True carbonara is made without a single drop of cream — the sauce gets its silky texture purely from eggs, cheese, and starchy pasta water. It’s a dish from Rome, and its reputation as tricky to master is a bit overstated: the difficulty isn’t in the ingredients, it’s in the timing.

The one rule that matters is not turning the eggs into scrambled eggs. The pan with the fried guanciale needs to come off the heat before the egg-and-cheese mixture goes in, and the pasta itself should be tossed in briskly, using residual heat to gently cook the sauce. The reserved pasta water isn’t optional — it’s what gives the sauce its silkiness and keeps it from breaking.

Guanciale — cured pork jowl — has a richer flavor than pancetta, and pancetta is a perfectly reasonable substitute if guanciale isn’t available. Bacon, despite looking similar, changes the flavor more than you’d expect because of the smoking.

Serve carbonara the moment it’s ready — the sauce thickens and loses its texture if it sits. Extra grated pecorino and a fresh crack of black pepper at the table aren’t a garnish, they’re part of the dish.