Well, dear readers, I believe it is time we had a serious chat about a serious subject, namely carbonara. And whilst we have our chat, I am listening to Elmer Bernstein’s beautiful score to some film I’ve never seen, entitled The Good Mother. I suppose it’s not only Music to Chat About Carbonara By, but it’s also appropriate because Mother’s Day is almost upon us. The score was never released on CD but I have it on a cassette, thankfully. Anyway, carbonara. I believe my first carbonara was at Dan Tana’s. It wasn’t on the menu, but I’d heard about it and it sounded like something I’d love so I asked if they could make it and they said absolutely. Well, I fell head over heels in love with carbonara that evening (not to mention their made at tableside Caesar salad) and I’ve had it every single time I’ve been to Dan Tana’s (it’s now officially on the menu). I’ve also had it many other places, some good, some bad, some ugly. The latter two usually has to do with he pancetta or bacon being undercooked. I cannot eat it like that, but it’s happened a surprising number of times. I think some jernts pride themselves on undercooking the pancetta or bacon so you can chew on the fat, but I don’t want any fat to chew on or I’d chew on my own. But I’ve had many fine presentations of carbonara, too. My current favorite is Barone’s, but it can be inconsistent there, depending on which chef you get. Sometimes it comes out too soupy rather than the cream being more Alfredo-like. But when Barone’s gets it right, it’s perfect, and that’s more often than not. Which brings us to yesterday, when despite only three hours of sleep, I needed to satisfy my carbonara craving. I’ve had it from the Cheesecake Factory, Marmalade, Hugo’s, and Maria’s Kitchen. The first two were not to my liking at all. Maria’s has been good a few times but the last time I had it the pancetta was nothing but fat, so I won’t ever take a chance there again. Barone’s, even if it’s too thin and soupy, always cooks the bacon correctly. So, this jernt called Napoli’s Pizza Kitchen had it so I decided to take a chance on it. Why not Barone’s, you ask? Because Barone’s doesn’t use any of the delivery services. Anyway, I took the chance. And what did we learn? That carbonara is always best with spaghetti. That pasta is the perfect choice for the dish. Napoli’s did it with fettucine and it’s just too thick a noodle for it. Their sauce was also just a bit TOO thick – slightly thinner would have been much better and they garlic it up, doesn’t work that well. The bacon was perfectly cooked, however, but there weren’t enough peas. I still ate it all up and it did travel well and was piping hot, but the jernt is only about seven minutes from here. And thus endeth the chat about carbonara, the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you didn’t enjoy the chat, merely say Drat! The Chat!
Now I’m listening to a Naxos CD of Howard Hanson music. Not a great orchestra and the conductor is not as good as Hanson himself, but I do love the music. Sound is always a crapshoot on Naxos and the sound isn’t so good. Prior to all the prior, as mentioned, I only got three hours of sleep and I was kind of out of it all day. I did have a couple of telephonic conversations that were interesting, and I did get some potentially good news about Nudie Musical, and I should know if it will pan out today or soon thereafter. I answered a lot of e-mails, but after the carbonara, I simply could not keep the old eyeballs open, and here we are.
Today, I’ll be up when I’m up, I’ll do whatever needs doing, I’ll eat something fun, I hope something I’m waiting on arrives, I’ll pray for a modern major miracle, I still have to set the final cast member for the young people show, then I can start choosing songs. At some point, I’ll watch, listen, and relax.
Tomorrow and Sunday will most likely be ME days, and I’m jiggy with that.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, be up when I’m up, do whatever needs doing, eat, hope something I’m waiting on arrives, pray for a modern major miracle, set the final cast member, choose songs, and then watch, listen, and relax. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Friday – what is currently in your CD player and your DVD/Blu and Ray/streaming player? I’ll start – CD, Hanson music. Blu-ray, Houseboat and Teacher’s Pet. Your turn. Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland, happy to have had a chat regarding the thing about carbonara.