This episode is about cacio e pepe, perhaps one of the simplest pasta dishes to make, but technically challenging.
We seem to discover new dishes every time someone travels abroad, or a  blogger features a new something on Instagram. It is the case of this  Roman dish, traditional in all senses, symbol of the capital city, and now trendy pasta in most restaurants. It originated among the pastures during the seasonal movement of livestock, a process called  “Transumanza,” meaning the moves from one region to another seeking better and prosperous fields for the animal FEED. During the long migrations of the flock, the shepherds of the Roman countryside brought with them various ingredients, such as guanciale, also known as pork cheeks used to make Amatriciana, and tonnarelli pasta. Tonnarelli pasta looks like spaghetti—long and thicker than angel air, skinnier than linguine—and when I make them with eggs, its strands are chewy and will hold the cooking. These days, many restaurants use spaghetti and deem it authentic, but tonnarelli was the original pasta of choice. Shepherds carried cheese with them, made from sheep’s milk, made during the stops through the journey, and sold to the local markets they visited. The last ingredients they carried was black pepper. There’s a reason they chose these last three ingredients. Black pepper stimulated the heat receptors and helped the shepherds to protect themselves from the cold. Aged pecorino keeps for a long time. And pasta guaranteed the right amount of carbohydrates and calories. This dish, which over the years has spread from the Lazio countryside to the mountains of Abruzzo and Umbria, leaped and transformed itself from a frugal meal to a dish typical of Roman taverns. According to tradition, the tavern-keepers at the time were careful to serve a “dry” cacio e Pepe to stimulate business. The more cacio a pepe they ate, the more wine they drank.
And that's a good thing right?
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