In 2010, chef Evan Funke spent 23 days in Rome eating cacio e pepe. “I saturated myself in order to understand this dish because I was so intrigued by it and flabbergasted by its simplicity,” he said.

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Nobody does pasta quite like the Italians, as anyone who has tasted an authentic “pasta alla cacio e pepe” can attest. It’s a simple dish: just tonnarelli pasta, pecorino cheese, and pepper. But its ...