A Food Lover’s Dream in Trastevere By Diane Hayden, PhD T
rastevere…one of my most favorite places in
Rome...from romantic winding alleyways and cobblestone streets to magestic churches and splendid piazzas, there are wonders
to look at with every turn. By night it’s a happening destination full of young, hip, artsy crowds and by day it is a small village with timeless, artisan shops to browse. It truly is the quintessential Ro- man neighborhood. One of the best things we did while staying in this lovely area was take the Trastevere For Foodies tour. Our fantastic guide, Kate, had a plethora of knowledge about the area and the food we sampled was to die for. With a total of 9 stops over about 4 hours, my advice is don’t eat for a week before you do this tour!
Stop #1: Pasticceria Trastevere. Signora Vera has been running this bakery since the 1970s – open every day because you never know when you’ll need to bring sweets to your friend or family’s house. We tried the bigne, choux pastry bun filled with zabaglione cream. Light and flaky and not overly sweet – which was good because it was 10 in the morning!
Stop #2: Antica Caciara. This lovely market has been open since 1900 serving cured meats, salami and cheeses. There were also pastas in every shape and size available. We tried the Pecori- no Romano that had been aged for 2 years – delicious.
Stop #3: I Suppli. A Roman style rice ball fried to golden
perfection. This is not your typical Arancini – and don’t let them hear you call it that! The Suppli is a favorite street food snack loved by Italians.
Stop #4: Antica Norcineria. Ask any local where to find the
best porchetta and they’ll point you to Piero’s place. This may have been the best thing I ate on the entire trip – not just this food tour. It was unbelievable – the pork loin was roasted for 5 hours with rosemary and fennel and sliced right in front of us. I could have eaten a whole sandwich!
Stop #5: San Cosimato Market. A bustling little market open
7am-2pm every day but Sunday and all family run stalls offering seasonal veggies and fruit, meats, and cheeses.
Stop #6: Fatamorgana. Here you’ll experience “true” Gelato – not the fake stuff you see at so many gelaterias across Italy. This was a fantastic learning experience as we realized we had already been duped in Venice and Siena with “fake” Gelato. Our guide informed us that real gelato should be the actual color of the flavor – for example, pistachio should actually be a light brownish/green – not fluorescent green. Any time you see neon colors with swirls and tons of fruit or puffed up gelato, you can bet it’s not real. There are artificial colors and additives added in to make it look that way. We tried the almond apple and cinnamon and the blueberry cheesecake – amazing!
16 Natural Nutmeg - September 2017
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