Physicists find key to perfect pasta – but it’s not how Mamma used to make it

A plate of cacio e pepe. Photograph: Felicity Cloake/The Guardian

It may be only pasta, pecorino and black pepper, but cacio e pepe is not nearly as easy to make as some would imagine.

Now, researchers have come up with a scientific recipe that avoids a lumpy sauce every single time – but it all gets a lot more complicated.