getcooking: Spaghetti carbonara - Food_and_drink - Lifestyle ...

Carlos Bustamante, a Venezuelan lawyer now living in Reading, is a passionate cook who makes dishes from many parts of the world.

By combining his love of food with his love of sport, music and history he sets out recipes inspired by related major events and celebrations.

Major sports tournaments are an excellent opportunity to learn more about the participating countries.

I remember how my son,then aged six, became interested in learning about the flags and capitals of all European countries from the Euros in 2008. He also asked me about what kind of food is eaten at each of them.

The UEFA European Championship starts in less than a month. Sixteen national teams will play in the competition first held in 1960 when the USSR won it.

As a way to get into the food culture of some of the participants, I contacted few sport journalists asking them about their final four selection and, starting today, in non particular order, I will publish a series with recipes from the favourites' countries.

Spaghetti carbonara

List of Ingredients:

100g bacon
3 large eggs
350g spaghetti
50g unsalted butter
Salt and freshly grated pepper
50g Parmesan
50g pecorino both finely grated

Italy?s national football team is always an enigma. They are the second most successful national team behind Brazil, yet the players sometimes disappoint with their actions.

Before choosing the recipe to represent Italy, I asked chef Gennaro Contaldo about the best option.

He explained that any dish from his country could be appropriate so I choose this one because the food storytellers say this was a dish eaten by coal workers and that the abundant use of coarsely ground black pepper resembles coal flakes.

As the ?azzurra squad? are always an uncertainty, they could both carbonise their opponents or leave the tournament charred.

Put a large saucepan of water on to boil and chop the bacon. Beat the eggs in a medium bowl, seasoning them with a little freshly grated black pepper and set everything else aside.

Add 1 tsp salt to the boiling water before adding the spaghetti and cook for 10 minutes or until al dente.

While the spaghetti is cooking, fry the bacon by dropping the butter into a large wide frying pan and, as soon as it has melted, tip in the bacon.

Leave these to cook on a medium heat for about five minutes, stirring often, until the bacon is done but not too crisp. Then keep the heat on low.

When the pasta is ready drain it keeping some of the water to one side and put the pasta in the frying pan with the bacon.

Mix most of the cheese in with the eggs. Take the pan of spaghetti and bacon off the heat and pour in the eggs and cheese mix and, using tongs or a long fork, lift up the spaghetti so it mixes easily with the egg mix, which will thicken while the pasta is coated.

If necessary add some of the pasta cooking water to stop it getting too thick.

Serve immediately with a sprinkling of the remaining cheese and a grating of black pepper.

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