Mangia!
I know in my last post I told you that my next post would be about Umbria, but it didn't seem right to delay a post about all the food we ate in Italy, so I am rearranging the order of my Italy "highlights" posts. But don't worry, the next and final post about our trip to Italy will be all about our wonderful day trip to Umbria and my even more wonderful family. For now, though, let's talk food!
Each morning, we were usually out the door and on the bus into the center of town by ten o'clock. Since our rental apartment was in a suburban area, we would wait until rush hour had passed so that we'd be able to find seats on the bus and not spend the twenty-minute ride packed like sardines (literally) in an un-air-conditioned bus (that happened once and we learned our lesson quickly).
Once off the bus, we'd spend the rest of the day walking around the area of Rome we wanted to see that day, and along the way, we would search out a quiet bar to have breakfast. In Italy, a "bar" is not the same as a bar here in the States. Yes, you can buy and consume an alcoholic beverage in an Italian bar, but they are so much more than a place to grab a beer or a glass of wine. They are also the place where locals go for their quick (as in one-minute) breakfast consisting of an espresso or cappuccino and a cornetto. They are on almost every street, piazza and neighborhood. Our morning routine always included a stop at a bar for a cappuccino and a jam or cream-filled cornetto, made fresh that day either on the premesis or delivered from a nearby bakery. Which brings me to the next topic: Italian bakeries.
Every time I'm in Italy, I can never get enough of the bread and pastries. I'm an incurable carb-lover, and as much as I love pasta and risotto, I love bread even more. In Italy, bread is bought on a daily basis--people buy what they need just for their lunch and dinner. When I would spend my summers in Italy with my family, going to the local panificio was one of my favorite outings. You can smell the freshly baked bread before you walk through the door. And once you get to the counter, you are faced with the almost impossible task of deciding which shape rolls to choose. My favorite shape has always been the rosetta, which is pictured at the top of the page. I love how this "rose" shaped roll is mostly hollow and has a crisp crust with very little soft crumb inside.
My other favorite type of bread to eat is pizza bianca. The bakery pictured above is one of Rome's most famous bakeries and they are known for their 1-meter long pizza bianca, which is simply white pizza crust seasoned with salt. There are also small walk-in pizza shops all over Italy dedicated to making pizza a taglio {pizza by the slice}, and those too sell pizza bianca, which, by the way, makes for a great breakfast as well!
And then there are the pasticcerie--pastry shops. They are pristine, brightly lit and every pastry is displayed on pretty trays lined up just so in a gleaming glass case. It's like looking at works of art. Even the way they package the pastries is lovely--there is no throwing them into a paper bag or box--your chosen pastries are placed on a pretty cardboard tray, artfully arranged, and then wrapped carefully with paper stamped with the pastry shop's name and logo, and tied with a pretty ribbon--just like a birthday present. Although dessert is not typically eaten after every meal, we made sure to buy some pastries a few times for a special after-dinner treat to share with my Zia Franca.
But we did not live on bread and pastries alone during our two week stay in Rome (although we probably could have!). Each day, we would search out a quiet restaurant to enjoy a liesurely lunch. Rome (unfortunately) has many "tourist trap" restaurants where the waiters hawk their establishment to unsuspecting and unsavvy tourists passing by. The food is often mediocre, sterotypical and over-priced. There is no shortage of restaurants in Rome and many of the great ones are tucked down small, quiet side streets. If you see locals, even better, because it means that the restaurant is most likely very good.
We kept our lunches on the light side since it was still fairly hot in Rome and we didn't want to feel too stuffed (and sleepy) while walking around. At Cul-de-Sac, we shared an insalata mista {mixed green salad} and a plate of assorted cured meats and cheese that was extraordinary. My cousin Claudio recommended La Capricciosa, where he knows a head waiter. Located in a small piazza just off of Via del Corso, we ate an exceptional Spaghetti alla Carbonara--the pancetta was meaty and the egg and Parmigiano sauce was silky--I think we swooned the entire time we ate it. We then shared a second course of Vitello alla Milanese {breaded and fried veal cutlet} served with oven-roasted potatoes and an insalata mista. Simple, perfectly cooked and divine. And you'd think a proper food blogger would have taken pictures of these fabulous lunches, right? Nope. Not one. Being in Food Nirvana makes you forget about everything else.
I did, however, get lots of photos of my Zia Franca's home-cooked dishes, like these baked rice-stuffed tomatoes and marinated zucchini:
If you are ever invited to someone's home for a meal in Italy, you are in for something very special. Restaurant meals can be excellent, transcendant, even; but home cooked meals are wonderful because they are so personal and a reflection of the family's hospitality and love for their friends and family. My favorite meals in Italy have always been in my relative's homes. We ate most of our dinners at my Zia Franca's house since her apartment was just down the street from our rental apartment. But we also ate at my cousins homes on several occasions. Every member of my family in Rome is an excellent home cook. The day after we arrived in Rome, it was Peter's birthday and my cousin Marco invited us over for lunch. He made homemade spinach and ricotta ravioli that were incredible. I took a picture of the proud chef with his creation. Hi, Marco!
On another evening, my Zia Franca fixed one of the recipes she is famous for in our family: suppli al telefono, which are fried rice balls stuffed with mozzarella. They are referred to as al telefono because when you bite into them, the melted mozzarella pulls away in a long strand resembling a telephone line. Peter must have reminded me a dozen times before we left for Italy to make sure I got the recipe from Zia Franca so I could make these at home.
We also had lighter dinners that consisted of a variety of cured meats, cheese, salad and bread. There are stores in Italy known as norcineria, which are food stores dedicated solely to the sale of pork products. The owner of the norcineria in my Zia Franca's neighborhood is known for his skill of slicing prosciutto by hand. This is not easy to do, but the people who do this will all tell you that the prosciutto sliced by hand tastes better than prosciutto sliced by machine, because the heat generated by the friction of the slicer alters the taste of the prosciutto. The prosciutto sliced by hand was just slightly thicker, but still melt-in-your-mouth delicious.
I could spend all day writing about all the food we ate, but since this post is already long enough, I'll tell you about just one more Roman specialty that my Zia Franca made for us: fritto misto {mixed fried food}. Romans are famous for their fried food, and they love a good fritto misto. Some foods are dipped in a pastella {batter}, some are dredged in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and others are thrown naked into hot oil until they are burnished to a golden brown. My Zia Franca's fritto misto consisted of:
Mozzarella in Carozza {Fried Prosciutto and Mozzarella sandwiches}
Fried Apples
Fried Zucchini and Broccolo Romanesco
This was indeed a delicious trip! Even better still was that I came home with lots of recipes and cooking tips from all of my great-aunts and cousins, so I'll be sharing many of these dishes with you here.
Up next: Umbria and La Mia Famiglia!
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