The British Isles are replete with incredible food, it’s just that most of it wasn’t invented here.
While our contributions to world cuisine aren’t insignificant – such as fish and chips, bangers and mash, and the humble meal deal – it’s fair to say most of us are more excited by a pizza than a clot of black pudding.
With our penchant for pinching other cuisines and making them our own, it’s no wonder we tend to ruffle a few continental feathers over the practice now and then.
Sadly, this time we’ve upset the Italians, and it’s been done via one of the great British home-cooking institutions: Good Food.
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A traditional Italian dish, cacio e pepe is a simple but deceptively challenging dish to make. It’s essentially spaghetti with a very cheesey, peppery sauce, but getting the consistency right can take several attempts’ worth of practice.
With that in mind, you can imagine that Good Food’s description of it as a ‘speedy lunch’ has wound up the artisans of Rome who live and die on their cacio e pepe mastery.
Ingredients listed include spaghetti, black pepper, parmesan and butter, with double cream as an option. Officially, there are only three ingredients: spaghetti, black pepper, and pecorino.
Good Food’s transgressions were felt to be so flagrant that an association of restaurant representatives took the issue up with the British embassy in Rome. Mamma mia!
The association, Fiepet Confesercenti, was reportedly ‘astonished’ to see the aberrant cacio e pepe on such a renowned recipe website, with its president Claudio Pico saying it had sent letters to the site’s owner, Immediate Media, as well as the UK ambassador, Edward Llewellyn.
"This iconic dish, traditionally from Rome and the Lazio region, has been a staple of Italian cuisine for years, so much so it has been replicated even beyond Italy's borders," said Pica.
He also explained that ‘the original recipe for cacio e pepe excludes parmesan and butter. There are not four ingredients, but three: pasta, pepper and pecorino’.
The uproar has picked up plenty of steam via Italian news outlets.
A journalist from RAI reportedly said: "We are always told, you are not as good as the BBC… and then they go and do this. Such a grave mistake. The suggestion of adding some cream gave me goosebumps." The BBC has not owned the rights to Good Food since they were sold to Immediate Media in 2018, with the magazine dropping the BBC moniker from April 2024. While that's the case, the website still uses 'BBC' within its URL.
While all recipes are somewhat flexible to the chef putting them together, the consternation is rooted in Good Food’s suggestion that the version it’s posted is the original.
If there’s one thing we Brits are great at, it’s upsetting the neighbours.
Rachael Davis