IMAGES: MARK ROPER; ANDREA DI LORENZO


SMART TRAVELLER


WHE RE TO EAT SEU PIZZA ILLUMINATI


This restaurant is ranked fifth in Italy by 50 Top Pizza, a guide to the world’s best pizzerias. Pier Daniele Seu and Valeria Zuppardo offer a seasonal menu with unusual toppings, such as liquorice or coffee, on unusually soft and airy bases. The dessert pizzas are also well worth a try. seupizza.com


TRATTORIA DA TEO


Located in the quintessentially Roman neighbourhood of Trastevere, Da Teo offers a classic trattoria experience and is a favourite of locals and visitors alike. Come for traditional dishes like Rome’s famed ‘pasta quartet’ — cacio e pepe, carbonara, amatriciana and gricia. instagram.com/trattoriadateo


OTALEG A TAS TE OF ROME


The cuisine of Italy’s larger-than-life capital has humble roots but plenty of flavour


History isn’t just seen and felt in Rome — it can be tasted, too. Like the city’s ancient monuments and narrow streets, local cuisine is rooted in tradition, each dish telling a story of passion and resilience. At its heart, cucina romana


(Roman cuisine) is cucina povera (‘poor man’s cuisine’). Dishes of humble ingredients reflect the city’s past, when survival depended on using what was available and not letting anything go to waste. You’ll still find dishes made with tripe, oxtail and innards — a nod to the city’s slaughterhouse history. The dish that best encapsulates this love of


unpretentious cooking is carbonara. Despite much debate over how it should be prepared, it’s a simple affair, combining eggs, pecorino, guanciale (Rome’s answer to bacon) and pepper. It’s one of four pastas commonly found in the city, which revolve around the same ingredients. Cacio e pepe is a mix of pecorino cheese and pepper, which transforms into gricia when you add guanciale. Amatriciana,


meanwhile, has pecorino, guanciale and tomatoes, tossed with bucatini pasta. Locals also love their pizza.


They make it paper-thin and charred around the edges, with pizza al taglio (‘by the slice’) a popular street food. Other on-the-go staples include supplì (golden rice croquettes stuffed with mozzarella) and maritozzo (a cream-filled


bun). Another common dish, carciofi alla giudia (‘Jewish-style’ double- fried artichokes), has its origins in the capital’s historic Jewish community. Eating in Rome is about convivialità,


This spot’s name is ‘gelato’ spelled backwards — not that you’ll need reminding after tasting Marco Radicioni’s frozen creations. He whips up all the classics, but what sets this gelateria apart are combinations like fig and hazelnut, or salted peanut with dark chocolate chips. otaleg.com


Left: Roman-style artichokes, known locally as carciofi alla romana


The ingredient The artichoke is symbolic of Rome. Try it braised with calamint herb ‘alla romana’, double-fried ‘alla giudia’ and any way in between


MARIA PASQUALE


is an Australian food and travel journalist


and cookbook author based in Rome


the Italian word for enjoying a communal experience. It’s loud, lively and never impersonal. And like Rome itself, it’s layered with meaning. Dishes connect the past with the present — a reminder that even in a modern metropolis, tradition thrives in every plate. The Eternal City: Recipes and Stories from Rome, by Maria Pasquale, is published by Smith Street Books (£26).


NOVEMBER 2024 25


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