---
OA_place: publisher
OA_type: hybrid
_id: '19670'
abstract:
- lang: eng
  text: “Pasta alla Cacio e pepe” is a traditional Italian dish made with pasta, pecorino
    cheese, and pepper. Despite its simple ingredient list, achieving the perfect
    texture and creaminess of the sauce can be challenging. In this study, we systematically
    explore the phase behavior of Cacio e pepe sauce, focusing on its stability at
    increasing temperatures for various proportions of cheese, water, and starch.
    We identify starch concentration as the key factor influencing sauce stability,
    with direct implications for practical cooking. Specifically, we delineate a regime
    where starch concentrations below 1% (relative to cheese mass) lead to the formation
    of system-wide clumps, a condition determining what we term the “Mozzarella Phase”
    and corresponding to an unpleasant and separated sauce. Additionally, we examine
    the impact of cheese concentration relative to water at a fixed starch level,
    observing a lower critical solution temperature that we theoretically rationalized
    by means of a minimal effective free-energy model. We further analyze the effect
    of a less traditional stabilizer, trisodium citrate, and observe a sharp transition
    from the Mozzarella Phase to a completely smooth and stable sauce, in contrast
    to starch-stabilized mixtures, where the transition is more gradual. Finally,
    we present a scientifically optimized recipe based on our findings, enabling a
    consistently flawless execution of this classic dish.
acknowledgement: he authors thank Frank Jülicher, for supporting the initiative and
  stimulating discussions. We thank Tetsuya Spippayashi for enlightening clarifications
  on the historical origins of Cacio e pepe and Giuseppe Ricchitelli for helping with
  the construction of the experimental apparatus. We further thank Martina Gaiba,
  Alessandro Gaiba, John D. Treado, Virginia Lepore, Eleonora Nanu, Julia Kirsch,
  Lara Koehler, Burak Budanur, Irina Pi-Jaumà, Elizabeth Brückner, M.J. Franco Oñate,
  Giorgio Nicoletti, and Marco Salvalaglio for their support and for eating up the
  sample leftovers. Finally, we thank Simone Frau for taking the photograph in Fig.
  1(a).
article_number: '044122'
article_processing_charge: Yes (in subscription journal)
article_type: original
arxiv: 1
author:
- first_name: G.
  full_name: Bartolucci, G.
  last_name: Bartolucci
- first_name: D. M.
  full_name: Busiello, D. M.
  last_name: Busiello
- first_name: M.
  full_name: Ciarchi, M.
  last_name: Ciarchi
- first_name: A.
  full_name: Corticelli, A.
  last_name: Corticelli
- first_name: I.
  full_name: Di Terlizzi, I.
  last_name: Di Terlizzi
- first_name: Fabrizio
  full_name: Olmeda, Fabrizio
  id: 69dbf5fb-8a76-11ed-866b-fb486d8b5689
  last_name: Olmeda
- first_name: D.
  full_name: Revignas, D.
  last_name: Revignas
- first_name: V. M.
  full_name: Schimmenti, V. M.
  last_name: Schimmenti
citation:
  ama: Bartolucci G, Busiello DM, Ciarchi M, et al. Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe
    sauce. <i>Physics of Fluids</i>. 2025;37(4). doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841">10.1063/5.0255841</a>
  apa: Bartolucci, G., Busiello, D. M., Ciarchi, M., Corticelli, A., Di Terlizzi,
    I., Olmeda, F., … Schimmenti, V. M. (2025). Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce.
    <i>Physics of Fluids</i>. AIP Publishing. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841">https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841</a>
  chicago: Bartolucci, G., D. M. Busiello, M. Ciarchi, A. Corticelli, I. Di Terlizzi,
    Fabrizio Olmeda, D. Revignas, and V. M. Schimmenti. “Phase Behavior of Cacio e
    Pepe Sauce.” <i>Physics of Fluids</i>. AIP Publishing, 2025. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841">https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841</a>.
  ieee: G. Bartolucci <i>et al.</i>, “Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce,” <i>Physics
    of Fluids</i>, vol. 37, no. 4. AIP Publishing, 2025.
  ista: Bartolucci G, Busiello DM, Ciarchi M, Corticelli A, Di Terlizzi I, Olmeda
    F, Revignas D, Schimmenti VM. 2025. Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce. Physics
    of Fluids. 37(4), 044122.
  mla: Bartolucci, G., et al. “Phase Behavior of Cacio e Pepe Sauce.” <i>Physics of
    Fluids</i>, vol. 37, no. 4, 044122, AIP Publishing, 2025, doi:<a href="https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0255841">10.1063/5.0255841</a>.
  short: G. Bartolucci, D.M. Busiello, M. Ciarchi, A. Corticelli, I. Di Terlizzi,
    F. Olmeda, D. Revignas, V.M. Schimmenti, Physics of Fluids 37 (2025).
date_created: 2025-05-11T22:02:40Z
date_published: 2025-04-01T00:00:00Z
date_updated: 2026-04-28T13:24:53Z
day: '01'
ddc:
- '530'
department:
- _id: EdHa
doi: 10.1063/5.0255841
external_id:
  arxiv:
  - '2501.00536'
  isi:
  - '001482986200001'
file:
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  creator: dernst
  date_created: 2025-05-12T09:31:22Z
  date_updated: 2025-05-12T09:31:22Z
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file_date_updated: 2025-05-12T09:31:22Z
has_accepted_license: '1'
intvolume: '        37'
isi: 1
issue: '4'
language:
- iso: eng
license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
month: '04'
oa: 1
oa_version: Published Version
publication: Physics of Fluids
publication_identifier:
  eissn:
  - 1089-7666
  issn:
  - 1070-6631
publication_status: published
publisher: AIP Publishing
quality_controlled: '1'
related_material:
  link:
  - description: News on ISTA
    relation: press_release
    url: https://ista.ac.at/en/news/2025-ig-nobel-prize-for-perfect-pasta-sauce/
scopus_import: '1'
status: public
title: Phase behavior of Cacio e Pepe sauce
tmp:
  image: /images/cc_by.png
  legal_code_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode
  name: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0)
  short: CC BY (4.0)
type: journal_article
user_id: ba8df636-2132-11f1-aed0-ed93e2281fdd
volume: 37
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