Entries tagged with 'Rome'
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Associated Press This is amazing. Archaeologists digging on Rome's Palatine Hill have unearthed what they believe to be Nero's revolving banquet hall, which has been referenced in ancient biographies of the Roman emperor. The room was likely built "to entertain government officials and VIPs": The purported main dining room, with a diameter of over 50 feet (16 meters), rested upon a 13-foot (4-meter) wide pillar and four spherical mechanisms that, likely powered by a constant flow of water, rotated the structure. The hall, situated as it was, would have had one of the best views of Rome even without the rotating razzamatazz. Nero ruled from 37 to 68 A.D.—about 1,900 years before the first modern-day revolving restaurant would be...
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Editor’s Note: Serious Eats correspondent Carey Jones, eating her way around Italy, will be reporting back from Rome, Bologna, Tuscany, and Puglia. Photo from ArthurAvenue.comThe word “ricotta,” in my mind, effectively translates to “mild.” While Italy taught me to appreciate just how silky and subtle a fresh, creamy ricotta could be, I’d still rank it right around cottage cheese in terms of flavor intensity. Until I met Puglia’s ricotta forte, that is—a mouth-numbing cheese of an entirely different color. I first encountered ricotta forte in Rome, curiously enough. (Regions of Italy may cling to their own culinary traditions, but cross-pollination does inevitably occur.) At Osteria Del Rione—one of those bare-bones basement eateries with no menu, no wine list, and more...
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Editor’s Note: Serious Eats correspondent Carey Jones, eating her way around Italy, will be reporting back from Rome, Bologna, Tuscany, and Puglia. "For those who like to taste and nibble without committing too much money or stomach space, it’s a dream come true." Americans have their happy hour bar snacks; the Spanish, their tapas. But no one does a drink-and-nibble like the Italians and their aperitivi. Starting around 6 p.m, give or take a few hours, most bars deliver a small tray of bite-sized stuzzichini (appetizers) with your drink—a pair of eggplant-ricotta rolls, say, or a few prosciutto crostini. And an increasing number of bars are laying out full-scale buffets of enticing finger foods, included in the price of your...
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I received a flurry of emails and phone calls on Sunday after the
New York Times published an article on Roman trattorias headlined "Let The Debate Begin." In Rome,
the "best" trattoria is the one that you love and claim as your own, period.
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In a city of numerous and terrific markets that are spread among wonderfully characteristic neighborhoods, it is almost hard to become attached to yet another one. But Rome's twice-monthly
Organic Market has definitely won me over.
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1. Butchers I love Italian butchers. I have never met an unfriendly macellaio, anywhere. Most Italian food purveyors are happy and even eager to talk about their goods, but my butcher has an amazing amount of interest in what I will do with the 1/2 kilo of whatever I just ordered. This is especially true when I demonstrate an inadequate thirst for his knowledge. If the right questions about my veal or lamb or sausages aren’t posed, my butcher will ask me what he suspects I need to know, then gallantly and gently coming to the rescue when I have revealed exactly how clueless I am, and showing genuine happiness if I prove to be on the right track....
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I've been cheating on Signore Nutella. If Nutella is like a familiar pair of comfy jeans, then lately I've been trying on evening gowns, taking it up a notch or two on the gianduja scale with crema di gianduja from some of Italy's finest confectioners. Last week, I popped over to the gastronomic emporium Volpetti in the Testaccio section of Rome on a sworn mission to just browse (the rent is due soon). Willpower dissolved when I spotted a jar of Giacometta, the crema di gianduja by Piemontese chocolate producer Giraudi. The little card attached proclaimed the percentage of Piemontese hazelnuts at a respectable 32 percent. Sold. Rent, be damned!...
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One of the things that I love about life in New York City is the crazy convergence of diverse cultures taking place in nearly every neighborhood. However, Rome doesn't have the same level of multi-culti vibe going on in its modern food scene, and finding truly exciting, authentic, well-prepared ethnic food can be a challenge.
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The height of citrus season is just starting to wind down here in Rome, and I feel an urgent need to get in on as much of the action as I can in the next month or so. Luckily the tiny fruitteria just outside my door is still piled high each day with an astounding assortment of oranges, tangerines, clementines, and lemons. Other signs of citrus mania are evident on trips to the market. Huge takeaway buckets of sweet oranges are conveniently stacked at the front of my supermercato—there seemed to be one sitting in every creaking, wheeled cart I passed the other day. Even shoppers running in and out for a quart of milk and a pack of...
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Editor's note: We're excited to introduce the following author to you today—though you may already be familiar with her work. Gina DePalma is the pastry chef at Mario Batali restaurant Babbo and the author of Dolce Italiano. She's now in Rome, doing research for a new cookbook, and will be posting weekly here on Serious Eats as her journey there unfolds. Outside of Forno Marco Roscioli. I engage in a specific eating ritual immediately upon my arrival in Rome; it is a personal affirmation to my heart and stomach that I am really, truly here. Other Roma regulars may want to run to the nearest bar for a perfectly pulled espresso, sit down to a steaming plate of spaghetti alla...
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