Advertisement
Published: April 26th 2009
Marforio Obviously Likes Roman Food
One of Rome's talking statues shows signs of a few too many gelatiThe title of this posting is not a direct quote from us (although it does resonate with us, and appropriate given that it is Anzac Day at home) but rather a message that we saw on a blackboard outside a restaurant during our rambles the other day (don't ask me where - it was another of our times of walking with no real objective). And so the subject of this posting - as alluded to in our previous post - is of our food experiences here in Rome. So let's begin - mangare amici.
One of our daily rituals and delights is our 5 minute stroll to the market in Campo di Fiori for our provisions. The market is a lively one with more than it's fair share of visitors as well as locals. In our time here we have come to rely upon our two favourite providores. How quickly we have been welcomed in by them. One of them - a man who told us he has been there for 34 years, 6 days a week (indicating that enough time has passed for him to lose his hair) - makes us feel at each visit as if we are
Campo de Fiori Market
Stars of the season are the artichokes and puntarelle visiting guests of state. Each item we buy requires us to be beckoned to inspect, get some background information, and finally to approve it. Particular seasonal highlights in the last week include wild spring strawberries (molto forte, molto dolce assures our other providore, a matron of advanced years but sharp as a tack when it comes to serving three customers simultaneously - including fumbling foreigners like us - and keep accurate track of the prices, although our bills always seem to come to even amounts), the puntarelle (wild chicory), artichokes, new potatoes with a mandatory spring of rosemary included (our favourite man made a very theatric point of including this during our purchase) and wild small green salad leaves which we are invited to taste before buying. Then there is the spice vendor, the veal butcher (scallopini are hand cut, ultra thin, the veal being held in place by a spike pierced through the meat into the wooden chopping block), and the Antico Forno bakery on the corner (source of the way too tempting sicilian cannoli, rich with sweet ricotta, dried fruit and a piece of candied orange peel), although our favourite bread comes from the Roscioli bakery 2 minutes
Dining with Romulus & Remus
The founders started Rome's fondness for eating from our door in Chiavari (oh yes and their bocconcini de nonna biscuits made with almonds and sour cherries). For each item a different source, and all so close that makes this daily trip a delightful ritual and definitely not a chore.
Now lest you think that we have only been cooking at home, let me put your mind at ease because we have also been sampling the local restaurants - balance in all things is important; so it is some nights in and some nights out. A roman dining experience is an interesting one - the food is not fancy or exotic, but very much of the season and quite robust. At the moment the poster boys of the food set in the market and hence in the restaurants are artichokes, zucchini flowers, and puntarelle. In restaurants these appear as artichokes lightly fried or boiled and garnished with superb olive oil, lightly fried zucchini flowers filled with mozarella cheese, and the bitter chickory (puntrarelle) served as curly green salad dressed with a blend of olive oil, lemon and anchovies (bitter, salty, tangy and crunchy all in one mouthfull - I think that the italians and japanese must spring
Pommodoro de Andy Warhol
Window display near the Largo Argentina from the same culinary root, but then that's what one receives from two millenia of living culture). The seasonality of produce and the rather pragmatic romano approach to eating make dining out an experience where not a lot of effort needs to be made in regard to what you will be eating. A fine example is Trattoria de Pallaro where we dined the other evening just a few steps from our front door. It is a fixed price place that has no menu - you get what you are given. That evening there are only 3 things we have to choose; 1) Do we want to sit inside or out? 2) Do we want red wine or white wine? and 3) Are we all right with parmesan cheese on our pasta? Everything else comes along in accordance with the house rules. Ahh a blissful abnegation of any decision making, which as far as I am concerned immensely enhances the enjoyment of the meal as it enables you to get on with the real business of the table - a good conversation and a satisfied belly. Contrast this with ordering a simple sandwich at a north american franchise (apologies to our
north american friends if necessary) - so many choice points that a complex decision making algorithm is required to arrive at a basic ham and cheese sandwich.
Now to the big issues of romano cuisine - gelato and coffee. Well as far as both go we discovered our gold standards very early on. For gelato we actually visited (no I should say happened upon in our jet lag recovery state) San Crispino on the afternoon of our first day here and despite some strong competition it reigns supreme in our estimation. Today we went back there - our first repeat location for gelato - by way of homage to their art. Dianne's gold standard for gelato, hazelnut (nocciolo) was a sublime choice on our first day - smooth and creamy but still light on the tongue (how do they do that?) and a fine graininess of the hazelnut mixed through - and has never been exceed. We have sampled the wonders of the impressively titled Il Gran Palazzo del Freddi Giovanni Fassi, a man who has created a dynasty through embracing both fresh ingredients and technology - read the story
here - and whose rice gelato was a winner,
Golden Arches have a Silver Lining
Macca's in the Piazza di Spagna - catalyst for the Slow Food movement. explored the exoticism of Grachhi over near the Vatican (so it can't be a sin to eat it right!!) who won us over with their roasted almond perfumed with orange, and apple and cinnamon with chunks of apple blended through the gelato, and even sampled the wares the other heavy hitter in the city - Giolitti - but in the end it is San Crispino who carries the day. In our repeat visit there today - actually to a second outlet that has opened near the Pantheon (even closer for us) - Dianne's roasted hazelnut and meringue was a sublime explosion of creaminess, nutiness and sweet crunch, while my Barolo (wine) with chinotto (bitter quinine) beggared belief in even conceiving of such a combination and then delivering with rich, plummy, porty flavours of the wine followed but a subtle bitterness from the quinine, all layered over a creamy base. The dolce vita can't get much more dolce (and amara) than this.
Now on the coffee front I have to plead that I have been a lot less exploratory than we have been with gelato. Essentially it was love at first sight. As in the case of the great gelato quest where we have returned to our first experience as the benchmark, with coffee I found it and haven't strayed from it. Caffe Taza d'Oro - the Golden Cup - right there at the Pantheon did it for me. One cup at the bar, a bag of beans then purchased - of the Queen of Coffees (I paid the 2 euro extra per 250gram to graduate from the prince to the queen) - and a little stove top coffee percolator have made me a convert (thank you Matty Ristretto, my favourite barista , for those vague directions that led me here. This place doesn't have table service - it's a coffee bar in the true sense of the word. I while I have agreed to visit Cafe San Eustachio, just down the street, to sample their coffee as it is supposedly THE major contender, here we are two days away from leaving and I've yet to make it there - perhaps domani.
Of course no account about food in Rome would be complete without a mention of the first McDonalds in Italy, the one in the Piazza di Spagna, and although we saw it this was one Roman culinary experience we didn't explore. But still in the way of this city to respond and endure, the arrival of that McDonalds was the catalyst for the creation of the Slow Food movement, and so every cloud does have a silver lining.
And so this is a precis (well maybe not so brief) of our roman food encounters and impressions so far - and then next Tuesday we move on to Liguria and then Tuscany which are both sure to bring more delights and discoveries - so stay tuned.
Buon apetito amici.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.08s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 5; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0452s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Loomsey
non-member comment
Vote 4 Pedro
You are definitely the winner of travel blogs. Glad to hear that the desire for taste testing gelato has overtaken coffee. It is cool and windy today in downtown Sutho so we are White Horsing it this afternoon. Have another gelato for me!