Italians have reacted with fury after the popular UK Good Food website published a recipe for a traditional Roman dish that did not include the correct original ingredients and appeared to belittle it as a quick eat.
Pasta cacio e pepe is a beloved Roman dish, renowned for being simple yet surprisingly challenging to make - so Good Food's description of it as something that can be quickly whipped up for "a speedy lunch" irritated many.
The recipe also listed four ingredients - spaghetti, black pepper, parmesan and butter and suggested double cream as an option - when there should only be three: spaghetti, black pepper and pecorino cheese.
Such was the outrage that an association representing restaurants in Italy took the issue up with the British embassy in Rome.
Fiepet Confesercenti said it was "astonished" to see the recipe on such an esteemed British food site, which was owned by the BBC until 2024. Its president Claudio Pica said letters had been sent to Immediate Media, the site's owner, and UK ambassador Edward Llewellyn.
