From there he became the host of the Travel Channel’s Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. It was on this long-running program the chef and author would try the aforementioned cacio e pepe.

In the 2010 Rome episode of "No Reservations," Anthony Bourdain sits at a gingham-clad table somewhere in the city, wearing a dark suit, shirt and sunglasses, waiting for a bowl of cacio e pepe.

On his restaurant's board of pastas, he offers cacio e pepe with lime - a variation. But he says that's ok. "It's different, it's for the summer, to make the pasta more fresh.

Cacio e pepe is among their favorite traditional dishes to make, and as physicists, they couldn't help but want to learn more about the unique physics of the process, not to mention "the more ...

A version of this article appears in print on Jan. 25, 2025, Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: The Perfect Cacio e Pepe Recipe Does Exist. Just Ask Scientists..