Italians are outraged by a Belgian carbonara sauce made with smoked pancetta instead of guanciale, a key ingredient in authentic recipes. Italy’s agriculture minister, Francesco Lollobrigida, has called for an investigation, citing concerns about the authenticity of Italian cuisine and the impact of “Italian-sounding” products on the country’s economy. The European Parliament has removed the product from its shelves.

by Secret_Divide_3030

37 comments

  1. Fair enough. It’s basically the most easy pastasauce to make – who even buys this in a jar?

  2. They should be happy we didnt add cream instead of eggs.

  3. Wait until they hear about pineapple on pizza, snapped pasta before boiling and pregrated parmazan powder

  4. Yet another example of rightwing conservatives tackling the true problems of the system.

    The Italian in the street is rejoicing!

  6. It’s a trick. This way they can shame the Italians that don’t make their own Carbonara.

  7. Don’t they have anything better to do than complain about jars of terrible sauce with a little Italian flag?

  8. Wait until they learn about Knorr spaghetteria.

    I had no idea these things were uniquely Belgian.

  9. A friend of ours had an exchange student over from Italy. In the supermarket he saw a jar of ‘carbonara sauce’ and was horrified. 2 days later they made authentic carbonara, with her following instructions and him on the phone with his mother, translating Italian to English.

    He still thought pre-grated pecorino was wrong but at least it was made the way it should be made.

  11. Meanwhile those cringe Italians are pouring Belgian ales in a lemonade glass ffs.

  13. Oh no! Anyways …

    Who gives a shit mate. Shall we also cry about mayonnaise because homemade mayo is 10x better? Cry that they’re selling fries for an airfryer? That they suck at making fries abroad? I make my carbonara with bacon bits from Colruyt, and I even strongly prefer it over pancetta. All this shows is that they’re butthurt easily. Grow up.

  14. Fake Italian minister causes outrage to Belgian carbonara.

  15. Fake Italian minister causes outrage to Belgian carbonara.

  16. Imagine them putting fritessaus on frieten and calling them Belgian frieten.

  18. I went through the hassle of buying guanciale a while ago, to make ‘real’ carbonara. I can honestly say I prefer pancetta or just good ol’ bacon. Guanciale is way too fatty for my taste.

  19. That’s how food has always worked! When a food arrives in another country, it transforms according to the local taste and ingredients available. Ramen arrived in Japan from China ～100 years ago, now we have specific ramen with Japanese taste, which is a great addition to worlds’ gastronomy.Who knows, maybe within 20 years Delhaize will have conquered the world with its Belgian Carbonara!

  20. Dear Italians, please stop being a meme and get over yourself. Thanks.

  22. Pancetta is an acceptable alternative to guanciale if none is available

  23. Ah, Belgium, where is the trainer Antje joke about summoning poke Elio Di Rupo to battle the minister until the Italian hurts itself in confusion?

  24. Italian here: what I found hilarious when this shit regularly happens is that the “carbonara” is a post WW2 recipe, there are no mentions of it in sources before 1950.

    So what many Italians see as a historical culinary heritage, is something at most 80 years old.

    (saying this as someone who loves carbonara and would never buy that Delhaize blob, but guys, eat whatever you want)

  25. This is just a smokescreen to generate headlines, a classic part of Fratelli d’Italia’s culture war. The guy went to a Delhaize shop inside the European Parliament to complain about a product marketed by a Belgian company specifically for the Belgian market. There is simply nothing to investigate here. Carbonara is not a legally protected designation of origin nor are there ancient rules regarding its preparation.

    In fact, the ‘purity’ Lollobrigida is defending is a myth. Carbonara is a textbook ‘invented tradition’. It likely originated with American soldiers during WWII who combined their K-rations (bacon and powdered eggs) with local pasta. Food historian [Alberto Grandi](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/27/italian-academic-cooks-up-controversy-with-claim-carbonara-is-us-dish) points out that the first printed recipe actually appeared in Chicago in 1952, not Rome. The recipe remained unstable for decades and even in Italy, chefs commonly used gruyère cheese and cream at least until the late 1960s. This political outrage is over a tradition that doesn’t exist.

  26. If they’re outraged by that, they should visit a bunch of random restaurants here and ask carbonara in each and every one of them, to try it out and put the results on a chart of sorts.

    They’re in for a surprise (and not one they’re going to like).

    I used to make a challenge of it to see how wild and varied carbonara could get. I don’t think there were two restaurants that served it the same way, it can get wild. Though… I think I got an authentic carbonara only once or twice in all my attempts.

    tl;dr: barely anyone used eggs, though a majority did use creamy white sauce. Also mushrooms a few times (ref: chefs using mushrooms in a dish that shouldn’t have it is a sign of a bad chef).

  28. That guy is Trump levels of deranged… Most store bough Carbonara just has pieces of plain bacon, but he’s complaining about pancetta…

  30. It’s quite fortunate that they pay that guy so much to make a fool of himself over such trivialities. The Belgian minister isn’t bothered either because the British pour vinegar on their fries. Moreover, if even the self-proclaimed “Italian food ambassador” Vincenzo says that pancetta can be used if guanciale is unavailable or difficult to find.

  32. Two words: vegan carbonara.

    I’ll be thinking of them when I break my spaghetti tonight. Might also cook them 2 minutes longer.

  33. I prefer the Belgian version of the Italian food than the Italian (original) version lol.
    Currently living in Malta and most of the food is imported from Italy I miss the Belgian food.

  34. I’m craving carbonara

    But I don’t have guanciale

    Should I really even bother, oh no

    Will they judge my carbonara

    Cause I want some cream upon it

    Should I eat it in the closet, oh no

    What have I done

    I’ve added peas to a dish that is otherwise vegetable free

    They say it’s no game

    Hang my head as I eat this [not-carbonara](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75p4UHRIMcU) in shame

  35. ![gif](giphy|sF4K7h4Cne834grocc)

    if my grandmother had wheels….

  36. Wasn’t it like 1 ultra right wing dude in the parliament that saw this and threw a temper tantrum?

    I guess that 1 dude is the entirety of Italy.

  37. Italians still give me nightmares about when I can order Capuccino and when I cannot.

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