Did I Just Make Cacio E Pepe Better ? (Italians don't watch)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 พ.ย. 2018
- Cacio e Pepe is one of the most iconic pasta dish of all Italian cuisine. Touching it is considered a sacrilege… Oops. In my defence, I really tried to improved that dish. If you missed the traditional method : • This Italian Pasta Dis...
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Salut,
Alex - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
He has a favourite peppershop... A favourite, I don't even have one.
I didn’t even know those existed
Brow The Unbroken having a shop specifically for pepper is the most French thing I’ve ever seen
Chrackel It’s proper cool too
What is peppershop?
@@chrackel4750 je suis français and no, we frenchies dont have a peppershop, i actually never ever saw one donc comment te dire....
a french guy improving an Italian dish and eating it with Asian chopsticks 😂
FUSION
Sagnik Das it’s the Full Circle
That's the improvement
MR. WORLDWIDE!!!
he done it, the mad lad actually done it...gotta go tell me wife
I love traditional italian recipes and like to cook them. But my ungle once said to me:"Devi cuccinare così come ti piace, altrimenti non hai capito il senso del mangiare." Wich means:"You have to cook the way you like it. Otherwise you haven't understood the meaning of eating." So why shouldn't you take a great recipe and make it better and easier. It's just common sense!
I so wish more people thought like your uncle! Way to many get angry if you take a dish and make it your own telling them its not right...
Cucinare, anyway, with only one C
im totally stealing this quote
That's why i put ham and white wine in royal couscous
Watch Marco pierre whites vids
Ok, i live in colombia and i can't even get that pepper...
Edit:
I found it buying it to the direct source =)
Dana Ellis hahahhahaahahahahahhahahahhahahaha
RIP
probably because everything good these days gets exported out of country to the highest bidder
@@vengefulspirit99 ask cocoa farmers about chocolate bars...
Anime Sekai farmers gotta make a living homie
“Make it more accessible,” he says. Because everyone can just pop into their local “Comptoir Des Poivre” in their town to buy imported Colombian Putumayo pepper.
😂
yeah, it s so easy when you don't think about it.
@@miesenplace Yes, but I'm hungry NOW.
Can go to my local grocery store and get assorted organic peppercorns imported though.
What kind of god forsaken place do you live in?
"Local but fresh sheep's milk cheese"
_cries in American_
Is available in every supermarket near me in ohio. Where do you live you don't find sheeps milk cheese?
Near Baltimore. In truth I could probably find it if I looked harder, but my local supermarket didn't have any.
Wine Source in Hampden
Easily found for me in Illinois
David Folsom Alaska
You have shown respect for the ingredients and just changed the technique.
.The Force of Pecorino is strong with you, young Italiawan.
Con affetto, da un italiano.
(MA NON TOCCARE LA CARBONARA CHE TE CORCO)
Best comment I’ve read
Hahahah I like how you snacked your Jedi identity in there
🤣 Ahahahaha
s2 lol
jajajajjaja
Regarding the surface of the noodles you use:
The pasta gets its rough surface when the dough is pressed through a perforated bronze disc to form the spaghetti. On the package it says "trafilato al bronzo". That is what you should look for when you need starchy, rough surfaced pasta.
Hey, I used bronze-cut pasta for my Carbonara recipe on my channel :) It took me quite a lot of effort and I'd be happy if you checked it out!
@@kuesine2952 hey why did you stopped posting ?
I thought it was copper... Oh well. I learn something every day.
@@Vikotnick look up bronze. Iirc copper is in it
this man had no idea what was about to happen with alex's pasta obsession
Worst case scenario, once your pasta are cooked but you change your mind, you can still use that super starchy cooking water to apply new wallpaper on your walls.
Exactly how much starch is dissolved in the water?
@@PaulaJBean approximately 14
F* Brilliant.
As an Italian i Salute you for this video!!=D I know we Italian can be a bit peaky about those things sometimes BUT once you acknowledge the traditions and the "rules" (as you did) you are free to bend them!! Moreover as stated in the previous video, anything that fight the savage use of cream in pasta (especially Carbonara), is very welcome!!
haha don't worry, you will find peaky peoples about tradition everywhere :p
And then someone invented Pizza Hawaii
@@Muth500 there is no such thing. It ceased to be pizza once the pineapples touched it.
@@Muth500 Don't care what it is, it tastes awesome.
I used to make Bolognese according to the centuries old recipe.Blasphemy or not,a tiny pinch of clove and nutmeg can make a subtle difference.
Alex: "Italians will hate me"
Me, an Asian: "That's not how you hold chopsticks"
I am too, and I also hold them like Alex does. Breaking tradition with the *whole* video!
I had to do a double take on how he held his chopsticks because at first it looked correct to me, but then I noticed the placement. The form looks correct, but the placement of the chopsticks is structurally wrong. He should move his chopsticks down a finger to allow the middle finger to come into play with the top chopstick. Good eye, I totally thought he was holding his chopsticks correctly.
Haha!
What do you different? How does your way perform better?
@@plantedbasedman9845 You gain more strength and control over chopstick with the correct method.
Italian living in France here. This "new & improved" version of Cacio e pepe is actually closer to the traditional way than previous video (I pretend to forget about that fancy pasta cutting. You're facing jail for that, be careful 🤣)
OK
- Roasting whole pepper corns before crushing them: correct. Black pepper preserves its flavour thousands times better this way. That's what any self-respecting cook does, Rome or not.
- Super starchy water: correct. That's basically what happens in restaurants in Italy any time the starch amount in the sauce matters: water is getting reused over and over along the shift, and each time take a bit of that water to make the creamy sauce. Cooking pasta "like a risotto" is another good technique to achieve that, something that behind our ultra-conservative façade, we actually do sometimes. But you need to be VERY CAREFUL with starch, it's super easy to get burnt or to give a jelly texture to the sauce rather than creamy.
You're already way more starchy than needed.
- Use of local cheese rather than the real pecorino romano is another good tip for anyone outside Italy (I can tell you that first hand). Pecorino romano is a mild cheese made of sheep milk, quite salty, not the sharpest, not the sweetest, not the most aged etc. Any sheep milk cheese that "looks like a not too aged Parmigiano" is normally already decent, especially in France. And in France, ok the real Italian ones, but you also have "u pecurinu" from Corsica. It's basically identical to classic Sardinian pecorino (pecorino romano actually originates from Sardinia). If you find that aged 12-15 months you're good.
KO
- Pici: those a NOT pici. Pici a WAY THICKER than that and I don't truly recommend you that shape for a cacio e pepe (I'm Tuscan like pici, I can tell you that). Anyway, anything similar to spaghetti will do the job. As you said, prefer pasta with a coarse surface for this kind of dish. Spaghetti, spaghettoni, spaghetti alla chitarra, tonnarelli, spaghetti quadri, they are all ok. Not truly linguine or fettuccine tho, what you need is something with round/squared section, not flat.
- Chopsticks & non-stick pan: if you like to boil the pasta in a non-stick pan, enjoy. But for the sauce, well... no. It's easier to achieve a strong bond between the pasta and the sauce when you use any other coating than teflon (but again, starch gets burnt easier on steel). It's the same reasoning behind French omelettes: you can make them non-stick pans for convenience, but if you're aiming for perfection, you need uncoated cast iron pans (sorry jacques pepin). Rule of thumb: anything but teflon for pasta sauces.
*constructive spaghetti noises intensify*
yeah, i have seen a couple of vidéos where the pasta is cooked directly in the frying pan, Alex added the idea of using the same water twice.
hi could you explain a bit more on the difference between types of pans? do you know why exactly it is more efficient to avoid teflon? Like in a physics or chemical way?
Grazie for the knowledge. I can't believe I'm learning from TH-cam comments section. And I'm surely interested in learning the different types of pans
@@XCrunchxXx Iron holds a lot of heat. That is good when you have a lot of food like a steak and you don't want it to cool off.
Copper is used for SAUCES because it has FAST heat transfer but doesn't hold a lot of heat. This allows you to quickly add heat when needed but it doesn't hold that heat as long so it is more forgiving to adding too much heat. Sometimes used for thinner or delicate fish or scallops to prevent overcooking.
StainLESS Steel is long lasting, inexpensive, natuarally antibacterial, doesn't rust as easily and lighter than iron. This is used in big kitchens for all the reasons listed above but is also used in the home for the same reasons. It holds more heat than aluminum. This is a general purpose metal and is used for anything that should cook or roast but doesn't need a strong sear and isn't as delicate as a sauce.
Aluminum is cheap because it is easy to work and has a lower melting point than steel. It is used for cheap mass produced cookware for college students. It looses heat quickly and doesn't hold a lot of heat. This makes it forgiving but also harder to get a good sear. In Aluminum pots there are different grades or thicknesses. The thicker the bottom the more heat it will hold but you will not get the thermal mass of steel or iron. Aluminum can cook almost anything but getting something to properly brown will usually overcook the center and take FOREVER if at all due to water leaching out.
Bronze is not really used as much anymore except in Brewing where the antimicrobial properties help keep things clean and prevent bacteria growth. Similar to copper depending on the alloy so it can also be used for sauces and fish.
Titanium is very expensive and doesn't really give many benefits over steel but it is light weight. Usually it is a sales gimmick in my opinion but sometimes it is used for high stress components to prevent wear instead of entire pots or pans.
There is also a huge list of types of pots and pans for different types of dishes depending on if you are cooking, simmering, frying, roasting, blanching, steeping, boiling, searing, broiling or any variation there of. You can write a book about the many styles if you have any questions let me know. I am the Bubba of cookware apparently.
As you can imagine, just like any typical local recipe anywhere in the world, whenever Italians make pasta, everybody makes it its own way. This is the same recipe I follow regularly to make cacio e pepe, and I must commend you for showing what I consider to be by far the best method to cook pasta.
A few pointers.
That flipping of the pasta in the pan is crucial: it allows for air to seep in the coating and for starch to be released efficiently, giving the sauce the mousse consistency and gloss you are looking for.
Everybody has its own grip on the pan, but the base concept is do not tilt up and down the pan, like if it was a pancake. Try relaxing your wrist, slightly incline the pan outwards.
What you want to do is let the pasta hit the curvature of the pan basically with inertia, pull to add momentum and promptly put the pan back underneath the pasta: imagine the movement of a piston in an engine, an elliptical orbit.
Ok, now,
Pasta, much like rice, is a sponge.
You should really treat pasta the same way you treat a risotto, constantly moving/flipping, adding just enough boiling water to extract starch and letting said water dry until the starch forms the coating you’re looking for.
To that end I’ll touch onto the point I believe to be the only criticism I can possibly move towards this video: you really don’t need the super extra starchy water with starch from a previous pasta.
I say that for two reasons
- Starch has a floury taste other than a consistency, and you may prefer for it to have as little of an impact as possible flavour wise, cause if you made a banging sauce, it’s a pity to overpower subtle nuances with bland ass starch.
- If you only constantly add/let dry a minimal amount of water, the pasta will release more than enough starch. That really has to do with the pasta brand, so this may be relative, however most reliable pasta brands will perform the right way.
“Risottare la pasta” as this process is called, might seem very cheffy, but there’s a sure fire way to get it right. Instead of measuring the water, which is already making me anxious just typing this, prepare a nice pot of boiling water and simply add when needed with a ladle.
I can’t stress enough how I believe this to be the absolute best way to cook ANY kind of pasta, with all the little tweaks you may want to adopt on a case by case basis.
If for instance the sauce contains proteins which are supposed to stay crunchy, say pancetta and the likes, you can let them release the grease, remove the bits themselves, use the fat on the coating or sauce/remove the fat if you eventually want to have the best abs in your graveyard and finally fold the bits back in at the very end.
And again, using this process allows you to customize different liquids as the base for the coating: want to have the lobstererst lobster linguini without even adding lobster? Instead of boiling water, use lobster bisque.
Finally, in the specific case of “cacio e pepe”, there’s a tip I personally swear by: take a couple of spoons of the starchy water and mix them with your grated pile of cheese until you get a cheesy paste. When the pasta is fully cooked and off the fire the paste will dissolve in the coating much like a sexy knob of butter would. Yes, knobs can indeed be sexy.
If you just dump a some grated cheese on top of searing hot pasta in starchy water, due to the temperature difference and the way milk behaves, the cheese will split from the water and the only thing you’ll be eating is a mess that taste like regret. This is the most common mistake people do, so beware.
If you want to make Asperger proud, you may want treat that cheese paste the same way you’d treat a hollandaise sauce (please watch a video for that) in order to tamper the cheese to absolute perfection. It’s just not really worth the hustle in my opinion.
Sorry for the long comment, and the extra sass, I have absolutely jack to do and this weed just got me to my culinary zone.
I know spaghetti carbonara have some of the same principle as Cacio E Pepe, as Alex said in episode 1, in the same vein as this comment, would you describe cabonara? Thanks!
You gave me an unexpressionably useful tip. For that Sir I indeed will subscribe and shall become your 1st subscriber. Please start to make videos :)
D.W.M.A. I got lost in the comment man good stuff.
Hey man, going to cook pasta based on this video with your improvements. What ratio would you recommend? I have 500g of pasta (good quality bevette), 50g of an awesome 3 pepper mix, and 200g of good quality pecorino. How much cheese for how much noodles and pepper? and when do I add the pepper ?
Side note: I just imagine you like a comic hero -> Chef Smokey. Hits blunt and gets super creative creating masterpieces in the kitchen. Almost like the guy in limitless (with the xtc drug). someone should make this an animation
"If you can't get the Pecorino cheese, just use a local fresh sheeps milk cheese"....I get the feeling Alex would (rightly) commit seppukku if he spent a while in small town USA lol
I walked into a cafe in a small town in Northern England and the owner said to me "we like to do things a bit different here. Eggs with something a little...unusual". It was avocado. He served avocado on toast.
I guess that small town thing is a problem everywhere.
@@jamesmurphy616 You sound like a bitter old racist. Generalising an entire country with a couple anecdotes is pathetic and small minded
Small town American here, Pecorino is in my local market in droves.
90% of the US population is within a 5 minute drive of fresh pecorino
Been in a small town of 5000, and a smaller town of just 600, both had places you could find gourmet ingredients.
Italian here: works perfect, the point is to have that starch for the creamy effect and to keep the pecorino "cold" so it doesn't cook and stick, but incorporates the starch.
I would have changed only 1 thing: added part of the pepper a bit earlier so that it is absorbed inside the pasta through the starch rich water.
It looks 100% like a proper cacio e pepe. Maybe try the suggestions for a Gricia, so you can do the whole Carbonara/Amatriciana tree ;)
I wonder if he didn't put it this late because of the pepper working a bit like tea.
It has an optimal infusion time where it's at it's best, and more would just add unwanted bitterness, and overrule the other precious flavors...
Maybe it's that, maybe it's luck, maybe it would actually be better... idk^^
One should try
@Yumi Akuma you’re right, the more pepper cooks the more it taste of wood.
I know this is a year old comment, but "...keep the pecorino cold so it doesn't cook and stick", has probably just helped me identify why it's so hard to clean my pan after making fettuccini alfredo, and I'm really glad to have stumbled on it because it'll undoubtedly make my pasta dishes better.
@@ADHD-Gaming I think you may have some other problem, Alfredo doesn't have cheese in it.
Alfredo is buttered egg noodles. (fettuccini is usually a fresh egg pasta) Tossed a bit with pasta water to make a creamy sauce rather than greased noodles. In Itally it is commonly served to people with an upset stomach.
@@mytech6779 Fettuccine al burro (AKA fettuccine alfredo) definitely has Parmigiano in it.
I'm gonna use American cheese singles and Fuji bottled water to make this even better
McCheeseNpep? 😂
I'm gonna use Kraft Dinner powder!
@@davidbeddoe6670 i see you're a man of culture
@@davidbeddoe6670 what the f*** x'D
TOO FUNNY!
I'm Italian, and this cacio e pepe looks and surely tastes fantastic.
And I'm not afraid of saying it out loud.
Thanks Alex!
Not afraid of lunching, are you? 🙃🙃
who cares, Italians are food fascists. Nobody cares that you're Italian
@@MaxwellBergen of course we are food fascists, otherwise our national dish would be mcdonalds or fish n chips.....
Orlouge uh huh? It’s also why Italian food isn’t innovating. Remember tomatoes come from the new world so Italian food isn’t very old, however thanks to people like you and Associazione Verace Pizza napoletana Italian food is now stale and unchanging.
Livia B You comma ferom Eetaly? Howa comma you hava no Eetalian accenteh?
10:34
"Oh ben putain c'est bon hein!"
This comes from the heart!
Ça venait directement du coeur ahahah
Hahah you are right absolument vrai mon ami
can someone translate please?
@@kevdayao "Damn, that's good"
@@kevdayao Yes actually but it has a curse word in it so it is up To you
I attempted to recreate this, but I got trapped in a horrible nightmare world where all the cheese is low fat.
Ahahahauauauauauahahahahahahahahahahahaha
I'm in Indonesia and i can get parmigiano reggiano, grana padano, mozzarella and pecorino. *nice*
@@danielphendarko2651 bro lo beli pecorino dimana? gue udg nyari nyari gadapet dapet 😂
@@danielphendarko2651 I mean, if you're rich enough, you can get anything anywhere.
Why should we be angry, you didn't change the recipe that much and yet you improved so much, you didn't add onion or garlic. Good job
As a member of the french bureau of culinary idiosyncrasy, it is my opinion your a danger to your self and others. Please surrender yourself peacefully before anymore innocent people waste their time changing a perfect recipe
7:47 "French" guy, cooking an "Italian" dish in "English" with "Asian" chopsticks.... !!! That is what I call diversity..... 😂😂😂😂
Mamun Hasan haha on point
As long as diversity of thought is present.
and colombian pepper
It's the only diversity people want!
Mr worldwide
As an Italian, that looks phenomonal. Beautiful stuff my man.
You are not an Italian any more than I'm an Irishman. Whip out your passport and prove me wrong.
@@RealityIsTheNow i dont quite get it...
@@MrMCKlebeband He wants to steal their identity
He's an American, in America, born in America, with Italian ancestors at some point along the way...who thinks that makes him Italian. I'm a 24th generation American....but my parents think they are Irish and German. It's hilarious.
dylan foley Trouble is that most people in the Western world are so completely immersed in American culture that they don't even recognize it for what it is. Everywhere you go, it's Coca Cola, Lady Gaga, blue jeans, smartphones, youtube, Marvel movies, etc etc. Ironically, they use American culture to display their ignorant contempt for American culture to one another lol.
I love how you underpin the process with some fridge theory, it’s perfection! Very clever ,enthusiastic and funny 🥢
Not gonna lie, I nearly cried at how beautiful this video is, the pasta looks phenomenal (as a culinary student in the middle of covid, this brings back memories of me cooking in culinary). Good stuff alex, t'es le best.
Italian chef 500 years ago: "You can't put tomatoes in that, it's not traditional."
tomatos are from the Americas and hadn't made it to Italy 500 years ago. So more like "you cant put beetroot in that, it will turn your turds red."
@@stephen2828 Tomatoes arrived in Italy by the mid 1500s per written accounts. So with a little liberal rounding of 30 odd years it's been 500 years.
Stephen that’s the joke...
in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue...derp.
@@fradinryth yeah they arrived but were thought poisonous because they are from the nightshade family so they weren't used much until a more standard version of them was available. The Italians cultivating tomatoes for ages developed the plum tomato which is the classic and many other variations.
Since I’m poor I’m making this with regular ass pepper cheap pasta and maybe good parmesan.... I’m poor but I wanna try this method
Edit: tried it made many many mistakes it’s salty and undercooked I will try again another day
Pecorino Romano is usually less expensive than Parmesan Reggiano
@@jamesmorrison7847 harder to find tho
usually pecorino is around the same price as parmigiano reggiano.
Grana Padano is typically cheaper than Parmigiano Reggiano, and Spanish Manchego cheese also made from sheep's milk may be cheaper than Pecorino - I'm not sure though how close their flavors are and what's the right aging.
At least go to TJ Maxx and buy mixed peppercorns. That isn't too pricey.
I could listen to this guy talk about anything. He has such a good spirit.
This right here is simply amazing, things like this inspire. You take a simple, humble, classic dish, hyperfocus and source great ingredients, and you end up with an amazing update on a classic that's not "deconstructed" or pretentious. Good work.
This is exactly how my mother taught me to cook carbonara:
1) Prepare a mix of pecorino/parmiggiano and yolks, leave it to rest
2) Toast the uncrushed black pepper on a pan, then remove it
?) If you're using completely dry pasta you can slightly toast it on the same pan, then remove it
3) Slow cook the guanciale/bacon to melt its own fat on the pan, then remove it and do NOT wash the pan
4) Pour abit of water on the pan, bring it to the boil and drop the pasta
5) Cook it like a risotto until 4/5 of the pasta's cooking time
6) While pasta's cooking, chop half of the guanciale/bacon into a fine powder, and grind the pepper
7) At 4/5 of pasta's cooking time turn off the heat and drop the pepper, both halves of the guanciale and the egg/cheese mixture into the pan, whisking it
Sounds interesting - what pasta did you use?
Your recipe sounds like carbonara, not cacio e pepe.
@@timothymesser2403 that’s because he said it’s a recipe for carbonara
OMG Alex you killed me at the spaghetti cut ahahahhaah, i eat cacio e pepe at least once a weak and i'm dying to try your version. You're awesome, keep up the good work!
I just love the simplicity of a dish, yet impressive culinary skills Alex shows in his videos. He makes cooking pasta in over 2 times less water and cooking the HARDEST pasta dish look like a walk in the park. This guy is great! Finding new improved ways of cooking specific dishes is not easy. Alex, you have one of the best cooking channels on TH-cam!
If you just need one Portion, you can just cook the pasta in the pan with as little water as possible (add more if needed), and a few minutes before they are done you can add the pepper and emulsify the Cheese bit by bit into the sauce. This has worked for me every time.
Yep, this is how he cooks the dish in the previous video, regardimg the classical version. 💛
I'm Italian and I think your recipe is great 😎
Anyone who knows a little bit about cooking will understand that. Never mind those italian fanatics!
Gabriele Conti tu di italiano non hai nulla, la pasta non si cuoce così sopratutto se stai replicando una ricetta della tradizione
@@davidebrignoli4194 Mangiare vuol' dire godersi. Ognuno deve cucinare così come li piace! Se questo per lui è il modo più buono, perche dovrebbe farlo diversamente?
Questo lo penso pure io ma la pasta cacio e pepe ha una ricetta precisa che va rispettata, se no è un'altro tipo
Davide Brignoli Jeez man why you so salty
@@davidebrignoli4194 guarda che fare una rivisitazione per migliorarla non è mica sbagliato, se dovessimo cucinare sempre e solo ricette tradizionali ora continueresti a mangiare polenta di farro e pesci salati come gli antichi romani
I love your channel and its content. I'm italian and I have to admit it, you're pretty good at this and I really like how you give a "scientific twist" to recipes and how you study these recipies to achieve the best version of them
I love how his kitchen is very real, a little messy, a little crowded just like my kitchen. Loved the video.
Merci pour cette recette, je l’ai essayé pour la deuxième fois ce soir et c’était délicieux! Un gros merci aussi pour toutes tes autres recettes et conseils disponibles sur ta chaîne.
I always love new videos from you Alex.
Your videos never feel stale and boring, always something new, always something fresh!
Great content!
Just call the dish fromage et poivre and no one can say you're doing cacio e pepe wrong!
Lol nice
you clearly don't know Italians lol
lol No, the Italians will find a way to cry about it, and bemoan the fact that it's been a couple thousand years since the world revolved around them and anyone cared what they think.
it's who we are after all
@@RealityIsTheNow oh god! What's your problem with italians? Are you austrian? 😂
Alex, I have followed you on TH-cam ever since you published the first cacio e pepe video. I've cooked quite a few of your recipes since then, but this one always got pushed to the bottom of the list. I was unsure I could pull it off properly. But this morning I found some fresh pecorino, so I decided today would be the day I'd attempt it. This method here is foolproof. It was SO good. Amazed that there are only three ingredients. I'm a big fan of your work. Thanks, and keep it up.
So I have been making this dish for about 6 months after getting back from Rome. I’ve used the slurry Method and just recently tried saving old pasta water (was already a convert to low water boils). Excellent video summing up a lot of tweaks. This is a great technique for doing lots of other dishes. Your can even improvise off this. Have been adding mild proteins as well as veggies after building the sauce. Hats off, nicely done.
I got your book this week Alex. Thanks for an awesome channel.
The key to simple recipes are quality ingredients and proper technique.
The best modifications to simple recipes are ones that enhance the above mentioned. The worst modifications are the ones that take away.
You appear to have mastered this. Congrats!
I'm not an Italian but I've always seen the starchy water as a trade-off. If you bust it, then you improve the texture on one hand while dampening the flavor on the other.
"The cacio e Pepe joined the clean plate club"
He forgot to wear a blue T-Shirt and a black Apron
i was thinking the same thing haha
Yes my cooking bois need to collab
Hahaha
Although I prefer Carbonara with it's eggy goodness :) on my channel I published my own recipe. It took me quite a lot of effort and I'd be happy if you checked it out!
Pepper is known as the king of spices for a reason. Such a beautiful flavour.
Oh i agree!
Used to be worth more than it’s weight in gold...
...oh, and *_lots_* of people _literally_ died for it !! I always thought that would make the best ad for pepper... _”pepper, people used to die for it !!”_
Except white pepper. That stuff stinks goat's armpit
I'm italian. And I don't know if I'm more angry or hungry at this... But that's exactly what makes me italian, I guess.
I've noticed that even Italians aren't on the same page on how everything is supposed to be made. It's usually their grandmas recipe and everyone's grandma makes things slightly different and all of them swear that theirs is the "real" way
@@adamburdt8794 Well, that could be true for some recipes. But in very traditional ones like cacio e pepe, or carbonara, or pizza margherita, we only have one recipe, and we agree on it. Interpretations sometimes are welcome, and sometimes not, that really depends from person to person.
@@MrLoam910 my girlfriends family is really traditionally italian (moved here in 07), woult it be better to try and make them an italian dish, by the book, or should I risk getting creative? Im nervous af
@@Jacob-sb3su cook them a good dish from your family tradition (a dish that you're fairly sure you won't screw up) and then ask them to teach you some italian recipes. If you try an italian recipe and you're not really into the italian way of cooking you'll probably make something edible, maybe even quite good, but miles away from their version. Good luck ;)
@@paobar77 chicken cordon bleu it is. Thanks mate!
Alex, as an American who has lived in Italy for 30 years I can only say...sei un Mago! I love the obsession with tastes, cooking methods, textures and ingredients. And as spaghetti alla carbonara is my absolute favorite dish I am really impressed by your recipe for this. The next time I'm in Rome I will definitely eat at Luciano's restaurant. Grazie mille!
We went to Italy last year and had Cacio e Pepe. After watching this I am greatly inspired and am on a mission to perfect this dish to being back those Roman memories! Thank you 🙏🏼
As a Colombian living in Italy, I'm so happy to see this recipe! Keep going, Alex!
my tongue went numb when he bit into those kernels
A T haha have you ever tried Szechuan peppercorns? They’ll literally numb your tongue! It’s fun but weird
Lily A. I’m too scared to do that >.> maybe one day
@@abouttime837 Don't. Just don't
@@abouttime837 Wow, you're a little baby. I eat whole Carolina Reapers.
To be honest, with the first ones (the un-toasted) I got quite an good amount of heat/kick, but the toasted ones were waaaaay more manageable/enjoyable.
The man deserves subscribers when he’s so dedicated to his craft that he goes to a pepper shop. Awesome work!
Oh, my heart melted when I saw those poor little cutten pasta pieces. RIP to all italian grandma‘s out there
I feel you held back here, the ultimate cheat method here I feel would be to overcook some pasta until it has absorbed as much water as it possibly can, and then puree it in the cooking water to disperse all the starch in the pasta throughout the water, reduce until the starch water has thickened like a bechamel, freeze in cubes and add them to thicken all your pasta sauces!
Instead of coaxing scraps of starch off the surface.
that is incredibly genius! I hope Alex sees this.
or just use corn starch
LOL
@@p0331546 texture/flavour won't be the same
Indeed, another great method is just to adda. few hundred grams of flour. It'll be great I'm sure.
One of my favorite dishes, and I feel like this can be better. I'll try it for sure.
As always, fantastic video.
loved making this, thank you! i’ve made this beautiful recipe a few times already since watching this video for the very first time. it’s so satisfying toasting the peppercorns lol! but that flavor that comes at the end of it all was so delicious! 🤍
Alex!! This is the best frickin channel ever. So well done. You are very comfortable on camera. Where is that pepper shop, Paris?
ITALIAN COMMENT WARNING!
I think that your recipe is fantastic. I mean: you put pasta, you put pecorino and you put black pepper. That's cacio e pepe, so no one can complain.
Sincerely, I was expecting you to use some powder starch, because I think I will never save starchy water from pasta, since I'm lazy as hell 😂 And i still feel some shivers when I saw pasta and boiling water in a pan ahah but I think that's quite acceptable!
Finally, I also love the idea to use local sheep cheese! But please, anyone, just try pecorino once (Pecorino Romano DOP, if you can find it), so that you can understand the real flavour of this simple pasta we (roman) love so much!
Love you all. Bye bye! (Salut)
Pecorino Romano is where it's at! My dad is Italian and he swears by the stuff and got me hooked on it as well!
This! I thought he might use corn or potato starch in the water. I think that might improve the efficiency of the recipe.
@@glewellyn0 I agree it would improve on efficiency but I dunno about you but corn/potato starch has a very distinct taste for me (plus...for me the texture afterwards isn't as "creamy" for me when I use pasta water as much as...I dunno "jelly"/"pasty"?). And as a thickening agent it's a little finicky (depending on how high the heat is and how much corn starch/water you use, your sauce may end up thickening before your pasta cooks so...you may end up with gloop lol). In conclusion, I think corn starch is good for thickening stews/sauces at the end rather than in pasta/starch dishes like this where the consistency is really key for the final product
@@emalinel You're right that corn starch is finicky. And I wouldn't recommend using it to bind the sauce at the end, but maybe adding a teaspoon or two to the water might yield the very starchy water he recommends for this recipe. That would allow you to skip the step of saving pasta water from a previous batch.
I mean, I've tried it and it's really good cheese. But so is so much other cheese. It's really not some kind of mystery how to make good cheese. Pretty much every European nation has a dairy tradition and is capable of making equally good sheep cheese.
About 1.67 videos in and I already love you.
Soo 2:07?
Very good video!! I really enjoy watching the way you cook and think out loud...
Alex, I saw professional chefs using your method after you posted this series, I mean, I remember that they clearly had their own recipes but they have literally changed theirs recently, probably caused by your efficiency and creativity. Congratulations. Proud of you, man
I'm italian and i Laughed out loudly when i saw you shorten the pasta :D brilliant!
But in 30 seconds the pasta would have softened and fit in the pan. I think alex had a brain fart and saw a problem where there wasnt one. I know i do that all the time too.
Starch has a very bad flavor release. It basically traps flavor molecules inside its network. That is why traditional cacio pepe is so beautiful, because it uses the least amount of starch in order to get a nice emulsified sauce. 5x times more starch does make the process easier by producing a thicker more stable sauce. However, you hide the flavor of the cheese more. There are many ways of keeping the emulsion stable, besides just adding more starch. You could use surfactants like sodium citrate, which have no impact on the flavor and produce a silky smooth sauce.
I just made this using this method! Wow, it came out so creamy and delicious! The starchy pasta water made a huge difference. Merci, Alex!
I'm in the process of doing research to make my own Cacio E Pepe video and I have an idea that revolves around tradition but puts a twist on it as you have done here. I loved both of your cacio e pepe videos. Cheers!
Oh! I'm colombian and i didn't knew we have premium pepper! Thanks!
It‘s probably just the common colombian pepper with some high priced marketing :-)
When are you showing up the Hot Ones show for an interview with sean? :) Seems like you're handling your peppers just fine.. tres bien!
Caught you on Milk Street... loved the interview... now I’m a fan 😃
Love that you take the time to explain
Colombian guy cooking here, never heard of pepper from Putumayo before. Definitely going to look for it.
@Juan Carlos Sotelo le vendieron caquita de perro mercadeada como pimienta premium colombiana y se la comio xD
Name idea for a future mini series : "Starchy & Hooch "
Your channel is amazing, love from italy 🇮🇹
I just found you and you are so cool! Cooked Italian for many years, now not so much cuz it’s just me but still loving the wine and cheese ❤️🙏🏼💪🏼👏🏼
Ok, I’m Italian and being completely honest, it looks better than the ones people make in Rome.
Congrats man!
Ma che cazzo stai a di, questo cucina nella padella per 10 minuti non sta bene di testa, poi magna pure co le bacchette. Roma nun se nfama✋✋✋
Il problema della sua ricetta é che se concentri troppo l'amido e la fiamma della padella é troppo alta rischi facilmente di "scottarlo" e produrre un sapore sgradevole. Imparare a risottare la pasta e a mantecarla non é poi così difficile.... Direi che se se l'avesse fatta restringere un pelo di più (a fiamma bassa) la prima volta...e poi saltata meglio (imaganazzinado più aria nella salsa) avrebbe ottenuto lo stesso risultato. Sono d'accordo sull'utilizzo del pepe, io faccio lo stesso.
Cacio E Pepe aside: What are you using to record sound while on the bike? It's so clear ...
Probably Go Pro's windproof mic,but I'm not sure
Shotgun microphone could be the thing though
@@10_Bit little cumbersome for a bicycle though
@@Jacob-sb3su naw, ev body in Texas rides with one.
watch this one: th-cam.com/video/LV0FfKc2s6k/w-d-xo.html
Just tried a variation of your method!! So so good and so so easy! Thank you!
I love you.... Your enthusiasm, passion... That is how we should see the world all around us....
I see a lot of influences from Alton brown. One of my favorite shows ever. Your channel is fun and impressive.
Would it be possible to use a bit of wheat or corn starch (mixed with a bit of water before adding) instead of cooking another batch of noodles?
That's exactly what I am wondering. It would much simpler and even easier to reproduce. I think I will try.
I've loved those two videos about cacio e pepe up to the now-subscribed-to-your-channel level.
I did this, but without the extra starchy water, i couldn’t be bothered. I just put very shallow water and reduced it to nearly nothing, then turned off the heat and integrated the pecorino slowly while tossing the spaghetti like Alex. Amazingly, it turned out perfect. Go slow at the end and be careful to not have much water. I was on the verge of frying the spaghetti. Getting the right amount at the start is the key, it’s very little water. I had to try twice. The first time was garbage. Oh yeah and no need for very salty water, the cheese brings the flavour. Merci Alex
Drinking a whole jar of pickles juice on screen is pretty well hardcore.
Your selecting the right black pepper is very intriguing. Have you ever tried Japanese sansho pepper with cheese? Sansho pepper is not related to black pepper and is in the citrus family. I understand that michelin star restaurants in Europe use it as a secret ingredient accompanying cheese or foie gras. The handmade green sansho powder is the rarest form.
I've been wanting to get my hands on some sansho pepper for ages. I picked up some imported sichuan peppercorns and sansho is next on my list!
Apparently sansho pepper is botanically a close relative of Sichuan peppercorn. They don’t taste exactly alike, which is not surprising, but they do taste similar to each other.
I get the regular sansho pepper which includes the seed from a local Asian store or you can get it from Amazon.com. The more intense green powder made from the green pods with the seeds meticulously removed may only be available in Japan. You can get the whole seedpods from online spice companies like the Spice House.
Isn't that what they use in Shichimi Togarashi(sp),the stuff they sprinkle on udon? That stuff should be controlled,it's so addictive.
Oh man, you know your stuff! Shichimi togarashi is sooo good on udon, it’s kind of hard to wrap your head around.
I thiiiink you’re right that all classic/traditional shichimi blends use sansho. Shichimi is “supposed to” have seven ingredients (as per its name), but exactly what those seven ingredients are changes depending on who you ask.
I’m pretty sure that two of those ingredients are fire and magic, though. Definitely a “whole is greater than the sum of its parts” spice mix.
I wish you could leave a voice note on TH-cam comments, I just made this dish following your every instruction and it is divine.
Thank you for making every video a true artistic adventure to watch and learn from
I love watching you remake the wheel. Your twist is basically the reason why the restaurant version is usually better...they have the pasta water full of starch from being used all day. Great recipe!
Italian and watching anyways 😊
loving your videos!
You used black pepper from my country! Have been here for a while and loving your content! Greetings from Colombia 😊
Love your shows Alex. great content. Big like from a surprised colombian when you mentioned Putumayo's Peper.
Super job Alex! Thanks for your work.
Looks like someone got some inspiration from Kenji's way of making cacio e pepe (from Serious Eats).
is 5x starch concentration the best alternative? Not sure if you tried 2.5x version as the video used that water to make 5x.
i know the point of the starchy water is to make it more like cream, but i feel (vaguely tried it before) there is a point where the sauce is too concentrated and just feels like it leaves residue starchiness in your mouth (meaning too much). like your mouth is paste-y and you need water, not pleasant - interested in your thoughts
He said this version was creamier, but honestly in the first video the sauce looked a little wet to me, like it needed more time to reduce - I've seen that making carbonara, you definitely get a feel for when it needs more time to get the right consistency
So maybe it's not so much the double starch water, more that Alex had a better idea of what he was aiming for? I hope the 2.5x version is still good because I just wanna cook one lot of pasta and then eat it!
I
This video has brought me a love of food I haven't experience in a long time holy jesus
it took me probs 5 min to subscribe. you have the best possible attitude to food.
How much pepper did you use? I found this particular variable rather hard to estimate with all the steps changing the spiciness of the pepper.
As you said it's a variable and probably should not be stated. It all depends on the pepper you have, taste your pepper and guestimate. Taste you dish and add more if needed.
@@patrickkeller2193 I get that, but the problem is all the transformation that happens to the pepper in the process. Adding some more fresh pepper at the end would disrupt the taste. One could say it in proportion - say, imagine peppering this amount of pasta normally, so use twice as much here. Or three times? Or five? That proportion is something fixed to the preparation process it will come out roughly the same for all, even if individual amounts may vary a lot.
Freshly ground pepper has a very concentrated flavor, so even putting a little bit in it will have a huge flavor impact. If you don't add anything else into the dish, adding too much pepper will overpower the dish, given the cheese has a very delicate flavor and can very easily be drowned out by the pepper.
In general, when it comes to seasoning, you have to experiment. Start off with less and as you continue making the dish more, just add a little bit more until you reach the desired flavor profile.
Cooking isn't like baking where everything is exact to the gram. There's a lot of wiggle room for adjustment, and that can only be done by you.
As many italians, I'm not an huge fan of starting to cook pasta in not boiling water.
I mean, it’s to extract as much starch as possible right? Cacio e pepe should be an exception to that. Carbonara too, as well as other dishes that need the extra starch.
in realtà scientificamente la pasta per cuocere ha bisogno di stare sopra gli 82/83 gradi. Non serve che l'acqua bolla. Tanto è vero che se una volta che sta bollendo butti la pasta e metti coperchio spegnendo il fuoco o la piastra, la pasta cuocerà benissimo lo stesso esattamente come se avessi lasciato il fuoco o la piastra accesa. Dario Bressanini lo mostra molto bene in un suo video.
@@Angelchildxx Ok Dario bel tentativo, ma continui a non convincermi.
i've tried this last week! changed my life! thank you verry much
Great video, Alex! I liked your comment about dry-roasting spices, which is a frequently used technique in Mayan cuisine.
Alex : *French guy made Italian dish then eats with chopsticks*
Me an asian : Yes that must go well with rice
You are amazing, thanks for cooking with so much heart and soul (and brains!).
Hi Alexx, I just discover your channel and I'm video binging😂. The cacio e pepe looks phenomenal to me. In the original recipe, you work the pasta( it is called risottare la pasta) not evenly cooked in the pan with the pecorino e pepe and a bit of the cooking starchy water, so you were near than you though. Saluti dall'Italia
To make the pasta water more starchy you can put a pinch ot breadcrumbs in it. I can't recommend Cooking Italian with Joe channal enough. A great resource for Italian cuisine.