My friend Gianni — one of the original Fat Boys – called me today. He’s been buried in work for a couple of weeks and we haven’t been much in touch.
“Mikey, I had the cacio e pepe at Eataly last night. You gotta try it; it’s the best cacio e pepe I’ve ever had.”
This was at 2:00 in the afternoon and it was raining. I had kind of settled in for the day.
“Life is short, man. Have I ever led you astray in terms of a plate of pasta? This is the stuff of legends.”
“I’ll meet you at the subway in ten minutes.”
Gianni, of course, was dead on about the pasta. We ate at the bar, so that we could watch the guys work the pasta station.
Also because the tables were full. I sipped a primitivo; he had rosé. We shared a cauliflower, fennel, celery root and Asian pear salad – all sliced trasparente — which cleansed our palates and sharpened our senses. Then came the spaghetti cacio e pepe and I must say, Gianni was not blowing smoke. This was a first-rate bowl of pasta, which, by the way, we did not share. Neither of us feels particularly comfortable nor genetically directed toward that concept. We each had our own privately owned and controlled bowl.
Cacio e pepe is one of the simplest dishes in the world of cooking – grated cheese, crushed black pepper, spaghetti, water – and salt. Yet there can be wild swings in terms of the finished product – especially when I make it.
Then it occurred to me — as I watched the pasta wizards work the hot tops – the key is the water. These guys use the same water again and again. The pasta goes in, the pasta goes out, but the water stays the same – absorbing more and more gluten as the day goes on. We don’t have that possibility at home — we cook pasta a pound at a time, ladle off a little water into the sauce and then dump the rest down the drain.
So the pros have a big advantage with this dish.
What if we saved our used water in a Tupperware container and put it in the fridge? And the next time we make pasta, we could add, say, half the water from the Tupperware to the new water – and we’d have more gluten. I’m going to try it.
Such an interesting idea! Keep us posted on if it works…Happy you found a place stateside for great cacio e pepe…not as nice as a trip to Rome but definitely cheaper!
Another fine, mouth watering entry Michael. It is such a simple trick, I must try it,after my cooking classes that I am taking in Cork this Summer. I have booked a week in a cooking school, Ballymaloe. Bring an apron and a paring knife were my instructions.
Michael…you are the epicurean bad boy. Dangerous but thrilling. More gluten! I love the sentence, ” Have I ever lead you astray in terms of a plate of pasta.” Alas, I must eat vicariously through you. Always look forward to your posts. Love to your thinner half.
carol
Yes, indeed…keep us posted – must be something to your theory, although I wonder then if a lunchtime meal would be markedly different than a supper? We love Verdure in Eataly (and they make some of the best springtime risotto I’ve had in a long time.) Vegan entrees abound, too, of course. Just saying…in case you and Jill want to divide and conquer.
ciao, Mike. I learned another way to cook spaghetti cacio e pepe or Spaghetti al aglio, olio e peperoncino from a fine Roman cook. He cooks the pasta 70% done, pours most of the pasta water out except one cup. Then add cacio e pepe in or aglio/olio/peperoncino, then continue to cook the pasta in the water and more glutin is released into the remaining water and becomes “cremoso”. This method really adds flavors to the pasta itself and gets creamy without adding cream. If it works, then you don’t have to save pasta water. One word of warning, whole wheat pasta does not release any glutin but this method still infuses the flavor into the pasta more than the usual cooking method.
@ Justice — Thank you for this. I use this exact method in my spaghetti vongole and it never occurred to to do it with cacio e pepe. Grazie, amore.
Cacio e pepe==Dinner tomorrow night! You are an inspiration!
I took a cooking class from Maureen Fant in Rome years ago and she taught me the tricks–including Justice Tower’s adding pasta water suggestion AND starting with warming up the peppercorns in a pan and then crushing them for BEST flavor. Her recipe is in Rome, Williams Sonoma cookbook.