The Four Roman Pastas Explained: Cacio e Pepe, Carbonara, Amatriciana and Gricia

Rome has four pastas it considers its own, and they are one recipe with three additions. Start with pecorino romano and black pepper and you have cacio e pepe; add guanciale and it becomes gricia; add egg to that and it is carbonara; add tomato instead and it is amatriciana. Learn the family and you understand why Romans argue about cream the way other people argue about politics. This guide explains each, the technique they share, and where to eat and learn them in the city.

One family, four sauces

Cacio e pepe: the shepherds’ pasta

Pecorino romano, coarsely ground black pepper, and starchy pasta water beaten into an emulsion that coats the pasta without turning to lumps. It is the food of the Lazio shepherds, who carried dried pasta, aged cheese and pepper on the transhumance, and it is the hardest of the four to make well because there is nothing to hide behind. Romans eat it with tonnarelli, a square-cut fresh spaghetti.

Gricia: the ancestor

Cacio e pepe with guanciale, the cured pork jowl, rendered until its fat is liquid and its edges are crisp, then tossed with the pasta, the cheese and the water. Named, most say, for Grisciano, a hamlet near Amatrice, or for the gricio, the Roman word for the grocer; either way it is what amatriciana was before the tomato arrived, and it is the one visitors have usually never had.

Carbonara: guanciale, egg, pecorino, no cream

Gricia with egg. The yolks, sometimes a whole egg, are beaten with pecorino and pepper, and the hot pasta is tossed into them off the heat with a little of its water until the mixture thickens into a sauce without scrambling. The creaminess is the egg and the starch; cream is what people add when they have not been shown the technique. Its history is short and disputed, with the most convincing version placing it in Rome just after the Second World War, which is why it changes more than the others and why the arguments are loudest.

Amatriciana: the one with tomato

Gricia with tomato, from Amatrice in the mountains on the Lazio border, adopted by Rome so completely that the town’s name is on menus across the city. Guanciale rendered, a splash of white wine, tomato cooked down, pecorino at the end, and bucatini, the hollow spaghetti that soaks it up. Rome and Amatrice disagree about onion; Amatrice, which holds the recipe, says no.

The technique they share

All four depend on the same trick: the starchy water the pasta cooked in, used to turn cheese and fat into a sauce that clings. Too little water and the pecorino seizes into clumps; too much heat and the egg in carbonara scrambles; too fine a cheese and it dissolves to nothing. It is a two-minute skill that takes a demonstration to learn, which is why a Rome pasta class is worth more than a recipe.

Where to eat them

Testaccio, the old slaughterhouse district, is the neighbourhood that made guanciale a way of life; its trattorie and the ones in Trastevere serve all four, and a good Rome food tour will feed you at least two. Order the one the trattoria is known for, not all four; each is a full plate.

Where to learn them

Rome’s pasta classes make fresh fettuccine or tonnarelli and dress it with cacio e pepe, carbonara or amatriciana, and the sauce lesson is the part you take home. See pasta making classes in Rome and Rome cooking classes.

Frequently asked questions

Does real carbonara have cream?

No. Guanciale, egg, pecorino romano and black pepper; the creaminess comes from the egg and the pasta water.

What is the difference between gricia and carbonara?

Egg. Gricia is guanciale, pecorino and pepper; carbonara adds beaten egg to the same base.

What is guanciale, and can I use bacon?

Cured pork jowl, fattier and more aromatic than pancetta or bacon. You can substitute, but Romans will tell you it is a different dish.

Which Roman pasta should I try first?

Cacio e pepe, because it is the base of the others and the truest test of a kitchen.

Is amatriciana made with onion?

Not in Amatrice, which holds the official recipe; some Roman kitchens add it anyway.