Pardon my current obsession with all-things-Italian, but I must go on with my search for the best. I just got off the phone with Paul DiCarlo at Jimmy’s, the go-to store for Italian food and wine products. I told him I had just returned from Italy and before I could finish my sentence he blurted out, “No, we don’t carry pici pasta.” I said, “Well, that was going to be my second question but how did you know I was going to ask that?” He said, very matter of factly, “Oh, everyone who comes back from Italy calls and asks for pici.”
Okay, I know that basically all pasta is flour and water and sometimes eggs, but what is so special about pici? It’s firm and round with a slightly chewy texture served with simple sauces. See that picture to the left, that’s pici pasta fresh from the stove, served in a touch of the water it was cooked in and covered with a layer of freshly grated pecorino cheese and black pepper. That’s it. And to quote Paul, it was culinary greatness. Any restaurant out there making pici? Tell me. Quick.
