The four pastas every Roman defends
Cacio e pepe, gricia, amatriciana, carbonara: four dishes from almost the same short pantry, and the ones Romans argue about most. This guide untangles the family they belong to — and tells you what each is really about — so you can order like you mean it.
4
Roman pastas
1
shared family tree
0
cream, garlic or onion
€4.90
one-time
What's inside
One trunk, two branches — learn gricia and the rest fall into place.
Cacio e Pepe
Pecorino, pepper and pasta water — three ingredients and nowhere to hide.
Gricia
Add guanciale and you have the ancestor the other two grew from.
Amatriciana
Gricia plus tomato — a mountain-town recipe that Rome made its own.
Carbonara
Gricia plus egg — the youngest, and the one the world most often gets wrong.
How the guide works
- 1
Buy once
A single purchase unlocks the whole guide — no subscription and no app to install.
- 2
One shared map
Its points sit on the same Rome map as your walking guides, so you can line up lunch.
- 3
Read or listen
Each dish has a written piece and a short audio summary — read at the table or listen on the way.
The guide
Tap through to open the full guide.
Good to know
Is this a restaurant guide?
No — it’s an evergreen guide to the dishes themselves: what’s in them, where they came from, and how to order well. It deliberately avoids restaurant names, which date quickly.
I can't eat pork — is it still useful?
Cacio e pepe is meat-free, and the guide explains the role guanciale plays in the others so you know exactly what you’re choosing.
Will it help me cook them?
It explains the technique behind all four — including why there’s no cream in carbonara — though it’s written for ordering and understanding rather than as a recipe book.
Can I combine it with other guides?
Yes — its points sit on the same Rome map as the walking guides, so you can line up lunch with your afternoon.