Bells, Balls and a Basilica – Cooking in Abruzzo; Eating & Drinking In Rome
Dec 3rd, 2013, 02:25 PM
#21
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Thanks ek...yes, I have seen that article, very nicely written, the author lives in Rome and is friendly with several of my Roman acquaintances. I especially liked that she mentions the town of Vasto, which we were very close to and we spent a day in during this trip.
Now for more...
Monday, October 14, 2013
Today was mom’s birthday and the original itinerary had us scheduled to go on a truffle hunt. We loved everything we did on this trip, but this was THE one thing mom was looking forward to the most. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. We were told the night before the truffle hunter had a medical issue and we could not go on the hunt. But Massimo (the host/owner) and his team are a resourceful bunch and we headed out to the family vineyard…it was harvest time!
The vineyard was a short drive from the palazzo and the sweeping views of the vines, mountains and countryside were stunning, it was shaping up to be a great day. Until mom and I realized we were not just going to snip a few clusters of grapes, nope, in groups of 2 we each took one row of vines and worked our way down the entire row snipping and tossing grapes into large plastic baskets. I’m making it out to sound like it was a herculean task, but it was actually quite a lot of fun, and with the sun shining down it gave us a great way to work off some of the calories we had started to consume! The other benefit of this grape harvesting adventure is that now we are a little more appreciative of where our wine comes from and the process to produce it.
It was a good thing we worked off some calories harvesting grapes, because when we arrived back at the palazzo we were lavished with a three course lunch! We started with a rustic Abruzesse torta (yes, more puff pastry!) with a delicious filling. The second course was a perfectly cooked risotto with peas and saffron and dessert was a millefoglie with amaretto cream (more puff pastry, see I wasn’t joking!).
After lunch mom relaxed with a book and I decided to check out the town. I took a walk down, down, down the winding streets of the village to a little church Antonio (one of the staff members) had told us about. It was a nice walk and a cute little church. Now it was time to walk back up the steep streets to the palazzo at the top of the village. More cardiovascular activity is good I kept telling myself and then I could justify eating the dessert at lunch!
The afternoon cooking class was the first time we were all in the kitchen together. The kitchen where we had our instruction is the converted wine cellar of the palazzo and Massimo and the staff have pain-stakingly placed mosaic tiles on every inch of wall space. The walls look terrific, and it’s a very inviting atmosphere.
Now we were ready to meet Chef Dino and get started cooking. Dino’s English is very, very good (as is all the staff’s) but a woman by the name of Cheryl was there to assist with translation and cooking instruction and she was very helpful. Our first lesson included preparing stuffed eggplants and peppers, the stuffing of bread, cheese and herbs was very flavorful. We also made a starter, which was a version of involtini using prosciutto, arugula, and pecorino cheese, I’m a master at rolling up ingredients! The arugula was the most peppery tasting we’d ever had. For dessert we made a limoncello sorbetto, what’s not to love about limoncello! The stuffed eggplants and peppers were served in a delicious tomato sauce, which Chef Dino seemed to whip up magically in a matter of seconds. Our rustic, homey dinner was a great ending to a beautiful day in the mountains of Abruzzo.
Now for more...
Monday, October 14, 2013
Today was mom’s birthday and the original itinerary had us scheduled to go on a truffle hunt. We loved everything we did on this trip, but this was THE one thing mom was looking forward to the most. Unfortunately it was not meant to be. We were told the night before the truffle hunter had a medical issue and we could not go on the hunt. But Massimo (the host/owner) and his team are a resourceful bunch and we headed out to the family vineyard…it was harvest time!
The vineyard was a short drive from the palazzo and the sweeping views of the vines, mountains and countryside were stunning, it was shaping up to be a great day. Until mom and I realized we were not just going to snip a few clusters of grapes, nope, in groups of 2 we each took one row of vines and worked our way down the entire row snipping and tossing grapes into large plastic baskets. I’m making it out to sound like it was a herculean task, but it was actually quite a lot of fun, and with the sun shining down it gave us a great way to work off some of the calories we had started to consume! The other benefit of this grape harvesting adventure is that now we are a little more appreciative of where our wine comes from and the process to produce it.
It was a good thing we worked off some calories harvesting grapes, because when we arrived back at the palazzo we were lavished with a three course lunch! We started with a rustic Abruzesse torta (yes, more puff pastry!) with a delicious filling. The second course was a perfectly cooked risotto with peas and saffron and dessert was a millefoglie with amaretto cream (more puff pastry, see I wasn’t joking!).
After lunch mom relaxed with a book and I decided to check out the town. I took a walk down, down, down the winding streets of the village to a little church Antonio (one of the staff members) had told us about. It was a nice walk and a cute little church. Now it was time to walk back up the steep streets to the palazzo at the top of the village. More cardiovascular activity is good I kept telling myself and then I could justify eating the dessert at lunch!
The afternoon cooking class was the first time we were all in the kitchen together. The kitchen where we had our instruction is the converted wine cellar of the palazzo and Massimo and the staff have pain-stakingly placed mosaic tiles on every inch of wall space. The walls look terrific, and it’s a very inviting atmosphere.
Now we were ready to meet Chef Dino and get started cooking. Dino’s English is very, very good (as is all the staff’s) but a woman by the name of Cheryl was there to assist with translation and cooking instruction and she was very helpful. Our first lesson included preparing stuffed eggplants and peppers, the stuffing of bread, cheese and herbs was very flavorful. We also made a starter, which was a version of involtini using prosciutto, arugula, and pecorino cheese, I’m a master at rolling up ingredients! The arugula was the most peppery tasting we’d ever had. For dessert we made a limoncello sorbetto, what’s not to love about limoncello! The stuffed eggplants and peppers were served in a delicious tomato sauce, which Chef Dino seemed to whip up magically in a matter of seconds. Our rustic, homey dinner was a great ending to a beautiful day in the mountains of Abruzzo.
Dec 3rd, 2013, 02:54 PM
#22
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013
By now we were really beginning to embrace a laidback vacation lifestyle and had a late morning cooking class. On the menu was pasta! Yes, this was one of the things I was looking forward to the most! But, the lesson did not start with pasta, it started with dessert, and it couldn’t have been more appropriate, because it was my favorite dessert, tiramisu. We each made our own individual cup of this luscious dessert and I would savory every spoonful at the end of the meal.
Once dessert was prepared and setting it was time to make the pasta dough. I’ve taken a pasta making class before in Bologna and I was surprised to see in this version we made the dough in a bowl, so there was no need to “keep the well” while mixing the ingredients together! The pasta shape we made was called cavatelli rigati. Chef Dino would portion out wedges of dough and then we would roll it into a long, thin strand, then cut off pieces which were then rolled on a pasta paddle which would make the ridges on the pasta. It was so much fun, I loved every minute of making the pasta. We also made a sausage and tomato sauce to go with the pasta and the staff helped put together an extremely refreshing fennel and orange salad for each of us. It was the perfect lunch!
We had a few hours of down time after our morning cooking lesson and leisurely lunch and we re-grouped in the evening for a wine pairing class and rustic dinner. Massimo the host/owner lead the group through a couple hours of wine education. If I had one criticism about this wine education experience it was that I felt it could have been a bit broader in scope. Two red wines were presented during the session and no white wines were offered. I understand Massimo is not a white wine fan, but (and this is strictly my opinion) I believe in a room of 20 people with varying degrees of wine knowledge it may have been enjoyable to present a variety of wines to compare and contrast. I will say, the food that was paired with the wines was delicious and abundant. There was everything from a variety of bruschetta, salumi, and cheeses to frittata, and I’m sure dessert was somewhere in there too but my food notes are slim for this evening and my memory is fading.
I will also mention here, being the big coffee and digestivo fans mom and I are, whenever we requested espresso at the end of a meal or a digestive we were happily accommodated. The espresso was excellent and I particularly liked the amaro digestive we were served one evening.
By now we were really beginning to embrace a laidback vacation lifestyle and had a late morning cooking class. On the menu was pasta! Yes, this was one of the things I was looking forward to the most! But, the lesson did not start with pasta, it started with dessert, and it couldn’t have been more appropriate, because it was my favorite dessert, tiramisu. We each made our own individual cup of this luscious dessert and I would savory every spoonful at the end of the meal.
Once dessert was prepared and setting it was time to make the pasta dough. I’ve taken a pasta making class before in Bologna and I was surprised to see in this version we made the dough in a bowl, so there was no need to “keep the well” while mixing the ingredients together! The pasta shape we made was called cavatelli rigati. Chef Dino would portion out wedges of dough and then we would roll it into a long, thin strand, then cut off pieces which were then rolled on a pasta paddle which would make the ridges on the pasta. It was so much fun, I loved every minute of making the pasta. We also made a sausage and tomato sauce to go with the pasta and the staff helped put together an extremely refreshing fennel and orange salad for each of us. It was the perfect lunch!
We had a few hours of down time after our morning cooking lesson and leisurely lunch and we re-grouped in the evening for a wine pairing class and rustic dinner. Massimo the host/owner lead the group through a couple hours of wine education. If I had one criticism about this wine education experience it was that I felt it could have been a bit broader in scope. Two red wines were presented during the session and no white wines were offered. I understand Massimo is not a white wine fan, but (and this is strictly my opinion) I believe in a room of 20 people with varying degrees of wine knowledge it may have been enjoyable to present a variety of wines to compare and contrast. I will say, the food that was paired with the wines was delicious and abundant. There was everything from a variety of bruschetta, salumi, and cheeses to frittata, and I’m sure dessert was somewhere in there too but my food notes are slim for this evening and my memory is fading.
I will also mention here, being the big coffee and digestivo fans mom and I are, whenever we requested espresso at the end of a meal or a digestive we were happily accommodated. The espresso was excellent and I particularly liked the amaro digestive we were served one evening.
Dec 4th, 2013, 05:44 PM
#26
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Hey Denise! Glad you joined in! I had no idea you were a Libra baby too! It must be something with me and Libras my best friend is a Libra too! I'd be happy to teach you how to make gnocchi, although there might have to be more wine sipping then gnocchi making!
and now for another day in Abruzzo...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Today was the first and only day of “iffy” weather while we were in Abruzzo. I had debated (according to mom at nauseating length) about bringing a raincoat or not based on the weather forecast prior to leaving. In the end we brought raincoats and wore them today. Although it was overcast, it never did rain so I’m going with the philosophy that because we had the raincoats with us it did not rain!
Our little group of 20 piled into the minivans at the palazzo and took the 40-ish minute drive to Vasto, a town on the Adriatic Coast. Maybe it’s because we live in a coastal area, but mom and I really enjoyed our time in Vasto. Massimo spent about an hour guiding us around town and showing different points of interest. The view from an outlook point in the upper part of Vasto was stunning, the sandy beach curled around the shoreline was spectacular. We also saw the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Vasto with its relic, which is a torn said to be from Jesus’s crown.
We had a bit of free time to wander the atmospheric lanes with stone buildings and mom and I found ourselves drawn to a ceramics shops. Inside the shop was all hand-made pieces made in the area. I immediately admired an olive oil/vinegar/salt/pepper holder set in a tray and at €50 I decided to make my first purchase of the trip. The shopkeepers were very accommodating and wrapped each piece individually and then as a whole in paper and bubble wrap for easy transport back home. I’m happy to say it made the journey back with me in one piece!
After our little shopping excursion, we met back with the group and went to a seafood restaurant for lunch. I neglected to get a business card and now don’t remember the name but the food was very good. We started with a mixed plate of local seafood starters, then we had orcechiette with clams. Our main dish was a beautifully prepared and deliciously tasting branzino. However, in my opinion, the best part of the meal was a new wine discovery! Finally, we were served white wine and this was a local wine called pecorino. I’d heard of pecorino cheese before, but never pecorino wine. Well, this is now my new favorite wine and when we got to Rome later in the trip I was on a personal quest to try as much of it as possible (and I did, with good results!)
When our 3 hour lunch came to an end it was time to visit a Trabocco. This is a fishing house which sits out in the middle of the Adriatic Sea that is accessed on foot via a raised boardwalk over the water. During the summer months nets are dropped from the trabocco and used for fishing and the trabocco functions as a restaurant serving what has been caught in the nets. Although the one we visited was closed for the season as a restaurant, we were able to walk out onto it and get a feel for what it would be like to dine there. To read more about these interesting structures, here’s a Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabucco
Once we had our fill of salt air we took a short drive to an olive oil factory and got to see first-hand the olive oil making process and we got to taste some of the oil being made by this producer. All the oil was very good, but we were particularly taken with the lemon olive oil and promptly bought 2 small bottles.
The afternoon was slipping away quickly and we all climbed back into the mini vans for the ride back to the palazzo. We had some time to relax and dinner was another delectable delight of “deconstructed” eggplant parmigiana and an Abruzesse twist on lemon meringue pie. We sure were not starving on this trip!
and now for another day in Abruzzo...
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Today was the first and only day of “iffy” weather while we were in Abruzzo. I had debated (according to mom at nauseating length) about bringing a raincoat or not based on the weather forecast prior to leaving. In the end we brought raincoats and wore them today. Although it was overcast, it never did rain so I’m going with the philosophy that because we had the raincoats with us it did not rain!
Our little group of 20 piled into the minivans at the palazzo and took the 40-ish minute drive to Vasto, a town on the Adriatic Coast. Maybe it’s because we live in a coastal area, but mom and I really enjoyed our time in Vasto. Massimo spent about an hour guiding us around town and showing different points of interest. The view from an outlook point in the upper part of Vasto was stunning, the sandy beach curled around the shoreline was spectacular. We also saw the church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Vasto with its relic, which is a torn said to be from Jesus’s crown.
We had a bit of free time to wander the atmospheric lanes with stone buildings and mom and I found ourselves drawn to a ceramics shops. Inside the shop was all hand-made pieces made in the area. I immediately admired an olive oil/vinegar/salt/pepper holder set in a tray and at €50 I decided to make my first purchase of the trip. The shopkeepers were very accommodating and wrapped each piece individually and then as a whole in paper and bubble wrap for easy transport back home. I’m happy to say it made the journey back with me in one piece!
After our little shopping excursion, we met back with the group and went to a seafood restaurant for lunch. I neglected to get a business card and now don’t remember the name but the food was very good. We started with a mixed plate of local seafood starters, then we had orcechiette with clams. Our main dish was a beautifully prepared and deliciously tasting branzino. However, in my opinion, the best part of the meal was a new wine discovery! Finally, we were served white wine and this was a local wine called pecorino. I’d heard of pecorino cheese before, but never pecorino wine. Well, this is now my new favorite wine and when we got to Rome later in the trip I was on a personal quest to try as much of it as possible (and I did, with good results!)
When our 3 hour lunch came to an end it was time to visit a Trabocco. This is a fishing house which sits out in the middle of the Adriatic Sea that is accessed on foot via a raised boardwalk over the water. During the summer months nets are dropped from the trabocco and used for fishing and the trabocco functions as a restaurant serving what has been caught in the nets. Although the one we visited was closed for the season as a restaurant, we were able to walk out onto it and get a feel for what it would be like to dine there. To read more about these interesting structures, here’s a Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabucco
Once we had our fill of salt air we took a short drive to an olive oil factory and got to see first-hand the olive oil making process and we got to taste some of the oil being made by this producer. All the oil was very good, but we were particularly taken with the lemon olive oil and promptly bought 2 small bottles.
The afternoon was slipping away quickly and we all climbed back into the mini vans for the ride back to the palazzo. We had some time to relax and dinner was another delectable delight of “deconstructed” eggplant parmigiana and an Abruzesse twist on lemon meringue pie. We sure were not starving on this trip!
Dec 4th, 2013, 06:16 PM
#27
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Great so far. This last trip we had one of the guys take us to the olive oil factory to stock up. I brought home 4 bottles of the lemon, 2 of the orange and a couple other bottles.
Which room did you have?
Which room did you have?
Dec 4th, 2013, 06:40 PM
#28
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Hi Johnny...the lemon oil is just terrific! We were trying to be prudent with how much we were buying and how heavy our suitcases would be! We just adored the staff, especially Antonio and Mattias, they are such great guys! We had room #1 and liked it, had a lovely view!
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Thursday, October 17, 2013
Today was “peasant food” day, or as we liked to call it…Abruzzo Balls! The morning cooking class was devoted to vegetarian fare, and it was absolutely delicious! First we started with an almond biscotti recipe. I learned a trick, to soak the almonds (raw with skin) in the liqueur used in the recipe. This will help the almonds evenly distribute throughout the dough. Then you can always add more liqueur to the dough if you think it needs more “zip”! Along with almonds we used Sambuca and chocolate in the recipe. These were some pretty tasty biscotti.
For the cheese and egg dumplings, affectionately called Abruzzo balls by our class, we used eggs, bread, pecorino cheese parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. We mixed the ingredients together and then formed balls. Once the balls were formed (about golf ball size) they can be sautéed in oil, or simmered in a tomato sauce. Chef Dino also fried enough for each of us to taste, so we could compare the difference between fried in oil and simmered in sauce. To accompany the balls, we made a brothy sauce with tomatoes, peppers and onions. This was such a simple recipe (I could easily manage it on my own) and really filling. For lunch we each had a bowl with at least 3 balls and sauce and I could barely finish 2 of the 3 balls.
In the afternoon we had an option to either go on a hike or take a mosaic making class with the in-house mosaic artist, lovingly referred to as “The David”. Mom and I decide to do the class for 2 reasons, the first reason was because it sounded like a fun way to spend a couple hours, the other reason, they were serving Prosecco to the mosaic class participants, and I never turn down a glass of bubbly!
The class was fun and Davide was a trooper, especially with me, I’m no Leonardo DaVinci! Oh, and Davide doesn’t speak English, we had some help from other staff with translation, but it was good for me to get some practice with my non-food related Italian words, as limited as they may be! What mom and I thought would be a couple hours turned into close to 4! Yes, we really “got into” placing each and every tiny hand-cut (by Davide) stone onto our masterpieces. By 7pm we were ready to call it quits and fortunately our “works of art” were done. What we didn’t count on was each mosaic piece weighing 1.5 kilo! Our bags were getting heavier by the minute!
When 8pm rolled around we found ourselves back in the dining room being served another delicious meal. This time it was all about balance and each course was planned out by Chef Dino and a local nutritionist. We started with a wonderfully light farro salad followed by a “purse” made of dough stuffed with porcini. When ended the meal with a round of enjoyable espresso.
************************************************** ************
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Today was “peasant food” day, or as we liked to call it…Abruzzo Balls! The morning cooking class was devoted to vegetarian fare, and it was absolutely delicious! First we started with an almond biscotti recipe. I learned a trick, to soak the almonds (raw with skin) in the liqueur used in the recipe. This will help the almonds evenly distribute throughout the dough. Then you can always add more liqueur to the dough if you think it needs more “zip”! Along with almonds we used Sambuca and chocolate in the recipe. These were some pretty tasty biscotti.
For the cheese and egg dumplings, affectionately called Abruzzo balls by our class, we used eggs, bread, pecorino cheese parsley, garlic, salt and pepper. We mixed the ingredients together and then formed balls. Once the balls were formed (about golf ball size) they can be sautéed in oil, or simmered in a tomato sauce. Chef Dino also fried enough for each of us to taste, so we could compare the difference between fried in oil and simmered in sauce. To accompany the balls, we made a brothy sauce with tomatoes, peppers and onions. This was such a simple recipe (I could easily manage it on my own) and really filling. For lunch we each had a bowl with at least 3 balls and sauce and I could barely finish 2 of the 3 balls.
In the afternoon we had an option to either go on a hike or take a mosaic making class with the in-house mosaic artist, lovingly referred to as “The David”. Mom and I decide to do the class for 2 reasons, the first reason was because it sounded like a fun way to spend a couple hours, the other reason, they were serving Prosecco to the mosaic class participants, and I never turn down a glass of bubbly!
The class was fun and Davide was a trooper, especially with me, I’m no Leonardo DaVinci! Oh, and Davide doesn’t speak English, we had some help from other staff with translation, but it was good for me to get some practice with my non-food related Italian words, as limited as they may be! What mom and I thought would be a couple hours turned into close to 4! Yes, we really “got into” placing each and every tiny hand-cut (by Davide) stone onto our masterpieces. By 7pm we were ready to call it quits and fortunately our “works of art” were done. What we didn’t count on was each mosaic piece weighing 1.5 kilo! Our bags were getting heavier by the minute!
When 8pm rolled around we found ourselves back in the dining room being served another delicious meal. This time it was all about balance and each course was planned out by Chef Dino and a local nutritionist. We started with a wonderfully light farro salad followed by a “purse” made of dough stuffed with porcini. When ended the meal with a round of enjoyable espresso.
Dec 5th, 2013, 04:43 PM
#31
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It all sounds so good. I must have Abruzzo balls!!
And,pecorino wine? How have I not heard of this???
Would love to see the ceramics you got. We love what we bought in Orvieto and use them all the time.
We are considering trying to make gnocchi this weekend. Chaz LOVES gnocchi and I have no idea how to do it. And, when they are bad they are so bad...
And,pecorino wine? How have I not heard of this???
Would love to see the ceramics you got. We love what we bought in Orvieto and use them all the time.
We are considering trying to make gnocchi this weekend. Chaz LOVES gnocchi and I have no idea how to do it. And, when they are bad they are so bad...
Dec 5th, 2013, 06:46 PM
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Friday, October 18, 2013
This was our last full day in Abruzzo and we had an excursion to the town of Agnone in the Molise region, which is less than a one hour drive from Carunchio. Our first stop was at the Di Pasquo cheese factory. One of the local cheeses produced in this region is caciocavallo. This cheese is shaped like a teardrop, and looks like saddlebags used on horses “back in the day”. To read more about this cheese check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caciocavallo
The aroma wafting about on the factory floor was wonderfully cheesy but during our visit the factory was not making caciocavallo, they were making mozzarella, so we got a first-hand look at the cheese making process. Lucky for us we did get to walk through the storage areas where the caciocavallo was hanging, and this producer not only makes plain caciocavallo, but also a caciocavallo with truffles! We were able to buy one “saddle bag” to take home with us! And it worked great in a macaroni and cheese recipe!
Once we had our fill of cheese our next stop was the Marinelli Bell Foundry in Agnone (http://www.campanemarinelli.com/inglese/index2.php ). This is one of only two bell foundries in the world which manufactures bells for the Vatican, the other is in Avignon, France. I have to say, this was one of the most interesting events of the week in Abruzzo for me and mom. At the foundry there is a museum, and before going through the museum we watched a 20 minute video on the process of making a bell. I knew nothing about this meticulous process and how interesting it is. Once the video was over Massimo gave us a tour of the on-site museum. Although small in size, it was really quite interesting and we got to walk through the area where the bells are made and we got to listen to one of the bell makers “tune” a set of huge bells, he could really “jam” on them! If you venture to this bell foundry, just be aware, no photos are allowed inside, they can’t risk having a bell making secret slip out!
By the time we were finished at the bell foundry we were hungry, I know, hard to believe. But we were looking forward to having one of my favorite Italian dishes, porchetta. We ambled into a local shop where they were slicing fresh porchetta and piling it into long soft rolls. Massimo handled the ordering and everyone got their own porchetta panino. Massimo had pre-arranged for us to eat at a bar around the corner where we got to bring in our panini, order a beverage from the bar and sit and have lunch. I couldn’t think of a better way to have a porchetta panino than with a glass of local beer, so mom and I slid into our chairs, unwrapped our panini, bit down and slurped our beers. It was pretty darn tasty!
After lunch we made our way back to the palazzo in Carunchio for our last evening cooking class and what a fun night it was. This was our pizza making class. We could each make our own pizza “invention” using a huge variety of toppings Chef Dino had provided. Chef showed us how to turn a ball of dough into a beautiful oval of pizza and helped us with deciding which toppings would go best, not too many, maybe 3 at the most. The pizza oven had been fired up and we were really “cooking” now.
As the evening wore on and the families of some of the staff came to join us the atmosphere became more and more familial. Before we knew it, Massimo, Chef Dino, Davide, Mattias, and Antonio were breaking into song and what voices they had. They could cook and sing! Especially Mattias, he is a truly gifted musician and his guitar skills are fantastic. The wine was flowing, the pizza was baking, and our singing was getting better and better with each glass of wine or Peroni beer.
As mom and I were enjoying the conviviality of this night, we couldn’t help but remember back to evenings just like this, spent with long-time family friends who had immigrated to the U.S from Italy in the 1950’s & 1960’s, to us it felt like we had been transported back into our friends basement for a big Italian celebration. Our time in Abruzzo could not have ended on a better note. It felt like it may be a sad drive back to the airport the next day, if it weren’t for the fact that we had another week to spend in Rome and we’d be able to see several of our Roman friends!
This was our last full day in Abruzzo and we had an excursion to the town of Agnone in the Molise region, which is less than a one hour drive from Carunchio. Our first stop was at the Di Pasquo cheese factory. One of the local cheeses produced in this region is caciocavallo. This cheese is shaped like a teardrop, and looks like saddlebags used on horses “back in the day”. To read more about this cheese check out this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caciocavallo
The aroma wafting about on the factory floor was wonderfully cheesy but during our visit the factory was not making caciocavallo, they were making mozzarella, so we got a first-hand look at the cheese making process. Lucky for us we did get to walk through the storage areas where the caciocavallo was hanging, and this producer not only makes plain caciocavallo, but also a caciocavallo with truffles! We were able to buy one “saddle bag” to take home with us! And it worked great in a macaroni and cheese recipe!
Once we had our fill of cheese our next stop was the Marinelli Bell Foundry in Agnone (http://www.campanemarinelli.com/inglese/index2.php ). This is one of only two bell foundries in the world which manufactures bells for the Vatican, the other is in Avignon, France. I have to say, this was one of the most interesting events of the week in Abruzzo for me and mom. At the foundry there is a museum, and before going through the museum we watched a 20 minute video on the process of making a bell. I knew nothing about this meticulous process and how interesting it is. Once the video was over Massimo gave us a tour of the on-site museum. Although small in size, it was really quite interesting and we got to walk through the area where the bells are made and we got to listen to one of the bell makers “tune” a set of huge bells, he could really “jam” on them! If you venture to this bell foundry, just be aware, no photos are allowed inside, they can’t risk having a bell making secret slip out!
By the time we were finished at the bell foundry we were hungry, I know, hard to believe. But we were looking forward to having one of my favorite Italian dishes, porchetta. We ambled into a local shop where they were slicing fresh porchetta and piling it into long soft rolls. Massimo handled the ordering and everyone got their own porchetta panino. Massimo had pre-arranged for us to eat at a bar around the corner where we got to bring in our panini, order a beverage from the bar and sit and have lunch. I couldn’t think of a better way to have a porchetta panino than with a glass of local beer, so mom and I slid into our chairs, unwrapped our panini, bit down and slurped our beers. It was pretty darn tasty!
After lunch we made our way back to the palazzo in Carunchio for our last evening cooking class and what a fun night it was. This was our pizza making class. We could each make our own pizza “invention” using a huge variety of toppings Chef Dino had provided. Chef showed us how to turn a ball of dough into a beautiful oval of pizza and helped us with deciding which toppings would go best, not too many, maybe 3 at the most. The pizza oven had been fired up and we were really “cooking” now.
As the evening wore on and the families of some of the staff came to join us the atmosphere became more and more familial. Before we knew it, Massimo, Chef Dino, Davide, Mattias, and Antonio were breaking into song and what voices they had. They could cook and sing! Especially Mattias, he is a truly gifted musician and his guitar skills are fantastic. The wine was flowing, the pizza was baking, and our singing was getting better and better with each glass of wine or Peroni beer.
As mom and I were enjoying the conviviality of this night, we couldn’t help but remember back to evenings just like this, spent with long-time family friends who had immigrated to the U.S from Italy in the 1950’s & 1960’s, to us it felt like we had been transported back into our friends basement for a big Italian celebration. Our time in Abruzzo could not have ended on a better note. It felt like it may be a sad drive back to the airport the next day, if it weren’t for the fact that we had another week to spend in Rome and we’d be able to see several of our Roman friends!
Dec 6th, 2013, 07:13 PM
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Saturday, October 19, 2013
We said our good-byes to the palazzo staff and boarded the mini bus and headed back to Rome. It was an uneventful 4 hour ride (with one stop at an AutoGrill on the autostrada) back to Fiumicino. Prior to the start of this trip I booked a pick-up at Fiumicino with Rome Cabs (http://www.romecabs.com/ ) I found this car service years ago on Fodors and have used it during all my trips to Rome. To be on the safe side I made the pick-up time for 1pm which worked perfectly because our mini bus arrived at the airport at 12:30pm. By the time we unloaded our bags and made our way to the arrivals area in Terminal 3 we only had a few minutes to wait before our driver arrived.
We have always had first-rate service from Rome Cabs and this time was no different. Our driver, a very nice young lady, spoke excellent English and within one hour we were pulling up in front of the Albergo del Senato, it felt like we were coming home! This was our third stay and we can’t speak highly enough of this hotel. The location is great, the rooms are comfortable and the staff is outstanding (they are even starting to recognize me and mom from our previous visits!).
We quickly settled into our room, which was the same room we had on our very first stay at the Albergo del Senato. It’s probably a room many people wouldn’t necessarily like, it’s at the back of the hotel, so has no direct view, but because it overlooks an interior courtyard area (and the back of other buildings) it is incredibly quiet, which is perfect for me for sleeping! And we were happy to find out the rooftop lounge was still open in late October, so we could get our beautiful views from there each night while having a glass (or 2!) of wine.
After taking a few minutes to freshen up, we “hit the streets” and walked over to Café Camilloni at Piazza San Eustachio, 54 for an iced cappuccino. Sitting outside, enjoying the warm sunshine was a perfect way to kick-off our week in Rome. On our way back to the hotel we stopped to buy our Integrated Weekly Ticket for the public transit system at one of the ticket machines in Largo Argentina. We tend to use the public transit (buses, metro, trams) system in Rome a lot when we visit and this ticket is valid for 7 days, so at the price of €24 this is a good deal for us. You can read more about the ticket here: http://www.atac.roma.it/page.asp?p=14
Shortly before 5pm we scurried back to the hotel because we had a Roman Street Food Tour booked with Sophie Minchilli, the daughter of Elizabeth Minchilli. Sophie is starting to do food tours and we happily did this new itinerary she has developed. We made three stops on the tour and Sophie was full of interesting information about the street food of Rome and how it has evolved over the years.
The first stop, which was my favorite, was at Rosticceri, located at Corso Rinascimento 83/85. I can’t tell you how many times during our visits to Rome we have been up and down this street and never would have thought to stop in this place. It looks non-descript at first glance, but if you take a moment to stop and really look inside, you will see some of the best looking take-away food you have ever seen. This place is small, it’s meant to be a place Romans would stop at on the way home where they can pick up prepared foods and believe me, if we had been renting an apartment, we certainly would have brought a meal or 2 back to the apartment to eat. There is also a counter running along the length of the shop with stools so you can sit and eat a quick bite (if I were an office worker in Rome, this is where I would go for lunch!). Since we were there shortly after 5pm, it wasn’t very crowded (they do an incredible lunch business, because when passing by on a bus one day, the place was packed to the gills at 1pm), so there were stools and counter space available.
Sophie started us off with 2 different types of arancini. The first was the typical, rice, tomato and cheese version, the second was rice, gorgonzola and radicchio. Oh Wow! The second one scored high marks with both mom and I, but we love gorgonzola and radicchio, so that wasn’t hard to do! And, these arancini, were not little tiny orbs, these were the size of mini footballs. With a glass of wine for each of us, this Roman Street Food tour was off to great start. If you are interested in knowing more about Rosticceri, here is their website: http://www.rosticceri.com/
Our second stop was at Forno Roscioli at Via dei Chiavari, 34. Although we had been here before and tasted their pizza bianca, Sophie brought so much more to being in this bastion of pizza goodness. We had 2 different types of pizza, which was right out of the oven, but then we had a mortadella panino. This was no ordinary panino, it was slices of mortadella wedged into a sliced piece of pizza bianca, that my friends, was pure pizza perfection!
The last stop on the tour was at Dar Filettaro located at Santa Barbara Largo dei Librari 88. This is truly a “hole in the wall joint” that specializes in fried bacala (salt cod). Mom and I love fish and this fish, was light and fluffy on the inside with a crispy-crunchy, non-greasy fried coating. I was glad we had a local guiding us through this experience, because I may have been a little hesitant to dive into this place on my own. It’s a fairly narrow space, filled with scruffy tables and chairs. The menu has a small variety of typical Roman dishes, but the star here is the bacala. You can sit down and place an order with a waiter and eat there, or you can walk straight back to the kitchen door, and place your order for fried bacala “to go” with the chef. He will fry the fish, wrap it and hand you the bag, then you walk to the front and pay. It’s a quick and tasty meal.
Before we knew it, our 2 hours with Sophie were over and what a lovely 2 hours they were. Sophie was fun, funny, and knowledgeable about Roman Street Food and a great guide to all things tasty! I have a feeling she will do very well guiding this tour.
We said our good-byes to Sophie and since our dinner (yes, we could still find room for dinner) reservation was not until 9pm, we decided it was aperitivo time. We toddled back to the hotel and availed ourselves of the rooftop lounge. With the sun setting, the cool breeze, a beautiful view of the Pantheon and couple glasses of Prosecco we were two happy ladies.
Shortly before 9pm we took the short, 10 minute walk to Renato e Luisa at Via dei Barbieiri, 25. (http://www.renatoeluisa.it/ ). We decided on this restaurant because it was a short walk from the hotel (since we hadn’t validated our bus passes yet) and the reviews we had read. As we turned the corner onto the street the restaurant was on, I couldn’t believe the crowd standing outside the door. There was a large group that was having dinner in the front room of the restaurant. We slid past them and made our way to one of the servers. There was a bit of confusion and at first they said they did not have our reservation. But Luisa brought over her reservation book, and there was our name. I do have to get better and pronouncing my last name with and Italian accent!
As we looked over the menu and started to decide on what we would have I began to look at the wine list. To my surprise and delight, there was a Pecorino wine from Abruzzo on the menu, we took it as a sign and ordered it. Mom and I both had delicious starters, mom had the smoked provolone wrapped in speck with warm prunes and I had the stuffed zucchini flowers.
When we ordered our main courses mom and I decided to have the same dish, the eggplant involtini. But, our server, who later told us it was her first night working at this restaurant brought us the brasciole. As we cut into the dish, we thought, “hmmm, this seems more difficult to cut than eggplant”, once we saw and tasted it, we knew. We considered calling the server over, but it was busy, we like brasciole and so we just “rolled with it”. To finish out the meal we each had an espresso and a limoncello. The total cost of the meal was €70.
You may be asking, why didn’t we send our food back if it was wrong. I think, we had the server we did because she was the only one who could speak English, but being her first night, she was probably trying to keep the orders from all of her tables straight in her head. In hind-sight, we probably would have fared better with an Italian speaking server since we have passable restaurant Italian language and comprehension skills, but we didn’t mind, we were enjoying ourselves and the food, no matter what.
We said our good-byes to the palazzo staff and boarded the mini bus and headed back to Rome. It was an uneventful 4 hour ride (with one stop at an AutoGrill on the autostrada) back to Fiumicino. Prior to the start of this trip I booked a pick-up at Fiumicino with Rome Cabs (http://www.romecabs.com/ ) I found this car service years ago on Fodors and have used it during all my trips to Rome. To be on the safe side I made the pick-up time for 1pm which worked perfectly because our mini bus arrived at the airport at 12:30pm. By the time we unloaded our bags and made our way to the arrivals area in Terminal 3 we only had a few minutes to wait before our driver arrived.
We have always had first-rate service from Rome Cabs and this time was no different. Our driver, a very nice young lady, spoke excellent English and within one hour we were pulling up in front of the Albergo del Senato, it felt like we were coming home! This was our third stay and we can’t speak highly enough of this hotel. The location is great, the rooms are comfortable and the staff is outstanding (they are even starting to recognize me and mom from our previous visits!).
We quickly settled into our room, which was the same room we had on our very first stay at the Albergo del Senato. It’s probably a room many people wouldn’t necessarily like, it’s at the back of the hotel, so has no direct view, but because it overlooks an interior courtyard area (and the back of other buildings) it is incredibly quiet, which is perfect for me for sleeping! And we were happy to find out the rooftop lounge was still open in late October, so we could get our beautiful views from there each night while having a glass (or 2!) of wine.
After taking a few minutes to freshen up, we “hit the streets” and walked over to Café Camilloni at Piazza San Eustachio, 54 for an iced cappuccino. Sitting outside, enjoying the warm sunshine was a perfect way to kick-off our week in Rome. On our way back to the hotel we stopped to buy our Integrated Weekly Ticket for the public transit system at one of the ticket machines in Largo Argentina. We tend to use the public transit (buses, metro, trams) system in Rome a lot when we visit and this ticket is valid for 7 days, so at the price of €24 this is a good deal for us. You can read more about the ticket here: http://www.atac.roma.it/page.asp?p=14
Shortly before 5pm we scurried back to the hotel because we had a Roman Street Food Tour booked with Sophie Minchilli, the daughter of Elizabeth Minchilli. Sophie is starting to do food tours and we happily did this new itinerary she has developed. We made three stops on the tour and Sophie was full of interesting information about the street food of Rome and how it has evolved over the years.
The first stop, which was my favorite, was at Rosticceri, located at Corso Rinascimento 83/85. I can’t tell you how many times during our visits to Rome we have been up and down this street and never would have thought to stop in this place. It looks non-descript at first glance, but if you take a moment to stop and really look inside, you will see some of the best looking take-away food you have ever seen. This place is small, it’s meant to be a place Romans would stop at on the way home where they can pick up prepared foods and believe me, if we had been renting an apartment, we certainly would have brought a meal or 2 back to the apartment to eat. There is also a counter running along the length of the shop with stools so you can sit and eat a quick bite (if I were an office worker in Rome, this is where I would go for lunch!). Since we were there shortly after 5pm, it wasn’t very crowded (they do an incredible lunch business, because when passing by on a bus one day, the place was packed to the gills at 1pm), so there were stools and counter space available.
Sophie started us off with 2 different types of arancini. The first was the typical, rice, tomato and cheese version, the second was rice, gorgonzola and radicchio. Oh Wow! The second one scored high marks with both mom and I, but we love gorgonzola and radicchio, so that wasn’t hard to do! And, these arancini, were not little tiny orbs, these were the size of mini footballs. With a glass of wine for each of us, this Roman Street Food tour was off to great start. If you are interested in knowing more about Rosticceri, here is their website: http://www.rosticceri.com/
Our second stop was at Forno Roscioli at Via dei Chiavari, 34. Although we had been here before and tasted their pizza bianca, Sophie brought so much more to being in this bastion of pizza goodness. We had 2 different types of pizza, which was right out of the oven, but then we had a mortadella panino. This was no ordinary panino, it was slices of mortadella wedged into a sliced piece of pizza bianca, that my friends, was pure pizza perfection!
The last stop on the tour was at Dar Filettaro located at Santa Barbara Largo dei Librari 88. This is truly a “hole in the wall joint” that specializes in fried bacala (salt cod). Mom and I love fish and this fish, was light and fluffy on the inside with a crispy-crunchy, non-greasy fried coating. I was glad we had a local guiding us through this experience, because I may have been a little hesitant to dive into this place on my own. It’s a fairly narrow space, filled with scruffy tables and chairs. The menu has a small variety of typical Roman dishes, but the star here is the bacala. You can sit down and place an order with a waiter and eat there, or you can walk straight back to the kitchen door, and place your order for fried bacala “to go” with the chef. He will fry the fish, wrap it and hand you the bag, then you walk to the front and pay. It’s a quick and tasty meal.
Before we knew it, our 2 hours with Sophie were over and what a lovely 2 hours they were. Sophie was fun, funny, and knowledgeable about Roman Street Food and a great guide to all things tasty! I have a feeling she will do very well guiding this tour.
We said our good-byes to Sophie and since our dinner (yes, we could still find room for dinner) reservation was not until 9pm, we decided it was aperitivo time. We toddled back to the hotel and availed ourselves of the rooftop lounge. With the sun setting, the cool breeze, a beautiful view of the Pantheon and couple glasses of Prosecco we were two happy ladies.
Shortly before 9pm we took the short, 10 minute walk to Renato e Luisa at Via dei Barbieiri, 25. (http://www.renatoeluisa.it/ ). We decided on this restaurant because it was a short walk from the hotel (since we hadn’t validated our bus passes yet) and the reviews we had read. As we turned the corner onto the street the restaurant was on, I couldn’t believe the crowd standing outside the door. There was a large group that was having dinner in the front room of the restaurant. We slid past them and made our way to one of the servers. There was a bit of confusion and at first they said they did not have our reservation. But Luisa brought over her reservation book, and there was our name. I do have to get better and pronouncing my last name with and Italian accent!
As we looked over the menu and started to decide on what we would have I began to look at the wine list. To my surprise and delight, there was a Pecorino wine from Abruzzo on the menu, we took it as a sign and ordered it. Mom and I both had delicious starters, mom had the smoked provolone wrapped in speck with warm prunes and I had the stuffed zucchini flowers.
When we ordered our main courses mom and I decided to have the same dish, the eggplant involtini. But, our server, who later told us it was her first night working at this restaurant brought us the brasciole. As we cut into the dish, we thought, “hmmm, this seems more difficult to cut than eggplant”, once we saw and tasted it, we knew. We considered calling the server over, but it was busy, we like brasciole and so we just “rolled with it”. To finish out the meal we each had an espresso and a limoncello. The total cost of the meal was €70.
You may be asking, why didn’t we send our food back if it was wrong. I think, we had the server we did because she was the only one who could speak English, but being her first night, she was probably trying to keep the orders from all of her tables straight in her head. In hind-sight, we probably would have fared better with an Italian speaking server since we have passable restaurant Italian language and comprehension skills, but we didn’t mind, we were enjoying ourselves and the food, no matter what.
Dec 7th, 2013, 08:07 AM
#36
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More of that Pecorino wine....how have I missed this? I love brasciole....so that would be a happy accident for me. Don't blame you for rolling with it.
That panini sounds fa-bu! The whole tour with Sophie sounds delicious and fun!,
Wish us luck with the gnocchi-tonight's the night!
That panini sounds fa-bu! The whole tour with Sophie sounds delicious and fun!,
Wish us luck with the gnocchi-tonight's the night!
Dec 9th, 2013, 06:40 PM
#38
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Sunday, October 20, 2013
Prior to this trip, I was looking for something interesting to do in Rome which we hadn’t done before and I came across this Context Travel blog article from a few years ago about the Quartiere Coppede http://blog.contexttravel.com/a-hidd...tiere-coppede/
This caught my interested and I talked with mom about it and we decided to put it on our agenda, but if time didn’t permit a visit, it could easily be bumped. I’m so glad it didn’t bumped! We had a leisurely morning and then took the #63 bus from near Largo Argentina directly to the Piazza Buenos Aires stop, it took about 20 minutes on this Sunday morning.
Upon getting off the bus, I promptly made a couple wrong turns, my Google maps app wasn’t working properly so I pulled out Elizabeth Minchilli’s Eat Rome app because I knew there was a restaurant in the area and using the mapping function on Elizabeth’s app, I was able to navigate right to where we wanted to be. And in the process did a little window shopping and saw some really interesting eyeglass frames. They were wooden and tres chic, but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (because we couldn’t see the price tag) the shop was closed and we never made it back to this area.
As we crossed the tram tracks at Piazza Buenos Aires, we first came upon a nice looking church. We walked up the steps and started looking around. Three well-dressed older Italian ladies were standing in front and started speaking to us. I smiled and in my imperfect Italian told them I didn’t understand Italian. This did not deter them and they continued to speak with us and pointed to an area around the corner of the church. What we think they were trying to convey to us, was that the church would be open in 30 minutes. We thanked them profusely and walked down the steps and around the corner to the most architecturally interesting (to us) neighborhood in Rome, the Quartiere Coppede.
This neighborhood was designed by Gino Coppede, an architect from Florence and was built in the 1920’s. There is a cluster of several palazzos all with different architectural styles. It’s quite lovely to walk through the area and if you are an architectural or photography buff I highly recommend a visit.
We had a beautifully sunny day to meander about the streets of this area. As we were admiring one particularly lovely palazzo an older woman was standing outside the gate. She said hello and asked mom if she was a member of the American Woman’s Club in Rome. After we had explained we were simply visitors to Rome she continued to chat with us. I noticed she wore and Irish Claddagh ring (as I do) and asked if she was from Ireland and she said, yes, that is where is was originally from but she and her husband had lived in this area of Rome for 40 + years . Her husband was from Padua and they had raised their sons in Rome, and they lived on the top floor of the palazzo mom and I had just been admiring, and they have views out to the Castelli Romani and can see Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residents. If this neighborhood didn’t already feel like a “high rent district” it sure did after speaking with this kind woman. After a few minutes her husband pulled their car around and we said our good-byes as they drove off to church. Only when I’m with my mom would something like this happen, we are always joking that mom makes friends in the cash register line at the grocery store!
After a final spin around the small piazza which is the center of this neighborhood, we hopped back on the bus and rode down into the Centro Storico to check out a new store we had heard about called Peperita, which sells all types of peppers. The producer is in Tuscany, but she has a cute little shop just near the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. Here is the website: http://www.peperita.it/index_en.asp and here is a blog entry about the Rome shop from Elizabeth Minichilli: http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome....e-tuscany.html
Mom bought several varieties of ground pepper. I love the packaging and the rating system for hotness is very helpful, 1 being the most mild to 16 being burn your tongue to complete numbness.
The Peperita shop was in the perfect location for us because our next stop was to meet our friend from VinoRoma for lunch at Beppe e i suoi formaggi (Beppe and his cheeses). Here is the website: http://www.beppeeisuoiformaggi.it/
Although we had booked a tasting for Monday at VinoRoma, Hande would not be leading that tasting. But we were eager to see her and talk about wine, food and Rome and fortunately we were able to meet up with her for a glass of wine and a selection of cheeses and more importantly to chat about what had been going on in our lives since our last visit to Rome. The great thing about having lunch here, is the cheeses are extraordinarily delicious and we had a bonus of a sommelier joining us, so we left the wine selection to her and she selected a delicious regional white wine from Lazio.
Two hours flies when we are having fun and before we knew it Hande had to get to another appointment. We said our good-byes and mom and I walked back to the hotel to put our feet up for a while.
Not wanting to “jinx” any of our future intentions to visit Rome, after a short rest, we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and toss in our coins to ensure a return visit to Rome. Since it was coming up on aperitivo hour and we were walking by Baccano, we decided to duck in to have a glass of wine (for mom) and a spritz (for me). I do love my spritzes! Baccano is very close to the Trevi Fountain and we discovered it on our last visit to Rome. We’ve never had a meal there, but we do enjoy stopping in at the bar for an aperitivo and the prices are fairly reasonable given the location. At €6 for a spritz it’s a pretty good deal.
When we had finished our drinks at Baccano we meandered towards Largo Argentina to get the #3 Tram to the Monteverde neighborhood. Our dinner this night was at L’Osteria di Monteverde at Via Pietro Cartoni 163/165. This was a repeat visit for us and we were as happy this time as we were on our first visit last year. Here is their website: http://www.losteriadimonteverde.it/
L’Osteria di Monteverde is in a bit “off the beaten path” location, but using the #3 tram makes for easy access. The interior is not sleek or fancy, it feels like a comfortable neighborhood trattoria. For our starters mom ha the sweetbreads, which were flavorful and delicious, she was kind enough to let me have a taste and it was the first time I’d had sweetbreads. If others taste this good, I would happily order it elsewhere. I had the quail wrapped in lardo for my starter and it was moist and fall off the bone tender. For our main dishes, mom had duck and I pork belly. Both dishes were expertly cooked, had a lovely presentation ad tasted wonderful. We asked the server/owner to recommend a red wine for us and he selected a red from Calabria. Our first Calabrian wine and it went perfectly with the meal. This is the restaurant with the best tiramisu we have ever had, so we splurged and split a small order and it was as good as we remembered. We ended the meal with espresso and anise digestivo. We loved the espresso, the anise digestivo, not as much, but we have to try it to see if we will like it! The total cost of dinner with a bottle of water was €74.
We took the short walk back to the tram stop and in less than 20 minutes we were at Piazza Venezia and another short walk back to the hotel. This week in Rome was started to rack up memorable meals already!
Prior to this trip, I was looking for something interesting to do in Rome which we hadn’t done before and I came across this Context Travel blog article from a few years ago about the Quartiere Coppede http://blog.contexttravel.com/a-hidd...tiere-coppede/
This caught my interested and I talked with mom about it and we decided to put it on our agenda, but if time didn’t permit a visit, it could easily be bumped. I’m so glad it didn’t bumped! We had a leisurely morning and then took the #63 bus from near Largo Argentina directly to the Piazza Buenos Aires stop, it took about 20 minutes on this Sunday morning.
Upon getting off the bus, I promptly made a couple wrong turns, my Google maps app wasn’t working properly so I pulled out Elizabeth Minchilli’s Eat Rome app because I knew there was a restaurant in the area and using the mapping function on Elizabeth’s app, I was able to navigate right to where we wanted to be. And in the process did a little window shopping and saw some really interesting eyeglass frames. They were wooden and tres chic, but unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (because we couldn’t see the price tag) the shop was closed and we never made it back to this area.
As we crossed the tram tracks at Piazza Buenos Aires, we first came upon a nice looking church. We walked up the steps and started looking around. Three well-dressed older Italian ladies were standing in front and started speaking to us. I smiled and in my imperfect Italian told them I didn’t understand Italian. This did not deter them and they continued to speak with us and pointed to an area around the corner of the church. What we think they were trying to convey to us, was that the church would be open in 30 minutes. We thanked them profusely and walked down the steps and around the corner to the most architecturally interesting (to us) neighborhood in Rome, the Quartiere Coppede.
This neighborhood was designed by Gino Coppede, an architect from Florence and was built in the 1920’s. There is a cluster of several palazzos all with different architectural styles. It’s quite lovely to walk through the area and if you are an architectural or photography buff I highly recommend a visit.
We had a beautifully sunny day to meander about the streets of this area. As we were admiring one particularly lovely palazzo an older woman was standing outside the gate. She said hello and asked mom if she was a member of the American Woman’s Club in Rome. After we had explained we were simply visitors to Rome she continued to chat with us. I noticed she wore and Irish Claddagh ring (as I do) and asked if she was from Ireland and she said, yes, that is where is was originally from but she and her husband had lived in this area of Rome for 40 + years . Her husband was from Padua and they had raised their sons in Rome, and they lived on the top floor of the palazzo mom and I had just been admiring, and they have views out to the Castelli Romani and can see Castel Gandolfo, the Pope’s summer residents. If this neighborhood didn’t already feel like a “high rent district” it sure did after speaking with this kind woman. After a few minutes her husband pulled their car around and we said our good-byes as they drove off to church. Only when I’m with my mom would something like this happen, we are always joking that mom makes friends in the cash register line at the grocery store!
After a final spin around the small piazza which is the center of this neighborhood, we hopped back on the bus and rode down into the Centro Storico to check out a new store we had heard about called Peperita, which sells all types of peppers. The producer is in Tuscany, but she has a cute little shop just near the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. Here is the website: http://www.peperita.it/index_en.asp and here is a blog entry about the Rome shop from Elizabeth Minichilli: http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome....e-tuscany.html
Mom bought several varieties of ground pepper. I love the packaging and the rating system for hotness is very helpful, 1 being the most mild to 16 being burn your tongue to complete numbness.
The Peperita shop was in the perfect location for us because our next stop was to meet our friend from VinoRoma for lunch at Beppe e i suoi formaggi (Beppe and his cheeses). Here is the website: http://www.beppeeisuoiformaggi.it/
Although we had booked a tasting for Monday at VinoRoma, Hande would not be leading that tasting. But we were eager to see her and talk about wine, food and Rome and fortunately we were able to meet up with her for a glass of wine and a selection of cheeses and more importantly to chat about what had been going on in our lives since our last visit to Rome. The great thing about having lunch here, is the cheeses are extraordinarily delicious and we had a bonus of a sommelier joining us, so we left the wine selection to her and she selected a delicious regional white wine from Lazio.
Two hours flies when we are having fun and before we knew it Hande had to get to another appointment. We said our good-byes and mom and I walked back to the hotel to put our feet up for a while.
Not wanting to “jinx” any of our future intentions to visit Rome, after a short rest, we walked over to the Trevi Fountain and toss in our coins to ensure a return visit to Rome. Since it was coming up on aperitivo hour and we were walking by Baccano, we decided to duck in to have a glass of wine (for mom) and a spritz (for me). I do love my spritzes! Baccano is very close to the Trevi Fountain and we discovered it on our last visit to Rome. We’ve never had a meal there, but we do enjoy stopping in at the bar for an aperitivo and the prices are fairly reasonable given the location. At €6 for a spritz it’s a pretty good deal.
When we had finished our drinks at Baccano we meandered towards Largo Argentina to get the #3 Tram to the Monteverde neighborhood. Our dinner this night was at L’Osteria di Monteverde at Via Pietro Cartoni 163/165. This was a repeat visit for us and we were as happy this time as we were on our first visit last year. Here is their website: http://www.losteriadimonteverde.it/
L’Osteria di Monteverde is in a bit “off the beaten path” location, but using the #3 tram makes for easy access. The interior is not sleek or fancy, it feels like a comfortable neighborhood trattoria. For our starters mom ha the sweetbreads, which were flavorful and delicious, she was kind enough to let me have a taste and it was the first time I’d had sweetbreads. If others taste this good, I would happily order it elsewhere. I had the quail wrapped in lardo for my starter and it was moist and fall off the bone tender. For our main dishes, mom had duck and I pork belly. Both dishes were expertly cooked, had a lovely presentation ad tasted wonderful. We asked the server/owner to recommend a red wine for us and he selected a red from Calabria. Our first Calabrian wine and it went perfectly with the meal. This is the restaurant with the best tiramisu we have ever had, so we splurged and split a small order and it was as good as we remembered. We ended the meal with espresso and anise digestivo. We loved the espresso, the anise digestivo, not as much, but we have to try it to see if we will like it! The total cost of dinner with a bottle of water was €74.
We took the short walk back to the tram stop and in less than 20 minutes we were at Piazza Venezia and another short walk back to the hotel. This week in Rome was started to rack up memorable meals already!
Dec 10th, 2013, 11:33 AM
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Hi Truffles...
Thanks for reading! The Rome Street Food tour was a gift to me, so I don't have the price. I suggest if you are interested in doing that contact Elizabeth Minchilli via her blog to find out the cost. I've always found her to be very responsive to answering inquiries.
Thanks for reading! The Rome Street Food tour was a gift to me, so I don't have the price. I suggest if you are interested in doing that contact Elizabeth Minchilli via her blog to find out the cost. I've always found her to be very responsive to answering inquiries.
