Good Food’s ‘cacio e pepe’ recipe drove an Italian restaurateur to send a letter to the British embassy. Our favourite funniest reactions to the dish causing a diplomatic incident

Italy is at war with Britain. Why? The two countries have found themselves in a heated dispute over cacio e pepe, a traditional Roman pasta dish made with pecorino Romano, black pepper – and pasta, of course.

It all started when Good Food (a website formerly owned by the BBC) posted a recipe for cacio e pepe which contained butter and parmesan, rather than just pecorino cheese. They could not have foreseen the dire consequences of meddling with Italian cuisine.

Here’s the BBC’s take.

@bbcnews Who's hungry? #CacioePepe #Italy #Italian#ItalianFood #Pasta #PastaDish #Roman #Rome #GoodFood #News #BBCNews ♬ original sound – BBC News

Claudio Pica, the president of Fiepet Confesercenti, an association representing restaurants in Italy, has gone so far as to send letters to Immediate Media, the site’s owner, and Edward Llewellyn at the British embassy to demand that the recipe be corrected.

Let’s take a look at some comments from Brits.

1.

They need to grow up. People are out here putting ketchup on a roast, but I’m not going to the embassy.
Connie Cremen

2.

Italy need to understand they don’t own food and I can make Cacio e pepe with cream if I want.
Rich96

3.

Biggest non problem.
ron

4.

They’re angry because the recipe tweaks are better than the original.
cuteusername

5.

The real cacio e pepe has pineapple and a bit of ketchup as garnish, but the Italians won’t admit it. Oh and a splash of double cream for richness.
daveblueed

6.

Wait until they see what the rest of the world does to Italian food.
Throwaway7608

the.marky clearly wants to watch the world burn.

If you add ham to the British cacio e pepe, it’ll be close to a British carbonara.

The incident prompted Good Food editor Keith Kendrick to post this hilarious apology video, suggesting he had been sacked for the offence.

@goodfood Our pasta recipe caused quite a stir! Would you put butter in your cacio e pepe or are you a stickler for tradition? Let us know in the comments and get Good Food's version of the Italian classic at the link in our bio (we promise we won’t fire you if you like yours with butter too… unless you’re Good Food Editor Keith) #SorryKeith #CacioePepeGate ♬ original sound – GoodFood

It’s unlikely he’ll be ‘adding a twist’ to any other Italian recipes in a hurry.

Source BBC Image Screengrab