GASTRONOMY – Nothing shocks Italians like touching their culinary heritage. Already outraged by pasta with ketchup and pineapple pizza, they are now up in arms against a new gastronomic heresy: canned spaghetti carbonara.
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Marketed in the UK by food giant Heinz under the name #NoDramaCarbonara, they are intended to appeal to Generation Z consumers looking for a healthy diet. “fast and convenient”Heinz specifies on his website. “Whether enjoyed as a comforting meal after a long day or shared with friends whilst watching the latest TV series, Heinz Spaghetti Carbonara is the perfect solution for a no-fuss dinner.”says Alessandra de Dreuille, director of meals at Kraft Heinz in the press release. And also an economical dinner, since a can is sold at the modest price of 1.75 pounds sterling (2.08 euros).
“Cat food”
While the group’s marketing strategy seems to be paying off – canned carbonara pasta is already out of stock in the UK – it is far from having won over everyone, especially the Italians. Interviewed by The Timeschef Alessandro Pipero, whose Michelin-starred restaurant in the heart of Rome has earned him the nickname « king of the carbonara », simply refused to taste canned spaghetti. “You mean in a can, like cat food.”he was offended when he was offered a tasting. I don’t really know what to say to that, shouldn’t we stick to putting things like Coca-Cola in a can?he added.
It’s not just culinary professionals who are offended by Heinz’s discovery. On X, one user comments: “You leave us with no choice but to declare war on Heinz for this despicable attack on our culture and culinary traditions. Italy is mobilizing now. Andiamo.”
Even the Italian Minister of Tourism Daniela Santanchè made a sharp remark about X: “Italian cuisine is serious business. As Alberto Sorti would say in An American in Rome: ‘We’ll feed the canned carbonara to the rats.’”
Neither pillow nor yellow eye
Despite the harsh criticism, Heinz can nevertheless count on some support, such as that of the Italian media Cibo Todaywhich recalls that carbonara pasta, far from being an ancestral recipe, is a rather recent invention. The hypothesis cited by the media is that they were invented in 1944 by a chef to feed the Allied troops and originally contained egg yolk powder so that they could be consumed… in a can. Spaghetti carbonara are “a dish prepared in an emergency, in the absence of great economic possibilities and in the simplest and most organized way possible. It is precisely the demands of today’s young people that Heinz wants to respond to”écrit Cibo Today.
Enough to further annoy those who are offended by the absence of guanciale (dried pork cheek) and egg yolk in the Heinz recipe, replaced by pancetta, cornstarch, skim milk powder, powdered cheese, sugar, garlic flavoring, onion extract and dried parsley.
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