Posted on 10/10/2025 7:25:28 AM PDT by Red Badger
Physicists discovered the secret to flawlessly creamy cacio e pepe, and it earned them the Ig Nobel Prize. Shutterstock A team of physicists won the Ig Nobel Prize for cracking the code to perfect cacio e pepe.
Their clever study revealed how starch and temperature control can transform a lumpy sauce into creamy perfection, proving that great science sometimes starts with dinner.
The Struggle for the Perfect Cacio e Pepe
Cacio e pepe ranks among Italy’s most beloved pasta dishes, yet even (Italian) scientists struggle to achieve the smooth, creamy sauce it’s famous for. Fabrizio Olmeda, a physicist at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), faced the same problem until he decided to stop relying on chance and start relying on science. Partnering with colleagues (all Italian) from the Max Planck Institute in Dresden, the University of Padua, and the University of Barcelona, he set out to uncover the precise formula for a sauce that would come out perfectly every time.
Their work paid off. Recently in Boston, the team was honored with the Ig Physics Nobel Prize in Physics for their flavorful and creative findings. This lighthearted award recognizes scientific discoveries that first amuse and then inspire reflection, encouraging curiosity about science, medicine, and technology by celebrating the unexpected and imaginative.
Curiosity Beyond the Lab: Fabrizio Olmeda’s Philosophy
As a postdoctoral researcher at ISTA, Fabrizio Olmeda focuses on statistical physics and complex systems, using theoretical tools that can be applied across many disciplines, from biology to sociology.
“My motivation will always be to investigate phenomena that fascinate me, even if they lie outside my field of expertise, which is the physics of single-cell genomics,” says the newly awarded Ig Nobel Prize winner. “Despite increasing specialization, I believe that even in my usual field of research, it can be beneficial to take some time to explore something unusual. I think this award reflects this idea, because its motto, ‘First laugh, then think,’ can inspire people to take an interest in science.”
Martin Hetzer, president of ISTA, emphasizes this: “A mentor once told me: As long as you’re having fun, you’re doing it right. The Ig Nobel Prize is a wonderful tribute to this credo. At first, the question of how to prepare the perfect Caio e Pepe pasta may sound funny. But real curiosity-driven research brings together creativity, perseverance, precision, and fun. And it always leads to discoveries that have the potential to improve our world a little bit—on a large scale with innovations or on a small scale on our plates.”
Fabrizio Olmeda With Cacio e Pepe Pasta
Fabrizio Olmeda, postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA), and colleagues have now been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for their research into the perfect cacio e pepe pasta. Credit: © ISTA
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What’s Simmering in the Lab? The Recipe for Delicious Research
And that is the essence of the peer-reviewed study published in the scientific journal Physics of Fluids and now honored with the award: Simply mixing the usual ingredients – Pecorino cheese, pasta water, pepper, and pasta – often results in a lumpy, mozzarella-like sauce. Why? The starch in the pasta water is supposed to help emulsify and stabilize the sauce, but it is rarely enough on its own. When the temperature rises above 65 degrees Celsius, the cheese proteins denature and clump together, causing the mixture to break down.
The researchers found that the key to the perfect sauce is the right amount of starch. Simply stir starch powder (2–3% of the cheese mass) into the water until the water becomes clear and thickens. Now mix this gel with the cheese at a low temperature so that the starch binds with the proteins and prevents lumps. Then season with pepper as usual. Mix the pasta with the sauce in the pan and add a little pasta water if necessary to achieve the right consistency.
Cacio e Pepe
Tasty science: The perfect Cacio e Pepe Pasta, here prepared at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA). Credit: © ISTA
Ingredients:
4 g starch (potato or corn starch)
40 ml water (to mix the starch)
160 g Pecorino Romano
240 g pasta (ideally tonnarelli)
Pasta cooking water
Black pepper and salt (to taste)
Also at the VISTA Science Experience Center
The research question about the perfect pasta is just one of countless questions and topics that have been and continue to be pursued at ISTA in Klosterneuburg by outstanding scientists from around 80 countries. Visitors will soon be able to learn about a selection of these topics—including the now award-winning pasta research—at the VISTA Science Experience Center.
Reference:
“Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce”
by G. Bartolucci, D. M. Busiello, M. Ciarchi, A. Corticelli, I. Di Terlizzi, F. Olmeda, D. Revignas and V. M. Schimmenti, 29 April 2025, Physics of Fluids.
DOI: 10.1063/5.0255841
you know, everyone loves m&c... one day i was looking around @CostCo’s- recommended buys online it turned out their m&c was made with cavatappi.
I had never even heard of this type of pasta used for m&c . I made it with the cavatappi ...oh wow!
im experimenting with the 00 flour for pizza dough on a stone, too
i will send you some info on some things ive learned.
🍀
🍀
you know, everyone loves m&c... one day i was looking around @CostCo’s- recommended buys online it turned out their m&c was made with cavatappi.
I had never even heard of this type of pasta used for m&c . I made it with the cavatappi ...oh wow!
im experimenting with the 00 flour for pizza dough on a stone, too
i will send you some info on some things ive learned.
🍀
🍀
I have another remark that I will be posting soon and it refersto Dr. Peter Boghassian👁
real bacon bits stirred in and crispy onion topping (frenchs) is the best.
Seems like cheating to me too. They should have figured out exactly what the pros do to make the sauce without breaking it.
The pasta is cooked in a skillet with X amount of water and you watch it and add as necessary but don’t drown it. Put some aside for later as may be needed as the other ingredients are added. It’s a matter of figuring out how wet things have to be as the other ingredients are added.
If it's not available, then it's just unschlock a jar of Rao's Alfredo sauce. Grill some chicken (the trick is to brine the meat first), steam a little broccoli or spinach, back a couple of slices of bacon on the grill along with the chicken, plop all but the bacon above into the sauce pan and stir it up. Garnish with fresh basil and crunched up bacon.
It's almost not awful.
You can have mine, Sirius. I’m not a fan of Alfredo, much prefer marinara. I’m relegated to staying away from pasta, thanks to Type II. OTOH, my blood sugar was 108 this morning, so we’re off to a good start.
How fun!
I bought my Caputo a few months ago, but got the wrong bag. I was after flour without the USA’s “enrichments”, to make bread. (Sourdough for 2.5 years now).
00 Pizza Flour does not make good bread, at all. But it makes tremendous pizza! And pasta, it turns out. With a little semolina and olive oil added.
There are so many pasta varieties that are unknown. Back in .. ‘20? ‘21? It seemed stores were getting anything they could find to put on the shelves.
A Ronzoni variety, Creste di Gallo, made its way home with me. Maybe 4 boxes, 5. Ridged, thick elbows with ruffles on one side. After I used those up I have never found them again.
Other things have never been seen again since then. Printed napkins and paper towels for instance.
Anyway. Yes, 00. I have since found King Arthur flour that is not enriched but has “enzymes” in it. Looking for no folic acid.
The other Caputo, Chef’s flour (red bag) is supposed to be good for bread but is too expensive in the places I can find it.
It was sold at my local Chef’s Store next to the blue bag of Pizza, $35 for 50 pounds, but neither has been back.
Ah well, yes, share secrets! I love learning :)
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