Oh So Colson

I don’t understand why cream had to be added to a recipe for Spaghetti Carbonara? It’s a subtle combination of pasta, eggs, pancetta with its flavours enhanced, whilst still hot, with grated Parmesan cheese! Nigella Lawson’s recipe in “How to Eat. The Pleasures and Principles of Good Food” suggests that cream added but that the number of eggs should be reduced if cream is going to be added the egg and pancetta mixture. But my question is why add the cream since it only makes the subtle flavours in this dish disappear? Cream changes both the texture and the resulting flavour combinations. It makes the flavours flatten. Why? What is she trying to achieve…what is she trying to do? I can only presume that she’s a huge fan of cream and doesn’t mind consuming additional fat. Urgh! Or maybe she’s mixed up this recipe with ‘Sugo di Piselli, Prosciutto Cotto, e Panna’? Ah! What was on her mind?