Food Fight

Which food deserves the top spot — for all the wrong reasons?

Most poopular · Pasta

Public votes set the order. #1 is the most pooped.

Cacio e pepe Pasta

Pecorino, black pepper and starchy pasta water. Three ingredients and a technique that splits into a greasy mess if the pan is too hot.

Fettuccine alfredo Pasta

Butter and parmesan in Rome; cream, in the American version that made it famous.

Gnocchi Pasta

Potato dumplings rather than pasta, and they go heavy the moment the dough is worked too much.

Lasagna Pasta

Layers of pasta, ragu and bechamel, baked so the top sheet crisps and the middle stays soft.

Mac and cheese Pasta

Pasta in a cheese sauce, baked or stovetop, and the subject of a permanent argument about breadcrumbs.

Pesto pasta Pasta

Basil, pine nuts, garlic and cheese, traditionally ground rather than blended so the leaves bruise instead of heating.

Spaghetti bolognese Pasta

A ragu from Bologna is served with flat pasta there, not spaghetti. The pairing is a foreign habit that stuck.

Carbonara Pasta

No cream in the Roman version: egg yolk and cheese thickened by the pasta's own heat. Food historians place the dish itself after the Second World War.

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