Carbonara in a can? This Italian chef thinks it’s ‘genius,’ but he’ll never eat it

Chef Alessandro Pipero says he doesn’t begrudge Heinz for selling a creamy spaghetti in a can. But he wouldn’t call it carbonara. 

“I’m a Roman man and I love the real carbonara,” Pipero told As It Happens guest host Tom Harrington.

In a press release, Heinz billed its new canned spaghetti carbonara as a “fail-proof” version of the traditional Italian dish “that comes with absolutely zero drama.”

But it’s already causing quite a bit of drama among foodies and high-end restaurateurs. A chef in London called it “a disgrace,” and a BBC presenter suggested it could mark “the end of culinary civilization.”

The controversial culinary creation hits shelves in the U.K. this month, but it will not be coming to Canada. 

What goes in cabonara?

Like many popular dishes, carbonara’s origins — and ideal list of ingredients — are both the subject of debate. Generally, it’s made with pasta, cured pork, hard cheese, eggs, salt, and black pepper.

That’s how Pipero makes it at his eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant in Rome. He says the noodles are firm, the pork is crispy, the eggs are fresh, and the cheese is pecorino romano.

The canned version, by comparison, includes pasta, pepper and pancetta, but also has a long list of hard-to-pronounce ingredients, including maltodextrin and sodium ascorbate.

“Theirs is not al dente,” he said, referring to the pasta’s texture. “Theirs is not fresh…. Theirs is not pecorino.” 

Pipero has not tasted the product, which is not available in Italy. But even if he had the chance, he says he wouldn’t. 

“No, never,” he said. 

In an interview with the Times newspaper, Pipero was adamant that cans are for Coca-Cola and cat food, not carbonara. 

But on CBC Radio, he was more generous, admitting he finds the concept both “genius” and “industrious” on Heinz’s part. 

“I have no problem with Heinz,” he said. “Maybe I have a problem with people that buy the carbonara from Heinz and say, ‘Good,’ then they buy it again.”

He says he plans to sell his own carbonara sauce in Italian supermarkets soon, minus the noodles, and made from fresh ingredients.

Asked whether he’s doing the same thing as Heinz, he chuckled.

“I don’t know,” he said, “but maybe tomorrow I will write to Heinz.”

Ciara Tassoni, who manages the Italian restaurant Bottega Prelibato in London, expressed no such admiration for the food company’s business acumen. 

“It’s a disgrace and it couldn’t be any further from authentic carbonara,” she told the U.K.’s Sun newspaper. “If somebody came in here and asked for a can of carbonara they would immediately be thrown out.”

Bottega Prelibato famously took carbonara off its menu last year because British customers kept asking for it to be cooked with cream, mushrooms and chicken.

The addition of cream to carbonara is particularly controversial. In 2017, celebrity chef Nigella Lawson came under fire in Italy for releasing a carbonara recipe that included it. 

The Heinz carbonara is described as “creamy” on its pink and yellow can, and its ingredients include milk powder.

‘A long tradition of spaghetti in a can’

Harry Wallop, a consumer affairs columnist for the Times newspaper, downplayed the carbonara controversy during an interview on BBC Radio’s Today.

Carbonara, Wallop said, is “modern invention” that dates back to the 1950s, or ’40s at the earliest, depending on who you ask.

But canned pasta, he says, goes back even further. A lot of Brits, he argued, didn’t even know spaghetti existed until Heinz started selling it in cans in the 1930s.

“There is a long tradition of spaghetti in a can,” Today host Jonny Dymond replied. “But there is not a long tradition of very nice spaghetti in a can, let’s be honest.” 

Heinz is standing by its product. The company says its market research shows Gen-Z consumers are looking for quick and easy meal options. 

“Our new Spaghetti Carbonara delivers just that,” Kraft Heinz meal director Alessandra de Dreuille said in a press release. “It’s the perfect solution for a quick and satisfying meal at home.”

As far as Pipero is concerned, canned carbonara is by far the strangest twist on Italian cuisine that he’s seen — and he’s seen a lot. He says he once witnessed someone in a hotel having “cappuccino with porchetta.” He did not say if the pork roast was in the coffee, or on the side. 

“It was incredible,” he said. “I decided that, in life, all is possible.”

Harrington asked Pipero to weigh in pineapple pizza, a highly divisive dish of Canadian origin.

“I don’t like pineapple on pizza. But I like pizza, and I like pineapple. You understand?” Pipero said. 

“I understand,” Harrington replied.