Rome.
Alright, I’m going to stop myself right
there.
Let’s not even try to pretend that I’m
trying to pretend that I’m Anthony Bourdain.
There’s only one Anthony Bourdain, and there’s
only one cacio e pepe.
In the Rome episode of “No Reseverations,”
Anthony Bourdain describes Rome as the one
shot in films from the 1960s, often in black
and white. For me, Rome is an ancient city
where the ruins are now gravestones to gladiators
and the Roman people, a mecca for Catholicsm
and the soul of a dead language I wished I
paid attention more in school.
Two years ago, I was visiting a friend who
is getting his PH.D. in Rome. I asked him
to skip the touristy and show me the Roman
way. To my delight, he said, “Do you know
of Anthony Bourdain? Because I think I found
Restaurant X.”
Cacio e pepe. Cheese and pepper. So simple
and yet so delightful. It’s the adult version
of mac and cheese and it’s just as simple
to make.
To start off, boil fresh spaghetti. Remove
the al dente pasta and save the water because
who have thought that pasta water would make
great pasta sauce. The Italians knew of course.
Melted butter, pasta water and fresh cracked
pepper. Now here comes the fun. The spaghetti
is tossed in so it can soak up the juiciness.
Finally, the beautiful pecorino cheese gracefully
dances on top of the pasta. As the spaghetti
and the pecorino are mixed together, you can
see cheese slowly melts and making love with
the pasta in the most sexiest way possible.
But oh no, the love making doesn’t happen
in the pan. That’s just foreplay. Imagine
this: a bowl made from fresh parmesan cheese.
That’s the bed. Now add the two lovers on
top. Use your imagination however you want,
but remember, this move is called cacio e
pepe.
It all finishes with the first taste in your
mouth: an explosion of bliss.
Anthony Bourdain said, “There’s good cacio
e pepe, adequate cacio e pepe and everything
else.”
See this, this is adequate, and I’ve been
to Restaurant X. That was good cacio e pepe.
This is my homage to it. The pasta that changed
my life.
Until you make it to Rome and find Restaurant
X, this will have to do.
