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Keith on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob,i cant remember if it was last week or the week prior you talked about an amazing steak sauce recipe that had my ... more
Joy Farnan on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hello Bob.When having a roast, I put in a whole garlic with the veges, (as I had seen the experts do). Well, the garlic ... more
Anthea on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi BobYou mentioned a book from which you made Zucchini Fritter for you daughters vegetarian partner. Can you please tell me ... more
Colleen on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob, the other day you mentioned a BBQ sauce for steak, various engredients. It did have butter in the recipe,possibly ... more
Colleen on Bob Hart's delicious recipes Last week you gave a steak sauce or gravy on the programe and I was driving. Could I please have it again as my husband ... more
Tanith on Bob Hart's delicious recipes Hi BobI heard you talk about Shabu Shabu sauce last week so went out and bought a bottle. Could yyou please post the steak ... more
Claude Z on Bob Hart's spicy Korean wings Hi Bob, i was listening to you last week when you mentioned a sauce recipe based on the Japenese Kupi sauce. While i was ... more
Jansen on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi I'm trying to find the steak sauce recipe you spoke of, but not sue what heading it would be under? Thx more
judy on Ask Bob Hart a food question Bob, was driving on the Hume Highway on 26/04/12 and heard your delicious steak sauce recipe with Asian ingredients. Could I ... more
Matt Brown on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob,On Thursday 26 April, you gave out a recipe for the most amazing steak sauce... Could you please let us all know ... more
Peter Coutts on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob.This week you gave a recipe for a perfect Steak Sauce.I cannot find it on this list.It was the Asian Style one.Can ... more
Lyn on Ask Bob Hart a food question Hi Bob, On Thursday you where talking about an Asian Sauce to have with steak??? cant find the recipe on your list? more

Bob's great carbonara comparison

Posted by: Bob Hart | 3 March, 2011 - 5:13 PM

Donna Hay's TV series is about to start (March 15) and there is a new book to go with it. I have look at both, and it has dawned on me that people really underestimate just how radical a cook Donna Hay is.

Everyone likes her nice, polite, clean recipes that look great on a plate, and many professional chefs sneer that she is just a food stylist, not a chef.

But if you look closely, there is some amazing stuff going on here. Her recipes are very original, and she has a consistency of style that suggests she has a clearer idea of where she is going, and how she is going to get there, than most cookbook writers.

As an example, I have attached my reading of her pasta carbonara, with another from Antonio Carluccio. It is a fascinating comparison: her approach is light and modern and ignores a couple of the key traditions - such as cooking pancetta for the dish. She simply uses torn, uncooked proscuitto. And she only uses egg yolks rather than whole eggs. And so on.

DONNA HAY'S CARBONARA FETUCCINE

Cook 200g of fettuccine (or thick pasta) until al dente. Drain, return to the pot and place over the heat. Add 2 egg yolks, 1 cup pouring cream, 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan, salt and pepper and stir for 2 minutes or until the sauce has thickened slightly and coated the pasta. Place on serving plates and top with 4-6 torn slices of proscuitto. Sprinkle with extra parmesan to serve. Serves two.

ANTONIO CARLUCCIO'S CARBONARA BUCATINI (OR PENNE)

Put 400g of either bucatini, which is spaghetti with hole through it, or penne, on to boil, with the intention of cooking it al dente, no more. Slice and sauté 200g pancetta cut into thin strips in a largish pan. Good, dry-cured bacon, cut crossways, also works, but pancetta is best. In a bowl, beat two egg yolks into two whole eggs, decide yourself whether or not to add 2tbs double cream (I do, B.H.), and add 60g grated parmesan, ideally grated on a Microplane grater to keep it light. Finish with lots of freshly-ground black pepper.Add the pasta to the pancetta and toss. Then, toss it into a warmed serving bowl, add the egg mixture, toss well so that the heat of the pasta cooks the egg mixture, and serve immediately. Serves four.

Now this is the classic recipe, as outlined in his excellent An Invitation to Italian Cooking by Antonio Carluccio. But to demonstrate the controversy about the cream, in his 1986 version, he included the cream — 4tbs of it. But when he revised the book in 2002, he left out the cream because the original version, without cream, had become more fashionable with the chattering food classes.

So, you decide.

3AW Food - Eating Melbourne

3AW is Food: Melburnians love to eat so it's fortunate we live in the culinary capital of Australia. On this dedicated food page you will find the latest recipes by Bob Hart as well as Tony Leonard's Pub of the Week reviews. La Luna head chef Adrian Richardson also serves up a dish from his own cook book and food reviewer Ela Carte visits one of Melbourne's hottest eateries weekly.

Blog comments

Ian Saturday 16 April, 2011
G'day Ian, I think the one you mean is on the website somewhere, but it does not contain tarragon. Bearnaise sauce does, of course. But my butter is simply a blend of butter, dijon mustard, garlic, flat-leaf parsley and lemon juice. Mash it together, roll is into a sausage in plastic wrap and pop it in the fridge or freezer to set. Serve a disc of it in a steek, or soften a bit to spready on the buns you are using for your steak sanger (I use Philippa's ciabatta loaves).

BOB HART Friday 22 April, 2011 - 5:51 PM
Bob H gave out a simple butter sauce to pop on a steak in place of a bernaise sauce. I recall he mentioned tarragon and dujon mustard. Were there other ingredients?

Ian Saturday 16 April, 2011 - 1:11 PM