The recipe seems simple like that: pasta, pecorino and pepper. However, between the work of the balance of tastes and that of the perfect smoothness of the sauce, the dish has rudimentary only appearance. At any time, the preparation can go wrong. Scientists have looked into the subject, so that we never rear our cacio e pepe.
In their study, academics recall the origins of the recipe. It would have been invented by shepherds who, during their long trips, were to charge their bags “Hypercalorical ingredients”. Today, Cacio e Pepe are an institution in Rome, a traditional dish to which you should not touch.
The eight researchers were aware of this when they hired a scientific, thermodynamic approach to the recipe. All are from Italy and work for universities in the four corners of Europe. “I hope eight Italian authors will be enough”blows the New York Times Ivan Di Terlizzi, statistician physicist at the Max Planck Institute in Germany. They finally published their study on the site of Cornell University, in New York State. They say: thanks to their observations, they have “Scientifically optimized” The recipe.
Their starting postulate was as follows: to have a creamy sauce, it is necessary to pour the cooking water loaded with starch, which the pasta releases. Problem: hot water, by binding to cheese proteins, coagulates it and generates the presence of lumps in the sauce.
Cacio, Pepe E Amido
In search of the balance of the recipe, the researchers have undertaken an analysis based on an empirical observation of its preparation. In a vacuum machine, they heated the cheese sauce at different temperatures and incorporating different starch rates. The scientific team then observed each sample. The sauces, in glass containers, were lit below and arranged so as to visually bring out the lumps. Verdict: starch has a crucial influence on the consistency of the sauce.
An influence such that the researchers stopped using the cooking water of the pasta, whose retention capacities of the starch were not sufficient. Instead, they used cornstarch. The process was to dilute it in pure water, heat it, then pour it into the sauce. Result: scientists calculated that the starch concentration should be between 2 and 3% of the weight of the cheese. In simpler terms, their recipe for “Two people who are hungry” Requires 240 grams of pasta (preferably Tonnarelli), 160 grams of Pecorino and 4 grams of starch.
“The work that these guys have done is very impressive”comments Nathan Myhrvold, a former technical director from Microsoft converted into the culinary literature. To carry out the study, Giacomo Bartolucci, one of its co -authors, biophysicist at the University of Barcelona, estimated that five kilos of cheese were used. “Our friends came to say hello to us, to see how it was going. And they helped us by tasting all the tests ”he says. The researcher assures him: during the experience, “None of our samples have been wasted”.
