The one exception, though, is food tours. I freaking love food tours. For one, they take all the guess work out of finding good food. You just follow someone around for a few hours and are able to eat some of the best dishes a place has to offer. Secondly, they usually also offer some interesting historical perspectives you wouldn’t find elsewhere.

So I was really excited when I discovered a food tour in Palermo. And not just any food tour. A street food tour.

That’s right. Palermo is not only the street food capital of Italy, but also one of the best cities for street food in the world. Surprised? So was I as when I think of Italian food most of what comes to mind is much more easily eaten with a table in front of you.

After spending the day eating around Palermo with StrEAT Palermo Tour, though, I can definitely say that I was wrong. We spent four hours wandering through the city’s old squares and markets, learning not only about the food but also the long history of Palermo, and eating some of the most famous dishes.

We met first at Teatro Massimo for a brief introduction to Palermo and to receive our Passaporto del Mangione, or personal foodie passport. From there the guide, Naida, led our small group to the nearby Capo Market. Dating all the way back to the Arab days, Capo Market is crowded with locals buying their fresh fruit, veg, meat, and fish for the day. The hawkers yell over each other in Sicilian dialect trying to attract shoppers to their stalls because they have the freshest product for the cheapest price. Obviously.

Our first stop was for something not even on the day’s eating agenda. It was a special stop for the brave. Sitting right at the entrance to the market is a man selling frittula from a small cart. Frittula is chopped of bits of calf fried in lard and seasoned. Don’t ask what bits of calf are used. (Any and all.) I, obviously, had to try some and while I loved the flavor, I still have a hard time with the texture of cartilage.

Moving further into Capo Market, our first official stop was to try a selection of fried things, also known as my favorite food group. First up were panelle (fritters made from chickpea flour) and cazzilli (potato and parsley croquettes). Both can be served between bread as a sandwich or, like we had them, just laid out on a plate in the freshly fried glory. I had high hopes for the panelle as chickpeas are one of my favorite foods, but I found them rather tasteless. The cazzilli, though, more than made up for that. It’s a good thing there was a limited portion or I would’ve spent the entire afternoon downing balls of fried mashed potatoes.

Then it was time to try the king of Sicilian street food. The arancine. Which, unlike in the rest of Italy, is always, always feminine (spelled with an ‘e’ at the end instead of an ‘i’) in Palermo. They take great pride in this fact and I wouldn’t want to piss off a Palermitan, so try to order with the correct pronunciation. Meaning little oranges, these fried rice balls originated in Sicily during the Arab rule. Saffron rice is formed in a ball around tomatoes, meat, and peas and then covered in breadcrumbs and deep fried. While the arancine were really, really good, if we are talking Italian fried rice balls my heart still belongs to my Roman suppli.

We then left Capo Market and headed toward Via Maqueda, one of Palermo’s main thoroughfares, for a taste of sfincione. Often called a Sicilian pizza, this dish is actually focaccia topped with tomato sauce, bread crumbs, and a little bit of grated cheese, usually Caciocavallo, a type of Sicilian sheep’s milk cheese. Sometimes you’ll find chunks of onion or bits of anchovies too. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s hearty and had all the tastes of my childhood on one slice.

Walking on we continued to La Vucciria, arguably the most famous market in Palermo. For over 700 years the market, open everyday but Sunday, has sold everything from fresh fish to tourist trinkets. While it’s not as vibrant as it once was, La Vucciria is still an important place in Palermo. We headed toward a bar in the market to take part in a schiticchio. This word, which is Sicilian and has no real translation in Italian or English, involves having some wine and nibbles. Something I am completely happy to do at just about any hour of the day. We tried three types of sweet Sicilian wines: Zibibbo, Marsala, and Sangue. I’m not a huge fan of sweet wines in general, but a few sips of each went down nicely with our selection of cheese, olives, and almonds.

Once we were nice and morning tipsy, we headed toward the most divisive dish of the day: pane ca’ Meusa, or spleen sandwich. There’s a reason this came right after the alcohol stop. Now, I really enjoy offal so I was particularly excited to try this sandwich filled with the lungs and spleen of a calf. Like the frittula, there was some cartilage texture that threw me off, but the bread helped offset it and this ended up being my favorite dish of the day.

Stuffed and sweaty we headed off to our final stop for something sweet. Fratelli Rosciglione, located near the Ballaro Market, has been making desserts since 1840 and their specialties are the Sicilian classics of cannoli and cassata. Cassata is a cake that has its origins in Palermo and consists of sponge cake dipped in fruit juice and liquor layered with sweetened ricotta and candied fruit. The whole thing is then encased in marzipan and topped with more candied fruit. As a non-lover of candied fruit I chose to try a cannolo. This fried tube of pastry dough filled with a sweetened ricotta cream was something I grew up eating (and loving) and as I watched mine being freshly filled in the back of the shop I knew it would be one of the best I’ve ever had. And I was right.

My final thoughts on the tour? This was my highlight of Palermo and something I’d recommend doing one of the first days your are there as it’s an excellent introduction to both the cuisine and history of the city. While there’s plenty of food, there’s also plenty of walking and I left full but not so uncomfortable that I couldn’t walk which is something I always appreciate. And most importantly, Marco, the founder of StrEAT Palermo, and his team are so passionate about this city and its food that you’ll leave with a new appreciation for Palermo, along with tons of insider knowledge.

Disclaimer: I was offered a free tour in exchange for a review. As always, all opinions are my own. For more information about the tour, or to make a booking, visit StrEAT Palermo’s website or Facebook page.

StrEAT Palermo Tour: Discovering Italy’s Street Food Capital is a post from: Farsickness

While I would eventually visit the town where my great-grandfather lived, Palermo was my first stop in Sicily. This chaotic city, probably best known for its prior connections to organized crime, wasn’t my favorite place, but the time I spent in Palermo and its surrounding area provided an interesting introduction to this complicated part of Italy.

Palermo

To understand Palermo, one must understand Sicily. While it is part of Italy and shares many of the cultural traditions, it also Arab and Spanish and Greek. Sicily is also one of the poorest regions, and because of its autonomous status the public services- transportation, education, health care, etc.- often reflect this.

As the capital of Sicily, Palermo is not only the gastronomic, historical, and cultural center of the island, it’s also the home to the majority of its people and because of that, the majority of its problems. While the Palermo has become much safer over the course of the past decade, it still bears some of the scars of its past.

There were parts of Palermo I loved.

The Teatro Massimo, opened in 1897, is the largest opera house in Italy. Based on ancient and classical Sicilian architecture, the theater is a grand reminder of the glory days of Palermo.

I loved the food, which I’ll write more about in a later post, and the flavors the reminded me so much of the dishes I’d grown up eating.

The Palermo Cathedral, with its Norman, Moorish, Gothic, Baroque, AND Neoclassical parts, perfectly represented the island’s history of being conquered.

I loved the balconies and the narrow alleys and pedestrian only boulevards.

But Palermo was also chaotic in a way that wore me down in a way other cities haven’t. The constant honking and motorbikes reminded me of Vietnam. The stares and street harassment made me feel slightly uncomfortable if I left the hostel alone after dark (which I rarely did).

So, for my last two days in Palermo I chose to get out of the city center and visited nearby Mondello and Monte Pellegrino.

Mondello

After a couple of days exploring Palermo in stifling heat I knew I needed to escape. Mondello, located only about 10km from Palermo’s city center,  is the weekend destination for many Palermitans throughout the summer months.

Turquoise sea and white sand lie nestled between Monte Pellegrino and Monte Gallo making it easy to see why locals flock here. Like most popular beaches in Italy, much of the sand is covered by “lidos”, or private beach clubs where you can pay for daily access to use an umbrella, lounge chair, and changing room.

I chose to pay for a chair, though, as most of the public beach was crowded with obnoxious teens and I felt more comfortable leaving my camera when I went for a swim.

When I’d had enough of sunbathing I decided to explore the village a bit. The city is mostly tourist shops and restaurants, but the many Art Nouveau villas and the old bathhouse give it some architectural importance.

On the way back to Palermo I got to be part of a true local experience as I shoved myself onto a very crowded bus during which a fight broke out. Much shoving ensued and eventually a boy was slapped across the face and shoved off the bus at the next stop. Lovely.

Monte Pellegrino

Goethe described Monte Pellegrino as the most beautiful promontory. While I wasn’t even sure what a promontory was before reading about Monte Pellegrino, the more I read about this mountain overlooking Palermo, the more I knew it would be the perfect place for a few hours outside of the city.

Monte Pellegrino isn’t just a place for sweeping vistas across Mondello and Palermo, it’s also a very special place to Palermitans as it is home to the sanctuary of Santa Rosalia, the patron saint of the city.

The entrance to sanctuary looks like a church, but it’s actually a cave inside the mountain. There are a few pews, a statue of Santa Rosalia, and the place where her bones are kept and offers are made. As someone who is decidedly not religious, I find acts of devotion extremely interesting and was surprised to see many locals inside the sanctuary offering their prayers to this patron saint. I almost felt as if I was intruding as there were so few tourists inside.

My morning visit ended with a trip to the panoramic viewpoint over the city, which is not, as one might expect, at the top of the mountain, but in a car park at the end of the road. Keep that in mind and you can avoid stumbling upon what I’m pretty sure was some sort of satanic ritual taking place in the forest.

My Takeaway on Palermo

There’s no doubt that Palermo suffers from a PR problem. No, you’re not going to become a victim of the mafia while you’re there, and you probably won’t be mugged either, but the city still has an attitude to it that was different from other Italian cities.

I didn’t click with Palermo, but it might not be entirely the city’s fault. I was seriously jet lagged the entire time I was there. I was struggling getting in the groove of being back on the road and being by myself. After 8 months in the US, I felt a strange amount of culture shock in Europe.

I think I also expected Palermo to feel more Italian. More familiar. My expectations set me up to be disappointed, but they also taught me an important lesson, one that would be knocked into me repeatedly over the next couple of weeks: Sicily isn’t Italy. Even though it is.

Where to Stay

I stayed at Casa d’Amici, a small hostel in the heart of the city. The space itself was nice, clean, and well thought out. I was in a top bunk and there was an outlet, light, and little shelf, which I always appreciate. There’s nothing worse than going to sleep with a bottle of water and your cell phone only to wake up and find them in your bunkmate’s bed or on the floor. Every morning breakfast is served in the common room, usually cake, toast, coffee, and juice, and once a week the hostel hosts a drum circle. I accidentally slept through this due to the aforementioned jet lag, but I’ve heard it’s great fun. I didn’t find the vibe to be super social, but since early May is still the shoulder season I’m sure that’s different in the summer.

What have you heard about Palermo? Would you visit?

Palermo: An Intriguing Introduction to Sicily is a post from: Farsickness

Unfortunately, flights from the US to Sicily, were outrageously expensive so I needed to come up with a way to get from Louisville to Palermo that was in backpacker budget range. The solution ended up being flying to Milan and then taking a Ryanair flight from Bergamo the next morning.

I’d never heard of Bergamo, but after some quick research it seemed like the perfect place to spend my first afternoon in Italy. Only about 50km from Milan, Bergamo is a town with two distinct parts: the lower modern city (citta’ bassa) and the medieval upper city (citta’ alta).

I only spent a few hours exploring the city, but it was apparent very quickly that Bergamo should be seen as more than just a day trip from Milan or a quick stopover before or after your Ryanair flight. Here are five reasons Bergamo is worth a bigger chunk of your time in Lombardy.

There are tons of tiny alleys

As an American who grew up in a suburb that consisted almost entirely of strip malls built in the 1990s, I’m still awe struck every time I step foot in a European town that is all tiny streets and historic buildings. Bergamo’s upper town, built mostly in the 12th century, is the ideal place for a little passegiata. The narrow streets are lined with colorful buildings whose balconies are adorned with colorful flowers and flags declaring allegiance to certain soccer clubs.

In addition to just wandering, there’s also a handful of palazzos, piazzas, churches, and even a citadel that are worth a visit. After napping and buying a sim card I wasn’t left with much time to see the sights and I was sorely wishing for another day to explore even more.

…and a great view

I mostly came to Bergamo because I read about the views over the foothills of the Bergamo Alps and the Parco dei Colli. I took the funicular from the upper town to San Vigilio, home to a castle overlooking the entire city. While it was a fairly hazy evening, I got the view I was looking for.

There’s an artisanal beer bar

While wandering through the upper town I noticed a sign advertising local beer. Upon further inspection I found out that this small pub served artisanal beer from a brewery called MM1989. While it wasn’t the best craft beer I’ve ever had, it was a nice surprise to find this tucked away in the streets of Bergamo’s upper city.

Delicious local food

Bergamo is most well known for its polenta e osei, a sweet cake made to look like to polenta topped with marzipan birds. I opted, though, to try the region’s savory speciality: casconcelli bergamesca, a type of filled pasta resembling a ravioli. Usually stuffed with breadcrumbs, eggs, parmesan, and meat, it is then topped with with browned butter and sage. It’s rich and hearty in that simple Italian way.

You can walk just about anywhere

I find cities that can be explored entirely on foot very relaxing. You don’t have to worry about figuring out public transport schedules or routes, it saves you money, and you’re able to walk off all the carbs. Bergamo was easily walkable with plenty of cafes to stop off for a quick rest cum gelato break.

Where to Stay

I stayed at Central Bergamo Hostel for one night. While the hostel might not have the typical backpacker vibe, it’s really clean and the staff are extremely friendly and helpful. I asked two different employees about a million questions and they both gave enthusiastic and helpful answers with a smile on their face. Located in the lower town, Central Bergamo Hostel is a 10 minute walk from both the train station and the funicular to the upper town, and is located about 60 seconds from the airport bus stop. Basically, it’s the perfect location for exploring the city, especially if you’re short on time.

Have you ever been unexpectedly charmed by a city? 

5 Reasons Bergamo is More than Just a Day Trip is a post from: Farsickness

Snapshot Sunday: Florence, Italy is a post from: Farsickness

Pasta Fresca Naldi

On my first night in Bologna I accidentally got really drunk. Thus, I woke up the next morning (er…afternoon) feeling pretty horrible. I wanted pasta and I wanted it to be as close to my bed as possible. Luckily, Pasta Fresca Naldi, a tiny fresh pasta shop run by a kind old woman that came highly recommended by the hostel staff, was a quick walk away.

Pasta Fresca Naldi is simple. There are couple of tables and a few stools, but most people order their food to takeaway. There is a list of pastas, all handmade in the shop, and  a list of sauces. You order what you’d like at the counter and a few minutes later you are presented with a plastic container with your food. The owner doesn’t speak a lot of English, but she is kind, helpful, and obviously passionate about her craft.

This is my idea of beauty.

I decided to go with the city’s most famous dish, tagliatelle al ragu, known more commonly in English speaking countries as pasta bolognese. Here, though, it’s just a simple meat sauce over ribbons of pasta. And like most things in Italy, it once again proves why simple is often better.

Via del Pratello 71/A. Open Tuesday-Sunday 9:30-14:00 and Friday-Saturday 16:30-23:00.

E’ Cucina Leopardi

According to everything I’d read online, E’ Cucina Leopardi had no menu. They would ask if you wanted the meat, fish, or vegetarian menu and how many courses you wanted and the rather well regarded chef would choose what to cook and you’d be charged  a set price. This was not the case the day I was there.

I was immediately greeted with a bottle of water, a glass of wine (included in the set price), and an appetizer of mortadella and crostini. I’m a disgusting person who likes the bastardized child of mortadella (bologna), so I was thrilled to try mortadella in its birthplace. After I finished the waitress came over and listed off the choices of the day. I decided to choose just a first course and went with a ribollita type soup filled with kale, potatoes, carrots, and beans and topped with crispy pieces of speck. For dessert I had a small lemon cake topped with a cream with a heavy alcohol flavor and raspberries.

E’ cucina leopardi wasn’t bad. The modern decor and hip decor were a nice change of place from Bologna’s more traditional trattorias and osterias, but I was somewhat disappointed that they weren’t offering the creative and fun surprise menu option.

Which is the best restaurant in the world? Leopardi

Via G. Leopardi 4. Closed Sunday. Reservations recommended. For more information visit their website.

Osteria dell’Orsa

Osteria dell’Orsa came highly recommended by both the Internet and my hostel’s map. Open all day, every day (!!), Osteria dell’Orsa is known for its panini, crostini, and rotating Bolognese specialties. Each day the chalk board set outside the door on the narrow Via Mentana lists the dishes they are serving that day. I was happy to see tortellini in brodo, a classic dish of the region, on the menu when I arrived.

Seated at a communal tables with some new friends from my hostel, I enjoyed a steaming hot bowl of tortellini, said to resemble Venus’s bellybutton, in broth and a few classes of house wine.

There’s nothing fancy about Osteria dell’Orsa, it kind of resembles a tavern, but it’s a nice place for some hearty local cuisine and a cheap glass (or liter) of wine.

Via Mentana 1. Open everyday 12:00-24:00. For more information visit their website.

Trattoria del Rosso

Trattoria del Rosso was an accidental find, a replacement after my desired Sunday lunch location was inexplicably closed when I arrived. This small but bustling trattoria is famous for its €10 two course set lunch menu. The restaurant was already full (with Italians) when I arrived thirty minutes after opening.

I started with maccheroncini, a small tubular pasta, with pancetta, cream, and arugula and for my secondo I had roast veal with potatoes covered in a thick gravy. Both dishes were simple, like something your grandma would cook for you, but with fresh ingredients and well developed flavors. I finished my meal with an espresso, too stuffed to try any of the delicious looking desserts.

The whole bill, including a quarter liter of the house red, came to €12.50, making Trattoria del Rosso a great value for money.

Via Augusto Righi 30. Open everyday 12:00-15:00 and 19:00-22:30. Reservations recommended. For more information visit their website.

Trattoria Anna Maria

I decided late on Sunday afternoon that I wanted to try lasagna bolognese. Because it was Sunday, it was fairly difficult to find a place that was open. After doing a few Google searches for ‘the best lasagna in Bologna open Sunday’, I found Trattoria Anna Maria. It was probably one of the most touristy places I ate at during my time in Italy, with a menu in four languages, but the service was friendly. And they were open on a Sunday. I didn’t really have the luxury of being choosy.

At €14 the lasagna was not cheap, but the bechamel and ragu layered between sheets of pasta were deliciously creamy and I ate away happily, made even happier by a quarter liter of San Giovese for €4.

Via delle Belle Arti 17. Open Tuesday-Sunday 12:30-15:30 and 19:00-23:00. For more information visit their website.

What restaurant or dish would you most like to try?

Devouring Italy’s Culinary Capital: What I Ate in Bologna is a post from: Farsickness

There’s not a lot to do in Bologna. It’s much smaller than Rome or Florence, but that makes it the perfect place to wander. I liked the spend a couple hours a day just walking with no destination in mind. I could take photos, duck into a bar for a quick espresso pick me up (I may have developed a six coffee a day habit), and plan my days around what I wanted to eat.

What kind of things are there to see in Bologna?

Bologna is famous for its porticoes. Originally built in the Middle Ages, today Bologna has 38 kilometers of porticoes in the city center. Porticoes are not only beautiful, they are also practical, shielding pedestrians from the elements.

Two towers stand prominently in the center of Bolgona, Torre degli Asinelli and Torre della Garisenda. These towers were built between 1109 and 1119 and are named after the families who funded their construction. It is possible to climb Torre degli Asinelli, the taller of the two, for a view over the entire city. The 498 stairs leading up the 97 meter high tower aren’t terribly difficult, but I would recommend that you don’t wear a really short skirt as everyone will be able to see up it. Not that I’d know or anything…

Piazza Maggiore is the main square in Bologna, surrounded by 4 palaces and a basilica. Located next to this is La Fontana di Nettuno, a bronze statue of Neptune standing over a fountain created by artist Giambologna.

Besides porticoes, Bologna also has the most charming tiny side streets with colorful buildings, green shutters, retro style neon signs, and wrought iron balconies.

Bologna was the perfect city to just walk and discover things. Like pretty, poetic, pro-Communist street art.

Or a street of small vendors selling fresh flowers, produce, fish, and meat.

I also got to experience Bologna all lit up for Christmas. There was a Christmas tree in Piazza Nettuno and lights strung across streets all over the city, including some up and down Torre degli Asinelli.

Bologna isn’t a city with a million sights or things to do, but it is a beautiful place to spend a couple of days between the other action packed cities of Italy.

What’s your favorite photo of Bologna?

La Dotta, La Grassa, e La Rossa: A Bologna Photoessay is a post from: Farsickness

I never really considered going home this year. I’d only been in London for four months and even though I would’ve loved to see my family, I wasn’t too keen on spending a lot of money to go back to Kentucky. Originally I’d been planning for my family to come to London, but with Christmas and Boxing day closures (and London weather at the end of December) that was seeming more and more like a bad idea. So when my good friend Cristiana invited me to spend Christmas with her family in Tuscany I was sold.

After spending a few days reuniting with Rome, I took a train to Florence where Cristiana and her mom picked me up to take me to their lovely house for the next few days.

Christmas in Piazza del Duomo in Florence

What was Italian Christmas like?

It was pretty much everything you’d expect Italian Christmas to be like. There were a lot of people speaking Italian very loudly, very quickly, and with a lot of large, dramatic hand gestures. It was also a lot like Christmas in the US. People debated sports (soccer, not football), talked about popular TV shows (apparently Joe Bastianich is a judge on Masterchef Italy and does a great job butchering the language), and debated the meaning of diversity and feminism.

Christmas selfie

There was also food. A lot of food.

Christmas Eve in Italy is a fish and seafood only affair owing to Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that this means that you might find yourself hungry at the end of the meal. Far from it. Cristiana’s family does Christmas Eve buffet style and there was a lot to choose from: stuffed peppers, seafood salad, artichoke pie, potato fritters, smoked salmon, baccala, marinated octopus, different types of sandwiches, and ribollita were just some of the dishes at the table. In true holiday fashion, I ate until I felt sick. I justified this decision by telling myself it may be my only chance to experience Christmas in Italy. And it was all delicious, so it wasn’t really that hard of a justification.

Some of the spread. I was too busy eating to take another photo when the rest of the food was brought out.

I think ribollita is my new favorite winter food.

After dinner was cleared away dessert was brought out. It was at this point that I seriously thought I was going to be sick, so I politely refused the cake, cookies, and nuts that were offered. Until the cake house was brought out. I don’t know what it was called, but this cake in the shape of a small cottage, topped with chocolate and cookies, and filled with thick cream, was not just adorable, it was tasty too.

It wasn’t time to rest yet, though. Every year on Christmas Eve the city of Pietrasanta plays host to Camel Ponce. The festival is named in honor of a liquor drink sold at stands around the city. This drink, though, is probably one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever tasted, sorry to say. Imagine if moonshine, fake orange flavor, and cough syrup had a baby. That would be what camel ponce tastes like. Gross drink aside, it was really cool to see everyone filling the old piazza on Christmas Eve. There were people dressed as Santa and the whole event had a very celebratory feel to it.

On Christmas morning Cristiana and I woke up and tried to walk off the previous day’s meal, knowing full well that today would be another day of heavy eating.

After our walk we rejoined Cristiana’s extended family, this time at a restaurant. The place was located on a large property with a nice garden, and in warmer weather plenty of outdoor seating. Our table was located in a a small room with brick walls and lit only by candles. I chose to eat tordelli, a type of stuffed pasta that is native to Tuscany. And because I’m a masochist I also had a piece of pannetone and cream for dessert. Because it was Christmas.

After lunch we headed back to the house for some gambling. We usually play games at home on Christmas, but having money on them adds a whole other level of competition. I, unfortunately, had the worst luck ever and lost about 30 euro, but it was still a lot of fun.

Even though it was a little sad not to celebrate with my family back in the States, I had a wonderful time discovering Christmas in Italy. Cristiana’s family was so incredibly welcoming and hospitable and I thank them so much for their kindness, even in the face of a language barrier.

How do you celebrate Christmas? Have you ever celebrated away from home?

Celebrating Christmas in Tuscany is a post from: Farsickness

Part 2 contains a lot less offal, a couple of Katie Parla recommendations, and a lot of pasta.

Pizzarium

Ah, Pizzarium. This pizza al taglio place owned by renowned pizzaiolo Gabriele Bonci has a lot of hype. Recommended highly by not only Katie Parla, but also featured on Anthony Bourdain’s The Layover, I knew this was one place I had to try. Located in a residential neighborhood kind of near the Vatican, Pizzarium is a small shop exploding with creativity and fresh, high quality ingredients.

Even though the shop was crowded, I was immediately greeted when I walked in by a man behind the counter who was probably the friendliest Roman I’ve ever encountered. He also spoke perfect English and helped guide me through the day’s choices. I’d read good things about the potato pizza, and being a favorite of mine, I immediately knew I had to try a piece of that. As per the recommendation of the friendly Roman pizza guy, I also ordered some of the cod and pine nut pizza. Oh, and of course, I got a suppli. Though, I decided to veer away from the classic and went with chicken and artichoke.

My thoughts on Pizzarium are a little complicated. I really admire Bonci’s creativity and innovation when it comes to flavor combinations and his indifference to the traditional pizza al taglio toppings. The cod and pine nut piece that I had was phenomenal. But the potato pizza was a little dry. I thought the crust, Bonci’s famous homemade pizza bianca, was dry and overpowering. And my suppli was actually almost inedible due to dryness. Normally at a pizza al taglio place I wouldn’t be so critical, but the prices at Pizzarium aren’t normal pizza al taglio prices. My lunch ran me €13.

In spite of this, I would still urge others to try this place out. In fact, I’m itching to go back, if only to see what kind of crazy combinations are thought of next. In addition to pizza, there’s a good selection of beer and other local drinks, as well as pay by the glass boxed wine. But not, like, Franzia boxed wine. Because this is Italy.

Via della Meloria 43, Prati. Open Monday-Saturday 12:00-22:00.

Da Tonino

On my second to last night in Rome I agreed to go out to dinner with my hostel roommate. I was tired of eating alone and she was nice, so double win. She’s a vegetarian and I didn’t want to seem overbearing, so I told her as long as they served pasta, I would go anywhere. She mentioned a small, family-run place she’d been to on a previous trip that wasn’t a far walk and I agreed. The place was moderately full when we arrived, mostly with Italians. The menu was long. And in many languages. I didn’t know what to expect.

I was craving a red sauce, so I ordered amatriciana, a Roman sauce made with tomato, guanciale, and pecorino cheese. Amatriciana is one of my favorite dishes and I was immediately unimpressed. First, it was served on rigatoni, which is fine, but I was hoping for bucatini. Secondly, it was seriously lacking in guanciale and depth of flavor.

I had eaten an early lunch and was starving by dinner, so I also ordered a secondo. I chose veal with peas and mushrooms. The plate came with a healthy portion of tender veal, but the peas that topped it were definitely canned and the mushrooms were overcooked. The veal had the promise of good flavor, but the taste of canned peas overpowered everything.

Overall, I paid €20 for both courses and my half of a half liter of wine. So while not expensive (especially considering the portions were enormous), dining at Da Tonino was a good example of why you really need to do your research before dining out in Rome. Especially in the centro storico.

Via del Governo Vecchio 18, Centro Storico. 

Necci dal 1924

On a Sunday I ventured out to Rome’s Pigneto neighborhood. This area, a tram ride away from the center, has become quite trendy over the past few years. Rome’s artists and hipsters live side by side with Bangladeshi and African immigrants in this diverse neighborhood named for the pine forests that once stood there. I came to Pigneto mainly to go street art hunting, but was happy to find that Necci dal 1924 would be serving lunch on a Sunday afternoon, something that is still somewhat uncommon in Rome.

Dating back to 1924, Necci was made famous by Pier Paolo Pasolini in 1961 when he filmed Accattone in the neighborhood, using the bar as his headquarters. Today, Bar Necci is owned by an Englishman and serves homemade, organic cuisine seven days a week. Because it was a nice day, I sat outside on the large patio and lingered for a while over coffee, a meal, and a dessert. This is a place you could stay for a while.

For my main I chose ribollita, a Tuscan soup. Meaning “reboiled”, the soup has many variations but always includes cannellini beans and a variety of other cheap vegetables that are lying around. A kind of “throw everything that’s left in the refrigerator” type of dish. The ribollita at Necci included carrots, celery, potatoes, and cavolo nero, a type of kale that is grown in Tuscany. The soup was hearty and flavorful, a perfect December meal.

I was so content sitting on the patio reading that I decided to order a tiramisu after I finished my lunch. The waitress said it was the best dessert on the menu and it came in a cute little jar. I can’t say that it was supremely better than any other tiramisu I’ve had, but it was definitely enjoyable.

It might not be worth it to venture out to Pigneto just for a meal at Necci dal 1924, but the neighborhood is worth a glance if you’ve had your fill of historial Rome and Bar Necci is a great place for coffee, drink, or snack.

Via Fanfulla di Lodi 68, Pigneto. Open everyday 8:00-2:00. For more information visit their website. 

Roscioli 

Rosocioli came highly recommended and I decided to make dinner here an early Christmas present to myself. This is far from your neighborhood trattoria. Located in a salumeria, Roscioli is a higher end restaurant. A higher end restaurant where you can dine next to hanging, cured meat.

After I placed my order, the waiter brought out an arancini as a complimentary amouse bouce. Arancini are closely related to my beloved suppli (closely related as in, basically the same with thing with a different name depending on where they are from) so I was more than pleased with this little treat.

Then came my starter, a plate of burrata surrounded by sun dried tomatoes. But not the overly sweet, overly dried (and in my opinion, gross) sun dried tomatoes that you find in the United States. These tomatoes were both sweet and acidic, and retained some of their tomatoey moisture. When eaten with the burrata, it was pure pleasure. This was a life changing culinary experience. I slowly ate through a dish that could easily satisfy three people with a smile on my face.

For my main I went with cacio e pepe, a Roman dish made with black pepper and pecorino cheese. This is where I made a mistake. Roscioli is known for their amazing carbonara, but I’d already had carbonara at Da Enzo and wanted to eat cacio e pepe while in Rome. This was going to be my last chance. Halfway through the dish I realized that I don’t really like cacio e pepe. Roscioli does a fine version of it, but it’s just too heavy for me. I had serious food envy as the girl next me happily ate her delicious looking carbonara. 

I skipped a seconodo, which ended up being a good decision as by this point I was full to the point of pain, but went with a contorno of artichokes to take advantage one last time of the fact that I was traveling to Rome during my favorite season- artichoke season. When I was finished, I was brought a plate of cookies with a chocolate dipping sauce. A nice touch to the end of a memorable meal.

Roscioli will be a place I return to next time I’m in Rome. Though the service was horrendous (even by Italian standards), the food is phenomenal and it is nice to find such a a high quality place right in the historical center.

Via dei Giubbonari 21/22, Centro Storico. Open Monday-Saturday 12:30-16:00 and 19:00-24:00. Reservations recommended. For more information visit their website. 

What dish looks the best to you? Where would you most like to dine?

Mangia, Mangia, Mangia: Where I Ate in Rome (Part 2) is a post from: Farsickness

Eating in Rome can be tricky. It’s not one of those cities where you can turn up to any restaurant, especially in the center, and find a good meal. To really get the most out of your dining experiences in the Italian capital, it pays do some research. I obsessively stalked Katie Parla‘s fabulous blog for weeks before departure, carefully crafting the perfect four day food tour around some of her recommendations.

In part 1 of my Roman food extravaganza, I will cover an old favorite, two new trattoria discoveries, and some damn good gelato.

I Suppli

If I had to choose a last meal, it would be a plate of freshly fried suppli from the aptly named I Suppli in Trastevere. For you poor souls who have never tried or heard of these magical treats, suppli are, traditionally, balls of rice, tomato sauce, and mozzarella cheese that are deep fried. It’s a Roman dish that is commonly found at pizza places in the region. And it’s basically the best thing you could ever put into your mouth. Trust me.

I Suppli is a tiny, hole in the wall place just off Viale di Trastevere and they serve the best suppli in Rome. Again, trust me. This takeaway pizza joint was on my way home from school during my study abroad days and it soon became an almost daily lunch stop. Around this time each day the place gets filled to the brim with pushy Romans trying to get their fill of pizza al taglio, suppli, roasted chicken, and the daily pasta selection. The last time I was there I elbowed a couple of nuns out of the way to get my suppli fix. Anything for suppli. The people who work there, in typical Roman fashion, aren’t overly friendly, but they aren’t rude. I’m not sure anyone speaks English (or they aren’t willing to), but don’t be intimidated. They’ll be accommodating to pointing and hand gestures should it resort to that.

The pizza here isn’t bad, either. I always go for a piece of the potato, but the mushroom (funghi) and margherita are also good choices. Just tell them how much you want and they’ll cut the piece off for you, reheat it, fold it in half, and stick it between some paper. The price is by kilo and differs depending on toppings. If you want to eat your pizza while you walk tell them “mangio subito” and if you’d like it in a bag to take to your favorite piazza just say “portare via”. My huge piece of potato pizza and one suppli cost me €4. If you’re just in the mood for a suppli, it will set you back €1.10. I know this from the two other times I went there for an afternoon snack…

Via San Francisco a Ripa 137, Trastevere. Open Monday-Saturday 10:30-21:30.

Da Enzo al 29

After having woken up at 3 o’clock that morning for my flight, I was exhausted by dinner time on my first night in Rome. I wanted to go somewhere for dinner that was nearby so I googled “best trattoria in Trastevere”. Da Enzo al 29 popped up with good reviews on Yelp, TripAdvisor, and several blogs. I was sold. Because I was alone, something that is fairly uncommon in Italy, and didn’t have a reservation, I showed up shortly after the restaurant opened with hopes that it would help me score a table quickly and without constant dismay of my being alone. The tiny, simple dining room was almost full, but without batting an eye at my da sola status, I was immediately seated in the back. Within 10 minutes they were turning people away.

I decided to go big for my first proper meal back in Italy and ordered a primo and secondo. For the first pasta course I went with a Roman class, carbonara. Made from eggs, cheese, and black pepper and topped with thick cut pieces of guanciale, a type of cured pork cheek, the dish was perfectly creamy, but not too heavy. It seems weird to even comment on how well pasta is cooked at a restaurant in Italy, but the rigatoni here had just the amount of bite.

Next up was trippa alla romana, or Roman style tripe. I’ve been a fan of tripe since I first tried it in a stew that my grandfather cooked for me when I was a child, and as my love for offal has grown stronger over the past couple of years, I was eagerly anticipating trying this classic dish. In Rome, the tripe is slowly boiled until tender and then simmered with a simple tomato sauce and topped with grated cheese. Tripe is one of those ingredients that, if cooked poorly, can have a less than pleasant flavor or texture. But the trip at Da Enzo was nearly perfect- cleaned nicely and not chewy in the slightest.

This dinner at Da Enzo ended up being my favorite meal of my 11 days in Italy. The trattoria was simple and unpretentious. The food was the same- simple, flavorful, and traditional. The waiters were friendly and humored everyone’s attempts at Italian while maintaing a good level of service. Lastly, Da Enzo is fairly inexpensive. I had two courses, a rather large glass of the house red, and an after dinner espresso for only €24.

Via dei Vascellari 29, Trastevere. Open Monday-Saturday 12:30-15:00 and 19:30-23:00. Reservations recommended. For more information visit their website. 

Agustarell0

A Katie Parla recommendation, this small trattoria in the working class neighborhood of Testaccio is well known for its large selection of quinto quarto, or offal. Testaccio was once home to a large slaughterhouse and offal became an important part of the cuisine of this “outer”, less affluent district of Rome. Agustarello is one of the many places in the area that keeps this tradition alive.

I came here fairly early for lunch on a grey Friday afternoon and the dining room was nearly empty. I was still fairly full from a large breakfast (and a mid-morning cornetto snack) so I opted to skip the pasta course and head straight for the good stuff- coratella. Coratella is the heart, lungs, and liver of a lamb. In this dish the organs are cut up and pan fried with artichokes and white wine. I was scooping this up by the spoonful and spent quite a while clearing the plate with bread, making sure I get every last drop.

Not as inexpensive as some of the other places featured here, my dish cost €14, but the portion was huge. As a warning, there is no English menu here so make sure you brush up on your intestine related Italian before arriving.

Via Giovanni Branca 98-100, Testaccio. Open Monday-Saturday 12:30-15:30 and 19:30-24:00. Reservations recommended for dinner.

Fatamorgana 

In my 11 days in Italy I somehow managed to only eat gelato once (in my defense, I tried another time in Bologna but they were taking a winter break…). Luckily, the one time I did manage to gobble down this frozen treat, it was at one of the best gelaterie around. Maria Agnese Spagnuolo opened the first Fatamorgana shop in 2003 and since then her all natural, chemical free, and dye free gelato has taken off.

Fatamorgana offers all the traditional flavors of gelato, but in my idea what sets them apart even further is their creative flavor combinations like goats cheese and honey, wasabi and chocolate, and the dark chocolate and tobacco mix called ‘Kentucky’.

I decided to venture away from my old standby of straciatella and go for something completely unique to Fatamorgana. I chose a scoop of Thumbelina (nuts, rose petals, and violet flowers) and a scoop of the basil, walnut, and honey flavor. They were both fantastic, but my favorite was the basil, walnut, and honey. It was sweet in the way you’d expect from a gelato, but it had these savory notes from the basil that made me want to keep eating.

How much is this fancy, artisanal gelato? €2 for both scoops! A lot cheaper than the mass produced stuff they are shilling around the Trevi Fountain, that’s for sure.

Various locations. For more information visit their website. 

What dish looks the best to you? What’s your favorite thing to eat in Rome?

Mangia, Mangia, Mangia: Where I Ate in Rome (Part 1) is a post from: Farsickness

On December 19, 2013 I landed at Rome’s Fiumicino airport. I was returning to my city after exactly four years away. As I entered the airport and heard the familiar rhythm of the Italian language and saw advertisements for what were once brands I knew well, I was filled with emotion. On one hand, I was overjoyed to be back. I had the chance to eat my favorite foods, wander my favorite neighborhoods, and enjoy the Roman way of life once more. On the other hand, I was scared. What if Rome wasn’t as I remember? The past four years have been some of the most monumental of my life. I am a different person than I was four years ago. What if I was too changed to love this city as I once had?

I first arrived in Rome in January 2009 as a study abroad student. It was my last semester of what I like to call my “victory lap year” of undergrad. I wasn’t in a great place mentally. Almost all of my friends had graduated the year before (when I should have) and had moved to different states in pursuit of careers and grad school. I still had no idea what I wanted from life, but I knew I couldn’t find it in Michigan. So after studying Italian for 3 years I decided to spend my last semester in Rome. I could practice my language skills and hope that a change of scenery would make things easier. That it would help me figure things out.

My love affair with this city began almost instantly. I loved having a cappuccino and cornetto while standing at the bar before class in the morning. I loved the colorful, historic buildings covered with graffiti. I loved going for a walk and stumbling across thousands of years old historical sites, or looking up and seeing the Colosseum or Saint Paul’s Cathedral in the distance. I loved the agressive “I don’t give a shit” attitude of Romans.

Rome is a city with captivating beauty. But it is also a place that never let me get too comfortable, that always kept me on my toes. And it was just what I needed. In Rome I discovered travel, discovered a desire to live abroad, and discovered, however cliche it is, myself. It is because of Rome that I lived in Seoul, backpacked Southeast Asia, and now study in London.

When I stepped off the train at Termini Station three weeks ago, it was like I was stepping back in time. Suddenly it was 2009 again. Nothing had changed. The same man, the one who looks like an older, grumpier Daniele De Rossi, was still serving me pizza and suppli at my favorite pizza al taglio shop. All the restaurants I used to eat at in Trastevere were still open. The same homeless man and his dogs that always sat in Largo Argentina were still there.

Okay. A few things were different. Subway (the sandwich shop) seems to have sprung up just about everywhere in the center. The 8 tram goes all the way to Piazza Venezia. Cab drivers now have GPS. You actually need a ticket to get on the train at Fiumicino airport.

But mostly it was the same. And I loved it.

I spent four days walking around the city, taking in every ounce of the beauty, the madness, the history, the atmosphere.

I wandered around the tiny alleyways in Trastevere, admiring the Christmas lights and colorful buildings that are so stereotypically Italian.

I sat at a caffe I always used to frequent in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere and wrote in my journal, listened to rain fall while and an old man played Christmas carols in his accordion, and watched as locals greeted each other with a “tanti auguri” and two kisses.

I made it to the Testaccio neighborhood during the day to see the new market and eat offal, something this working class area is famous for.

I drank Italian craft beer.

I walked from Campo dei Fiori, down Via Giulia, up Ponte Sant’Angelo to Castel Sant’Angelo, and over to Piazza San Pietro on the most sunny Roman morning.

I sat on a bench in Villa Borghese on the Pincio Hill and listened to a band play Italian classic rock while looking out over haze covered city.

I climbed up the Giancolo Hill to Piazzale Giuseppe Garibaldi and watched the city turn a magnificent yellow-orange color as the sun set behind it. I had a conversation in broken Italian with an old Roman man who finds his city just as beautiful as I do.

Rome or Death. I have this tattooed on my side.

I ventured out to the Pigneto neighborhood, home of Rome’s hipsters and immigrants, and went street art hunting.

By Alice Pasquini, my favorite street artist.

I spent four days in love.

Leaving Rome was hard, as it always is for me, but this time it wasn’t as difficult as it was four years ago.

Because now I know that Rome will always be there for me. That no matter how much I change, it will always be the same.

That it’s called the Eternal City for a reason.

Have you ever returned to a place that you loved? How did it feel?

Returning to Rome is a post from: Farsickness