Ever since I returned home from a family trip to Italy in 2017 I have not stopped dreaming about the Cacio e Pepe that I devoured at a restaurant in Rome. Since our trip I have not had Cacio e Pepe because I have always been worried that it wouldn’t compare to the dish I had in Italy and I would leave the restaurant feeling disappointed. However, immediately when I saw this assignment I knew that the time has finally come, I had to recreate my favorite pasta dish, and ultimately hope that it would satisfy my four-year long craving.

Cacio e Pepe, is a very simple dish, literally translating to “pepper and cheese” It is also commonly referred to as the adult version of mac and cheese in Italy. Cacio e Pepe was a common dish for Roman shepherds who spent months outside herding. The shepherds always carried a piece of aged pecorino, pepper and dried pasta in their bags and together they had everything they needed to produce a complete and delicious meal. Additionally, it has been said that the black pepper directly stimulated the heat receptors and helped the shepherds protect themselves from the cold. Also, the pasta provided the shepherds with the carbohydrates they needed in order to perform their intense labor. Although there is no specific occasion to indulge in this dish, many people suggest that if you are only going to have Cacio e Pepe one time in your life, you must have it in Rome especially since almost every restaurant in Rome claims that their version of it is the best. However, many food critics recommend Felice a Testaccio, Cajo e Gajo, Flavio al Velavevodetto and Da Enzo, as the best restaurants in Rome to try Cacio e Pepe.

Even though there is truly nothing like Cacio e Pepe at a restaurant in Rome, the dish has become extremely popular in other parts of the world, such as New York City. Many (both authentic and non-authentic) Italian restaurants currently serve their version of the Cacio e Pepe dish. One popular version of the dish, seen on the menu of many NYC restaurants, serves the pasta in a large, flaming wheel of pecorino cheese (Pictured below). This version has become a trendy dish that, aside from its deliciousness, many Americans order in hopes of capturing the perfect photo for their Instagram. Many restaurants even bring out all of the ingredients for the dish and cook it in the wheel for a live, table-side experience. Although I have yet to personally order the dish at a restaurant, I have definitely seen these elaborate presentations while dining at an Italian restaurant in the city. Additionally, I have also seen dozens of pictures featuring the varied modern versions of the dish posted on multiple popular food Instagram accounts, such as @newforkcity. Some of these assorted renditions of the dish use different shapes of pasta rather than the typical spaghetti or even add a protein like fish or meat into the sauce. However, no matter what alteration is taken on the dish, the sharp taste of the cheese and pepper remains constant. I find it amazing that a simple pasta dish with only two ingredients can be transformed in many different, and delicious, ways. Ultimately, I am unsure if I will be brave enough to try anything other than the classic dish, but I think it is noteworthy that despite the different takes on the recipe, Cacio e Pepe remains a staple dish, even outside its homeland of Italy.

I decided to make the dish with the help of my dad and sister who have had more experience cooking than I have. Even though the Cacio e Pepe recipe has minimal ingredients, making the sauce is not as easy as it sounds. When we started to add in the cheese to our cooked pasta, it kept clumping together rather than forming a smooth sauce. However, we continued to add more cheese, pepper and the pasta water, which ended up coming together to make the sauce we were hoping to get. Finally, once the cooking process was done, I was able to try the dish I have been dreaming of since 2017. I did not want to have my hopes up since this was the first time I had ever had the dish outside of Italy; however, the Cacio e Pepe was so cheesy and delicious, my whole family loved it! Not only was it rewarding to eat, but my favorite part about the process was the time spent cooking the dish with my sister and dad. Although it was challenging to make the sauce come out perfect, I will definitely be making this dish again! Overall, I am happy we were given this assignment for our midterm project because without that push I would not have tried to make my favorite dish. I also enjoyed looking through various recipes of Cacio e Pepe in order to figure out how I would create the dish. This project opened my eyes to the fact that one dish can be cooked in many different ways and I look forward to trying a different Cacio e Pepe recipe in the future.