Recipes for the Italian recipe involving pasta, pecorino, and black pepper have been passed down for generations but researchers have now found a foolproof way of preparing the dish. However, you will need to be more precise than ever.
A group of Italian scientists affiliated with the University of Barcelona in Spain, the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems in Germany, the University of Padova in Italy, and the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria have joined forces regarding one common love: cacio and pepe.
“We are Italians living abroad. We often have dinner together and enjoy traditional cooking. Among the dishes we have cooked was cacio e pepe, and we thought this might be an interesting physical system to study and describe. And of course, there was the practical aim to avoid wasting good pecorino,” said study author Dr Ivan Di Terlizzi of the Max Planck Institute.
The results of their research have been published in Physics of Fluids, a journal of the American Institute of Physics. While they still use the usual ingredients, they put together a more precise recipe which might require a little extra work compared to most of the originals. According to scientists, the ideal pasta water to make cacio e pepe contains 2 to 3% starch. And you better not leave that percentage up to chance.
“Because starch is such an important ingredient, and the amount of starch can sharply determine where you end up, what we suggest is to use an amount of starch which is precisely measured. And this can only be done if you have the right amount of powdered starch in proportion to the amount of cheese you’re using,” said Di Terlizzi.
Instead of using the starchy pasta water straight out of your cooking pot, they thus advise making your own starchy mixture using potato starch or cornflour on the side. For two people, they suggest using 300 grams of pasta and 200 grams of cheese (up to 30% of Parmigiano Reggiano DOP can be added to the traditional Pecorino Romano DOP). According to the researchers, 5 grams of starch would be optimal in this case to obtain a creamy sauce.
Recipe for the perfect cacio e pepe
In order to obtain that percentage, they advise dissolving 5 grams of powdered starch (such as potato or corn starch) in 50 grams of water. Heat the mixture gently until it turns from cloudy to nearly clear. That transition is known as gelatinisation and entails a sudden increase in viscosity. Next, combine the starch gel with the cheese – ideally, this is done by blending everything rather than by hand grating the cheese. At that point, 100 grams of water can be added to ease the blending process and to cool the starch gel. Finally, add the black pepper to the mixture. In order to get the most flavour, toast the pepper in a pan beforehand.
At the same time, cook the pasta in slightly salted water until it is al dente. When al dente, drain the pasta but save some of the pasta cooking water. Let the pasta cool down for up to a minute to prevent the excessive heat from destabilising the sauce. Mix the sauce with the pasta and add some cooking water if needed in order to obtain the perfect consistency.
