Italians are so livid Brits are adding two ingredients to pasta they've called the embassy

A disagreement about pasta has turned into a low-level international diplomatic incident after a British website altered the recipe for a popular Italian dish, resulting in a clash between the two nations.

A recipe for cacio e pepe, a dish made up of pasta, black pepper, and pecorino cheese, was posted on the Good Food website, a popular place for Britons to discover new recipes, a website that was formerly owned by the BBC.

As well as recommending the use of the original constituent ingredients, the website also said people should add butter and parmesan as part of the meal's construction.

The news did not go down well in Rome. In fact, it went down so badly the British embassy received a furious letter from a branch of the restaurant association Fiepet-Confesercenti, triggering the international dispute.

The incident comes less than year after Britain and Italy committed to "long and warm relations...full of promise and opportunity" following Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

President of the Fiepet-Confesercenti, Claudio Pica, said they were "astonished" to see the recipe on Good Food's website and called for it to be corrected.

What's more, Mr Pica told the Times that so shocking was the move, run by Immediate Media, that it was akin to Italians taking whisky and adding a popular carbonated beverage of their own.

He told the publication: "That's like us coming to Britain and demanding the finest double malt whisky mixed with lemonade. We demand the recipe, as published, is changed at once."

Whilst Good Food used be owned by the BBC, it is no longer owned by the corporation, which sold it to Immediate Media in 2018. Furthermore, the use of the BBC name was dropped in April 2024.

What the ultimatum will be should the changes not be made is not clear, but this latest food-based fracas comes after Heinz decided to sell their version of spaghetti carbonara in a can.

This isn't the first time there has been an international disagreement between Britain and another allied country. In January 2024, there was a near clash between the UK and the USA over an American scientists' claim that you should add salt to tea.

The suggestion was made by Professor Michell Francl at Bryn Mawr College who made the statement of analysis of ancient texts and papers dating back more than 1,000 years years.

Fortunately, under the then Biden administration, the UK and USA were united in their belief that salt should not necessarily in the 21st Century cup of tea with the US Embassy in London releasing a statement in response.

On X (formerly Twitter), they wrote: "Tea is the elixir of camaraderie, a sacred bond that unites our nations, we cannot stand idly by as such an outrageous proposal threatens the very foundation of our Special Relationship.

"We want to ensure the good people of the UK that the unthinkable notion of adding salt to Britain's national drink is not official United States policy. And never will be.

"Let us unite in our steeped solidarity and show the world that when it comes to tea, we stand as one. The US Embassy will continue to make tea in the proper way - by microwaving it."

Whether this policy has continued under the Trump administration is not yet known.