Cheese
The proof of a true Roman-style cacio e pepe or carbonara. The sheep's-milk saltiness and richness are decisive, and they shape your overall salt calculations.
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The traditional Roman and Amatrice schools skip onion and garlic. Of six chefs here, only Ryuji and Yoshimi Hidaka add them — the other four build on pork fat, tomato, and cheese, with wine or chili.
Cacio e pepe comes down to cheese and black pepper, yet almost every failure has one cause — a pan that's too hot when the cheese goes in. Eight chefs split into three schools for that moment.
Carbonara splits over one question — where the egg comes up to temperature. Direct heat, bain-marie, or residual heat: five chefs, plus the tip line in Fabio's transcript about hot water and eggs.
Italia Squisita's original cacio e pepe gives no water volume or salt amount — just "enough salt" and water used "sparingly." Its amatriciana browns guanciale in a dry, blazing-hot pan instead.
Fabio eases eggs to about 65°C over a bain-marie with a hand mixer — the transcript's tip box says boiling water still won't scramble them. His aglio e olio chars the chili black instead.
On camera, Kenji López-Alt says measurements don't need to be precise. In print, Serious Eats gives grams and milliliters, and a bowl set clear of the water — same school, two levels of precision.
Pasta Grammar's carbonara cuts pasta-water salt in half and emulsifies on residual pasta heat alone, no pan over the flame. Cacio e pepe rests off the heat three minutes before the cheese goes in.
Vincenzo's Plate emulsifies both carbonara and cacio e pepe off direct heat, with the pan suspended over the pasta pot's steam. His 2026 cacio e pepe drops salt entirely.
Pecorino is salty sheep's-milk cheese; Parmigiano is milder cow's-milk. Some recipes leave the water unsalted so Pecorino carries the salt; others salt it heavily instead. Pick the cheese first.
One Roman amatriciana uses 20g of Pecorino Romano DOP per 100g of pasta — the highest ratio we could confirm for the dish. Buying it as a wedge, in our view, keeps more of the aroma.
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