Mark Bittman’s recipe (above) is a great place to start, or restart, your journey. He recommends making a kind of paste of grated Pecorino and a little Parmesan mixed with cold water, then vigorously stirring the cheeses with the hot pasta, along with a little reserved cooking water and olive oil, so that the starch emulsifies and grabs onto the melted cheese to cloak the spaghetti.

This is easy to write, but takes a few times to come into tactical focus when you’re actually doing it. Cacio e pepe is a great thing to cook often so the technique enters your muscle memory. Make cacio e pepe today!