Eating My Way through Rome: Frascati

I should be grading compositions, but who wants to read woefully bad papers when blogging is an option?

I'd like to share a great night of fun and eating we had on our last night in Rome. Two friends, both Italians--and one a native Roman!--took us by car to Frascati, a town about 20km south-east of Rome. It, I've been told, is the site of Cicero's favorite villa. Ah, to have enough villas in order to have a favorite. We were joined by two other Italian friends and sat down to a joyful meal. (Strangely, the language we all spoke together was German, since that was the one most people felt more comfortable with, as opposed to Italian or English.)

It was a rustic little restaurant, with a family running the show.

We began with a serious platter of meat. Look at all that pork! It was beautiful.
Prosciutto, salami, various sausages, cooked pork, walnuts, hard pungent cheeses,
and buffalo mozzarella. I am drooling right now as I blog.

This was accompanied by a variety of olives, artichokes, grilled eggplant,
tomatoes, and peppers, all seasoned with delicious olive oil.

Then some hard cured meats.

Finally, sweet biscuits, called ciambelline with Roman wine. Ciambelline al vino romane.
You dip the hard biscuit in the wine, which is lovely and slightly sweet, and eat.

We had some fun with the Italians' demonstration for us of how to eat this.

It was a great night. Always let your Italian friends order for you in Italy.

Eating My Way through Rome: Gelato!

Apologies for not participating in the Daring Baker's challenge this month (lasagne verdi al forno with homemade pasta!). But, I hope to make up for it in pictures from Rome!

I first read about Il Gelato di San Crispino in Eat, Pray, Love and was intrigued. Then a friend of mine told me that eating at that gelateria was "one of the top five sensual experiences of my life." This I had to try. It is located about a block away from the Trevi Fountain.

Trevi Fountain at twilight. If you throw a coin in,
it means you'll be coming back to Rome. I gladly threw one in.

Il Gelato di San Crispino is a very spare space, all glass counters and chrome pots.
The servers behind the counter almost look like lab workers.

This one is half pistachio and half zabaglione. Delizioso! San Crispino's has a very purist
approach to gelato - only fresh, natural flavors, reducing things to their essences.

This one was truly amazing: chocolate chip, except the most chocolate-y ice-cream I've tasted.
I wouldn't say that this was one of the most sensual experiences of my life,
but it was certainly beautiful gelato.


This was closer to the Termini Station, the Palazzo del Freddo, established in 1880,
by Giovanni Fassi. It offers a myriad choices, all very creamy and lovely.

These are sweets offered alongside the gelato - the little pink and green
confections are made to look like the stones lining ancient streets.

Eating My Way through Rome: Market Day

The morning we went to see the Vatican Museum was cool and gray. We took the subway from Termini to Cipro, then wandered a bit to find the Trionfale market. It's a big covered market full of good things, such as...

Fresh produce. A Roman specialty is fried zucchini flowers, stuffed with mozzarella and anchovy paste - you can see the blooms in this picture. There were also gorgeous blood oranges - so juicy and sweet! - and crisp apples to be had.

Farm fresh eggs! Along with honey and preserves, relishes and other yummy things.

Super fresh meat. I don't know how one can be Jewish and live in Rome - the place is full of all kinds of pork. Thousands of varieties of sausages, cuts, flavorings, smokings, etc.

We picked up some prosciutto - I'd never seen it cut fresh from the pig like this! Our butcher was good humored and posed - albeit goofily - for a picture.

Vats of wine - I wish I were a drinker, but I can't handle alcohol at all, especially wine.

After an exhausting trek through the Museum - it is vast and amazing and overwhelming - we sat down in St. Peter's square for our picnic lunch. It was fresh bread with prosciutto, buffalo mozzarella, and apples. Perfetto!

Back from the Eternal City

This is my favorite photo from my trip to Rome - just outside the Pantheon's porch, at twilight. The pedestrian walkways are beautifully lit, and everything seems enchanted. I have food photos to share, of course, in upcoming posts. For now, here are some highlights from the trip.

Laocoon at the Vatican Museum.

Bernini's fountain at Piazza Navona.

The Diocletian Baths were huge!

Although the Belvedere torso and Laocoon were impressive, my favorite sculpture at the Vatican
was this little guy in the Egyptian section. He's saying, "Okay, okay, I've dropped my weapon!"

One of the many macabre shrines we saw in churches. This is in Santa Prassede.