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There’s no denying that pasta is one of my favorite types of food. Whether it’s spaghetti with marinara, mac and cheese , or any pasta for that matter, saucy noodles show up at least once per week in my weekly cooking. From how long it takes to cook the noodles to which add-ins I like to reach for, I’ve also perfected my own formula for how to build the best bowl.
Plus, working for a food brand means I have access to culinary experts who can point me in the right direction whenever I have any questions. That said, there are still days when the pasta turns out less than perfect—especially when it comes to something like cacio e pepe, which typically only has three ingredients. While simple in theory, the minimal ingredient list makes it slightly more difficult to achieve a homogenous silky sauce that coats the pasta beautifully.
Scientists also know this challenge well, which is why they did some digging to give us the golden ratio for perfect cacio e pepe every time.
How to Make the Perfect Cacio e Pepe, According to Scientists
Dotdash Meredith Food Studios
Cacio e pepe is loved not only for its simple ingredients but also for its humble beginnings. This dish is thought to have originated from shepherds, whose meals were often made with what they carried while tending to their herds. Cacio e pepe, which means cheese and pepper, is exactly just that. The shepherds would mix salty sheep’s cheese—also known as pecorino romano—with pasta water to emulsify the cheese into a creamy sauce. Black pepper provided additional flavor.
Despite the recipe's simplicity, creating the perfect texture and creaminess of the sauce still proves to be a challenge. That's why Italian researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, the University of Barcelona, and the Institute of Science and Technology Austria worked on scientifically optimizing the recipe to ensure success for home cooks everywhere.
In the report, the researchers systematically looked into each cooking step, focusing on the dish’s “stability at increasing temperatures for various proportions of cheese, water, and starch.” In their findings, they realized that the starch concentration in the pasta cooking water plays a key role in perfecting the sauce.
“If the starch content is less than 1 percent of the cheese weight, the sauce is prone to separating,” the research said. “On the other hand, exceeding 4 percent starch results in a sauce that becomes stiff and unappetizing as it cools. The ideal range, as confirmed by both taste and texture tests, lies between 2 percent and 3 percent, ensuring stability and a pleasant consistency."
They also noted that before adding the pasta cooking water to the cheese, it's vital "to let the water cool down" as this prevents clumps from forming in the sauce.
Since we’re not able to measure the amount of starch content in our water when we cook from home, what does this data mean for us? Well, according to scientists, a “precise and reliable method” is to create something like a starch slurry. For every 240 grams of pasta, the scientists suggest using 160 grams of cheese and a slurry made by dissolving 4 grams of powdered potato or cornstarch in 40 grams of water. Heat the slurry until it changes “from cloudy to nearly clear” then let it cool before adding it to the cheese, as you would with pasta water.
Although replacing pasta water with a specific starch solution is far from the traditional approach, rest assured that the team of Italian researchers recognizes that “a true Italian grandmother or a skilled home chef from Rome would never need a scientific recipe for cacio and pepe,” they said. But in case you needed a little extra help, science just might have you covered.
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