambled (and also reading it's best to have them at room temperature). I really like carbonara but haven't had it in ages & the one authentic Italian restaurant in town closed (bummer). |
Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
(Post 35014048)
I'm pretty sure that the restaurants didn't have cream in theirs, so I'll take a pass on that.
My local grocery store has Boar's Head pancetta & they often will slice 1/4 lb or whatever I need in the deli section, vs. getting pancetta that's shrink wrapped. I also have bacon. I forgot that I'm out of the cheese so will get that tomorrow after work. And corky, re: what you posted, I remember reading a carbonara recipe & thought holey moley, you have to be fast when you're putting this all together & the warning about the eggs so they don't get scrambled (and also reading it's best to have them at room temperature). I really like carbonara but haven't had it in ages & the one authentic Italian restaurant in town closed (bummer). |
This is how I do it, on the one or two occasions I have done. :)
https://alwaysfromscratch.com/spaghe...dos-and-donts/ |
Sharon...with any recipe be sure to read it all the way through a couple of times before you start to cook. Have all of your ingredients prepped and ready as well as your cookware & utensils.
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UK double cream is not the same as UK whipping cream
there are 3 kinds double cream (blue cartons) single cream (red cartons) whipping cream (green cartons) |
Heavy Cream and Whipping Cream are technically different.... albeit, not by much: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition...am#fat-content
Basically, Heavy Cream is >36% fat, Whipping Cream is 30-36%. Back in my days in the restaurant kitchen we'd always use heavy cream for Alfredo pasta reductions, etc. and whipping cream for desserts... hard to imagine many could tell a difference but I'm sure the cranky chef I worked under thought he could and specifically ordered each. |
Just for clarification we have three main types of cream in the UK
Single cream - around 18% fat Whipping cream is double that at 36% fat Double cream (the kind I generally use) is 48% fat and then there is clotted cream at 55% and extra thick double creams which can be spooned rather than poured, they’re about 50% fat. For a pasta recipe, so long as the cream has around 20% fat (or more) it should be fine. Just stay away from faux creams made up of vegetable oils. |
Originally Posted by travelmad478
(Post 35013741)
No, there's heavy cream (a.k.a. whipping cream) and light cream, and then there's half-and-half. I have no idea what differentiates heavy from light, but half-and-half is something else.
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Originally Posted by corky
(Post 35014794)
Sharon...with any recipe be sure to read it all the way through a couple of times before you start to cook. Have all of your ingredients prepped and ready as well as your cookware & utensils.
Cheers. |
Originally Posted by gfunkdave
(Post 35014437)
This is how I do it, on the one or two occasions I have done. :)
https://alwaysfromscratch.com/spaghe...dos-and-donts/ Cheers. |
I make a carbonara from a famous "celebrity" chef who many pooh-pooh, but this comes out delicious every time and has no cream (or milk for that matter).
You'll see the name if you google "Bacon and Egg Coal Miner's Pasta" - which actually calls for pancetta, I've used both, but it's the combo of combining the egg yolks, parmesan cheese and pasta water that gives it its thickness. |
Originally Posted by Eujeanie
(Post 35016259)
I make a carbonara from a famous "celebrity" chef who many pooh-pooh, but this comes out delicious every time and has no cream (or milk for that matter)
Personally, I just find it scary how a number of famous chefs look like during the pandemic, no one wanted to eat their stuff but them... And to paraphrase another chef, "I mean you are the boss, of your homemade carbonara sauce"... |
Did I miss something? How did it turn out?
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Originally Posted by corky
(Post 35031094)
Did I miss something? How did it turn out?
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Ok, first time not the charm - although it wasn't the eggs turning into scrambled (they didn't) that turned out to be the problem.
I used gfunkdave's recipe above, although amended in technique a bit with an Ina Gartner method that I saw in a video. While waiting for eggs (and other ingredients) to get to room temperature, I probably watched 6 pasta carbonara videos. I think I was video'd out at that point! All but Ina said no cream. She used cream (I did not). Anyway: * the amount made was way too much for one person, so in future I'd scale back on the recipe unless making it for multiple people. * one chef I watched suggested doing full eggs (the traditional way) vs. 1/2 eggs & 1/2 egg yolks. no idea if that made a difference. I did the full eggs Would have to do the 1/2 & 1/2 method next time to do a comparison. * could have used more water that one ladles in to make it more creamy (the pasta absorbed too much, which made the dish dry; the various chefs used a lot more water) * but the big screw-up was that I ended up burning the pancetta! I cook w/ pancetta a lot so surprised myself when it happened, so while the dish was eh, okay, it wasn't great because of that & being a bit too dry. * I think what happened is that gfd's recipe said do the egg mix while the pancetta's cooking & i waited too long to get started on the egg mix, so the pancetta was further along & when I turned back just a minute or two later, the pancetta was crispy to burnt. I ended up eating some of the dish, but as noted, too large a quantity, too dry, and the 'extra crispy' (aka, burnt) pancetta made it ok, a good try but move on to other dishes & maybe circle back some other time. Or get someone who knows how to make it well make it at my place so I can watch. Cheers. |
Originally Posted by SkiAdcock
(Post 35050090)
Ok, first time not the charm - although it wasn't the eggs turning into scrambled (they didn't) that turned out to be the problem.
I used gfunkdave's recipe above, although amended in technique a bit with an Ina Gartner method that I saw in a video. While waiting for eggs (and other ingredients) to get to room temperature, I probably watched 6 pasta carbonara videos. I think I was video'd out at that point! All but Ina said no cream. She used cream (I did not). Anyway: * the amount made was way too much for one person, so in future I'd scale back on the recipe unless making it for multiple people. * one chef I watched suggested doing full eggs (the traditional way) vs. 1/2 eggs & 1/2 egg whites. no idea if that made a difference. I did the full eggs Would have to do the 1/2 & 1/2 method next time to do a comparison. * could have used more water that one ladles in to make it more creamy (the pasta absorbed too much, which made the dish dry; the various chefs used a lot more water) * but the big screw-up was that I ended up burning the pancetta! I cook w/ pancetta a lot so surprised myself when it happened, so while the dish was eh, okay, it wasn't great because of that & being a bit too dry. * I think what happened is that gfd's recipe said do the egg mix while the pancetta's cooking & i waited too long to get started on the egg mix, so the pancetta was further along & when I turned back just a minute or two later, the pancetta was crispy to burnt. I ended up eating some of the dish, but as noted, too large a quantity, too dry, and the 'extra crispy' (aka, burnt) pancetta made it ok, a good try but move on to other dishes & maybe circle back some other time. Or get someone who knows how to make it well make it at my place so I can watch. Cheers. |
I'm not trying to push my recipe, which I've had great success with, but I'm curious about the eggs....my recipe (or rather, RR's recipe) calls for 1 whole egg and 1 egg YOLK, since egg yolks are a known thickener...you mention 1/2 egg whites, which to me are much lighter, not a thickener, and quite frankly, I use mostly for airy meringue.
I'm sorry it wasn't perfect. First time recipes seldom are. But it's how we learn. It will be great next time. |
Originally Posted by Eujeanie
(Post 35050446)
I'm not trying to push my recipe, which I've had great success with, but I'm curious about the eggs....my recipe (or rather, RR's recipe) calls for 1 whole egg and 1 egg YOLK, since egg yolks are a known thickener...you mention 1/2 egg whites, which to me are much lighter, not a thickener, and quite frankly, I use mostly for airy meringue.
I'm sorry it wasn't perfect. First time recipes seldom are. But it's how we learn. It will be great next time. And yes, next time I would add more pasta water as well as adjust the recipe/size down. I agree w/ corky that this isn't really a dish that would do well on reheating. The insult to injury is that my condo smelled like burnt pancetta last night, even though I cleaned up thoroughly after cooking. Grrr. Today I'm going to make lemon chicken piccata, which is one of my go-to dishes that I've made so many times I could do it in my sleep. Cheers. |
lemon chicken piccata - mmmm, one of my favorites, too. Funny, all of these recipes have soooo many variations. This one I use unsalted butter and anchovies along with the capers.
I'm trying to work through all the "classic" Italian pasta dishes. So far the only disappointment has been Amatriciana. I get my pancetta from Trader Joe's, the stuff that's already diced up even though most recipes say chop it up yourself. |
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