Aranya pepper, guanciale, bechamel, pecorino, parmigiano, Italian ramen egg
This is my version of the famed pasta dish, without the pasta of course.
Of course every ingredient counts, especially in simple recipes. A carbonara is built on black pepper. When I was in Malaysia, I tasted the Sarawak black peppercorn and was really blown away by it’s complexity and flavor. It was the first time I thought a dish could be built around a spice. Same thing in Hawaii where I tasted a peppercorn grown at Greenwell Farms in Kona on the Big Island. It had a finish unlike any other. In August I read about a single origin peppercorn from India that was imported by Diaspora Co. I loved their concept and everyone was raving about their Araya black peppercorn. I took a gamble and pre-ordered the last 30lbs that was available – without actually tasting it first! My gamble paid off. This peppercorn is The Truth. It’s the finest peppercorn I’ve ever tasted. I grind it coarsely over the bechamel base of this pie, and add a beautiful guanciale from Muncan Meats here in Astoria. I generously grate both romano and parmigiano from [xxxxxxxx] and let the oven works its magic. Post bake it gets more grated cheese, more Aranya black pepper, finely grinded this time from my second Peugeot pepper mill. I add the piece de resistance – an Italian Ramen Egg, which has is a traditional nitamago simmered in balsamic vinegar in the tradition of Chinese tea eggs. The eggs are from pastured hens and soy-free from the Beiler Family farm.
