#14 - Yes, you will find italian recipes for carbonara with and without cream. I recently dined with a Sicilian friend with a boyfriend from Rome, she really is quite clued up on her history as far as the food goes and told me that Carbonar is from Rome originally and that in the original recipe, no cream is to be used, but the whole eggs are beaten (as in the old days they didn't like to waste the egg-whites perhaps, who knows?).
I have tried it with both, I do like the one with cream (even though it is not traditional recipe) as it is less eggy (smell) and less dry in texture.
As for Parmesan - Yes, for dinner at Browns recently I had trout salad with parmesan shavings and it was devine. Parmesan in risottos or in ravioli is yummy too.
