In Italy, there are typical foods that have been lost to time, surviving only in some village festivals and unknown even a few miles away. There are foods that have become a heritage of humanity, such as pizza, and others that at some point go viral on social media, gaining followers all over the world. Cacio e pepe is one of the latter–a pasta dish that has gone from being a local, Italian (even better Roman) dish to a global obsession. 

Three-ingredient cacio e pepe is one arm of the Holy Trinity of Roman pastas. Along with carbonara and amatriciana, the plate is one of the most iconic primi in the capital, but also the most magical and inscrutable.