| Simple, with strong flavors, overflowing with dressings and
anything but low-calorie. Perhaps a little unrefined but this contributes
to its authentic, genuine style. Traditional Roman cooking is made
up of simple, meager ingredients, that follow the seasons and which
are therefore extremely fresh.
A typical Roman menu begins with the essential bruschetta “ammazzavampiri”
(so full of garlic it would kill vampires), and maybe also a wonderful
mozzarella in carrozza. The large pasta course that follows could
be: spaghetti alla carbonara, bucatini all'amatriciana, bucatini
cacio e pepe or gnocchi alla romana. If you want to try rigatoni
pasta with the famous pajata sauce, we recommend that first you
eat it and then ask what the ingredients are: you might be so shocked
that you no longer want to try the dish otherwise and lose your
chance to try out new types of food.
Onto the main course. You can choose between: coda alla vaccinara,
saltimbocca alla romana, costolette d'abbacchio.
For side dishes, don’t miss the chance to try artichokes “alla
giudia”, a typical way of cooking artichokes from Jewish-Roman
traditional cooking.
If you still have room in your stomach, to finish why not try a
couple of maritozzi, or freshen up with a lovely "grattachecca",
the typical Roman crushed-ice drink
Wash the whole meal down with a white wine from Frascati or Cerveteri.
Let’s take a look at food and wine you can buy.
Every morning in the picturesque market in Campo de' Fiori, fruit
and vegetable stalls show off their seasonal wares: the effect you
get is an explosion of color and aromas that makes your mouth water.
The bakers’ shops and food shops surrounding the square are
also culprits in stirring up this desire for food.
For good wine lovers, many wine cellars in the city organize wine
tasting courses and information-giving meetings about vineyards,
harvesting, fermentation and all the processes linked to the production
of this nectar of the gods. Among some of the places in the city
that organize such events, we can name "La Tradizione"
and "Franchi".
The historical coffee shops in the city are our last stop in this
section, where it is possible to try typical Roman food in unique
surroundings that combine culture, history and tradition. Meeting
places and places to swap ideas for artists and writers in the 19th
and 20th centuries such as Caffè Greco, Babington’s
Tearooms, Caffè Rosati and Caffè Canova. For espresso
coffee-lovers, we recommend Caffè Sant'Eustachio located
in the square with the same name, a fine coffee shop founded in
the 1930s where the coffee is roasted by hand over wood fires.
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