Originally Posted by
Stripe
The cacio e pepe has been around AA for some time. A proper cacio e pepe consists of spaghetti, black pepper and Pecorino Romano. That's it. It's also notoriously difficult to do really well, and probably impossible as an airplane meal. I suspect AA chooses to ruin it with the spicy Calabrian chilis (if that's what the red sauce really is) simply to cover up their mediocre version. I'd be curious to taste the middle part before swirling in the red stuff.
Ive had it a few times, and while it is a far far cry from actual cacio e pepe, and I doubt it has actual Calabrian chilis in it, for what it is (a creamy tomato pasta dish), its very good and probably my favorite AA short haul meal currently aside from the short ribs.