![\"LiberationOfRomeWWIIA-640x506-190313_727\"](\"https:\/\/adribarrcrocetti.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/LiberationOfRomeWWIIA-640x506-190313_727.jpg\" "\\"LiberationOfRomeWWIIA-640x506-190313_727\\"")
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Citizens of Rome, this is not the time for demonstrations. Obey these directions and go on with your regular work. Rome is yours! Your job is to save the city, ours is to destroy the enemy.<\/em><\/p>\n So read the Allied leaflets that fell from the sky early on the morning of June 4, 1944. D-Day was just hours away. Italy and much of Europe lay in ruins, her great capitals and cities reduced to rubble. Monuments and buildings that still stood were pockmarked by bullets, testament to a continent ravaged by war. In less than a year the Third Reich would fall, consigned forever to history’s dung heap.<\/p>\n The Allied communique sent later in the day to Washington and London was considerably shorter – The Allies are in Rome<\/em>. The Italian campaign had begun ten months earlier with the landing at Salerno. After brutal fighting, the American Fifth Army under General Mark Clark advanced to Rome, and entered unopposed.<\/p>\n No propaganda leaflets could restrain the jubilant Romans. By the thousands they welcomed the General and the Allied troops, offering wine and kisses. A boy on a bicycle, just a child, led the way for General Clark’s parade of steel chariots. On to the Campidoglio they rode, along the same streets as the conquerors of old.<\/p>\n Throughout history Rome has been regarded as the center of the world, the Eternal City. At this moment in time, it was the ne plus ultra, the prize above all prizes, and General Mark Clark grabbed the brass ring. His decision to march on the Italian capital remains a topic of controversy; the original battle plan did not call for entering Rome that day, but such is the hubris of a war commander. From Alexander the Great to Julius Caesar to Napoleon and Patton, these men are not like you and I. They are driven by an unmitigated thirst for victory and a hunger for glory. While one can hardly compare the war in Western European to the horrors of the war in Eastern Europe, the fact remains that the fighting in Italy took a greater toll in deaths and injuries to infantrymen than any other Western European campaign, and General Clark’s move on Rome added to it. But for a few days in early June of 1944 that was forgotten.<\/p>\n What better way to celebrate the Liberation of Rome than with the city’s iconic Spaghetti Carbonara. There are many stories about its origin. Perhaps the best known centers around WW II and American GI’s. It is said that the Americans had GI issue eggs and bacon and their Italian girlfriends showed them what to do with it, the eggs and bacon, I mean. The ladies combined the eggs (and yes, some were powdered) and good old American bacon with Italian cheese and pasta, and Spaghetti Carbonara was born. On the other hand food lore tells us this dish was made popular by the coal vendors of Abruzzo, hence the name carbonara – for the flecks of black pepper that look like soot. And where would we be today without throwing some politics into the mix? Some sources trace this dish to the early nineteenth century Italian patriots, the clandestine Carbonari.<\/p>\n There are as many different recipes for this dish as there are cooks. The basics are spaghetti, oil, cured pork, eggs and Parmigiano and\/or Pecorino Romano cheese. Some recipes call for garlic, lightly bruised and cooked in the oil just long enough to perfume it. Others call for widely varying amounts of eggs, either whole or yolks, black pepper and parsley. You can use guanciale, pancetta or bacon for this dish. Guanciale and pancetta have a sweet pure pork taste. Bacon has an assertive smokiness and is much less sweet than guanciale or pancetta, neither of which are smoked. I use 5 ounces of pancetta, and because I like a little bit of smokiness, I add 2 ounces of thick cut bacon. This is one of those dishes you can make your own. The possibilities are endless.<\/p>\n 3 tablespoons olive oil Cut guanciale (or pancetta or bacon) into 1\/4 inch pieces. Pour oil into 12 inch saute pan and heat over medium. Using the flat side of the knife blade, gently press down on each garlic clove to break skin and lightly bruise the garlic. Discard skin, and saute garlic until golden. Using a slotted spoon remove and discard garlic. Add pork to pan and saute until golden and just beginning to crisp. Add white wine (if using) to pan and simmer 2 minutes. Remove pan from heat.<\/p>\n Meanwhile bring 6 quarts of water to a rolling boil. Salt generously. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente, about 10 – 12 minutes.<\/p>\n Meanwhile combine eggs, cheeses, some freshly ground black pepper and 2 tablespoons parsley in pasta bowl. Drain spaghetti, reserving water, and add to bowl with egg mixture. Toss to coat evenly. Briefly reheat pork. Add pork and 1-2 tablespoons of cooking grease to pasta bowl, and toss well. Add \u00bd cup pasta water, if necessary, to loosen and coat pasta. Top with additional parsley, if desired. Add 1 or 2 additional grinds of black pepper and serve at once. Pass Parmigiano and Pecorino at the table.<\/p>\n *Food Safety Note: The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that consumption of raw or undercooked eggs<\/a> should be avoided, especially by young children, elderly persons, and persons with weakened immune systems or debilitating illness. Eggs mixed with other foods should be cooked to 160\u00b0F (71\u00b0C). To avoid the risk you can use pasteurized eggs available from Davidson’s Safe Choice Eggs<\/a>. See the Safe Eggs website for more information and to see where the eggs are sold.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to listen to President Roosevelt’s address to the nation on the occasion of the Liberation of Rome.<\/p>\n Click here<\/a> to see documentary footage of American Troops in Rome June 1944<\/p>\n World War II Photographs from WWII Archives<\/a><\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nSpaghetti Carbonara<\/em><\/h4>\n
Serves 4<\/h6>\n
\n3 cloves garlic
\n7 ounces guanciale, pancetta or first quality thick cut bacon
\n2 large eggs*
\n1\/2 cup white wine (optional)
\n3\/4 cup freshly ground Parmigiano Reggiano
\n1\/2 cup Pecorino Romano
\n3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley
\nfreshly ground black pepper
\n1 pound spaghetti<\/p>\n
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