Ciao!
I have now returned from Roma, but my dreams of la città eterna and its cuisine continue. This is my second and last letter inspired by and covering la cucina Romana.
Il Supermercato
Estathé
This is my nectar. Estathé is a brand of Italian iced tea that’s just slightly sweetened, stepped with real fruit flavours. I’m a peach girl personally. Every day after my Italian class I would come home and pour myself a fat glass of Estathé. My afternoon pick-me-up.
Il Mercato
Cicoria
Sautéed greens, and specifically bitter greens, are my new favourite side dish. Chicory is a bitter tasting plant that comes in many many many varieties, found throughout all of Roma’s markets. Roma is not so famous for its vegetables; pasta, pizza, meat and deep fried foods reign supreme popularity-wise, but cicoria ripassata is a contorni must on every Roman restaurant’s menu. This is a simple dish: chicory is sautéed with olive oil, garlic and chili, and it beautifully accompanies most of the rich meat main courses or secondi popular in Roma. Plus, it might be some of the only fibre you eat during your Roman holiday…
I Piatti Romani
Supplì
A ubiquitous Roman snack. Deep fried arborio rice, typically mixed with with tomato sauce and stuffed with mozzarella, supplì are traditional appetizers at pizzerie, but can be found at most establishments with “panificio”, “forno,” or “friggitorie” in their names. Cacio e pepe and carbonara are also popular flavours, but I almost always go classico or tradizionale (the aforementioned tomato and mozzarella, perhaps with a little meat). Oblong in shape, supplì are cheap, delicious and fun to eat, the perfect lil bite.
Four Pastas of Roma
First of all, pasta in Roma is cooked extremely al dente. Not crunchy, but quite firm. And of course, the elite way to enjoy how Romans cook their pasta is to try one of the 4 pastas of Roma.
This trip I fell in love with amatriciana. Acidic tomatoes with smoky guanciale, a hint of spice from the chili, and all finished with salty pecorino. A balanced and complex pasta. I also experienced my first ever alla gricia, which is everything I like about cacio e pepe (creamy and aromatic) but with a bit more oomph (thank you guanciale). The silkiness and peppery fattiness of a carbonara however, remains irresistible to me.
Quinto Quarto
Romans are famous for offal in their cuisine. Quinto quarto means “the fifth quarter” in Italian, implying that Romans use more than just the four quarters of an animal in their cooking - they use offal, too! Tripe and oxtail are Roman staples of this kind of cooking. Slightly less common is pajata, rigatoni pasta with a sauce of veal intestine, pecorino and tomato. The veal is traditionally only milk fed, resulting in a subtle and velvety sauce. A delicious discovery for me. I was also quite taken with lingua in salsa verde: rich beef tongue offset by a bright and herbal salsa verde. Quinto quarto forever!
Roman Style Pizza
Thin crust, almost cracker-like personal pizzas form the third corner of the Roman pizza trifecta (al taglio and alla pala are the other two corners). This style is served at sit down pizzerias, where deep fried appetizers like supplì, fiori di zucca, baccala and olive ascolane make for crispy and tasty antipasti. There are tons of topping choices but my favourite is capricciosa (which literally translates to capricious): artichoke hearts, olives, ham and mozzarella cheese all on a bed of tomato sauce. In Roma, capricciosa pizza is also topped with an egg!
Bonus:
The neorealist film Bicycle Thieves (1948), directed by Vittorio de Sica, is set in Roma, and features a scene where Antonio Ricci (Lamberto Maggiorani) and his son, Bruno (Enzo Staiola), eat mozzarella in carrozza together. After losing their bicycle and livelihood, this deep fried sandwich consisting of mozzarella and anchovies, provides respite and relief momentarily. Mozzarella in carrozza is Italian street food, peasant food, filling and cheesy, a comforting choice for anyone, especially Antonio and Bruno.
Colazione
Cornetti
My Italian breakfast. Italians breakfast al bar, an establishment serving coffee, pastries, sandwiches and alcohol, like an all day cafe. Al bar, I love a cornetto, a pastry similar to a croissant, but with egg in the dough, resulting in a sweeter, softer, more brioche-like treat. Cornetto semplice has no filling, but I am partial to those filled with crema, nutella or pistacchio, to dunk in my morning cappuccino. A fresh squeezed glass of spremuta, or orange juice, available at almost every bar, is the best morning refresher.
Arrivederci!! xoxo!