by Ximena Amarales | Sep 30, 2024 | Food in Italy, Rome, Tours |
Exploring Italian Cuisine by Region: A Culinary Journey
Italy, with its rich culinary landscape, offers an array of unique flavors and dishes specific to each region. From the hearty pastas of the north to the zesty citrus flavors of the south, Italian cuisine is as varied as the country’s geography.
Northern Italy
In the cooler north, dishes feature creamy sauces, polentas, and risottos. Piedmont is famous for its truffles and Barolo wine, while Lombardy is known for its risotto and osso buco.
Central Italy
Tuscany, known for its rustic bread, boasts specialties like ribollita and pappa al pomodoro. Emilia-Romagna, hailed as the culinary heart of Italy, is the birthplace of balsamic vinegar, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and prosciutto di Parma.
Southern Italy
Moving south, the cuisine becomes bolder. Naples is the home of pizza, and Sicily prides itself on seafood and Arab-influenced sweets like cannoli and cassata.
A Closer Look at Rome
In Rome, the flavors are robust and satisfying. A must-try is Cacio e Pepe, a simple yet delicious pasta dish. Also popular are supplì (fried rice balls) and carciofi alla romana (artichokes Roman style). When in Rome, asking for these local favorites will give you a true taste of the city.
Roman Recipe: Cacio e Pepe
This Roman classic needs just a few ingredients but delivers a robust flavor.
Ingredients:
400g of Spaghetti
2 cups Pecorino Romano, finely grated
1 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Instructions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the spaghetti until al dente, then reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
In a large pan, toast the black pepper for 1 minute over medium heat. Add half of the reserved pasta water to the pan.
Transfer the spaghetti to the pan. Sprinkle grated Pecorino Romano over it and stir vigorously to combine until the cheese melts and forms a creamy sauce.
Adjust the consistency of the sauce with additional pasta water if necessary.
Serve immediately, finishing with more Pecorino and a pinch of black pepper.
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by eduardoalfaro | Dec 19, 2019 | Food in Italy |
Roman cuisine is authentic, flavorful and special. It is said that Italian food is one of the best in the world: you still haven’t tasted the street food in Rome.
Rome is a culinary stage with plenty of choice, depending on your taste and budget.
From fine dining, to food stalls in touristic spots, anything in Rome tastes delicious and I am here to prove it.
Where once people would meet to drink wine, bringing food from home, today we see the rise of osterias. Those small eateries are the ones that serve the most authentic recipes, homemade with the freshest local ingredients and at a very affordable price.
But then again the food industry keeps on changing: today we rather eat a quick meal, maybe even strolling around the streets in the Italian capital city.
That is why I have put together a list of street food you definitely cannot miss when you are in Rome.
This street food is in fact a proper pizza, not circular neither sliced. This pizza is in fact baked in a square tray and then cut in chunks, which are sold singularly. Crunchy and tasty, toppings are various: you will find a simple Margherita, with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce, as well as more flavorful potatoes and sausages and many other different kinds.
Easy to carry, easy to eat, easy to love.
This is probably the first choice amongst locals: panino is a sandwich made with daily fresh oven baked bread. There are a big variety of fillings but the best one in Rome couldn’t be other than Porchetta. What is it? Porchetta is the name of a whole pork cooked on a spit fire, whose meat is then cured and sliced like a sort of ham.
Seasoned with a variety of local spices, Porchetta is delicious and makes for a perfect quick lunch in the busy streets of the Eternal city.
This is a very recent invention by chef Stefano Callegari, also exported in Turin and lately in New York. It is a white pizza slice (cheese only, no tomato) cut in the middle and filled with all sorts of condiments. Usually, the choices are typical recipes from the roman cuisine. Coda alla vaccinara, Pollo alla cacciatora and also a vegetarian version with Melanzane alla Parmigiana – which means veal, chicken or vegetable sauces: this is a great solution to taste both street food and authentic italian recipes.
Supplì is the most traditional street food in Rome and is great anytime of the day: it can be a snack, a lunch or an after dinner.
Imagine a nugget, made of rice and pecorino cheese, filled with gooey mozzarella and tasty meat ragout, breaded and fried. Doesn’t it sound delicious? Well, I can tell it tastes even better than it sounds.
Similar to the sicilian version called Arancini, the first appearance of this street food was in 1847. Not only a street food, but also a creative way to use leftovers from a family meal. Simple but delicious.
Many eateries in Rome serve these kinds of street food, and I am so fond of those recipes to know the best spots. Food stalls, street vendors and city markets: let me guide you through this amazing culinary journey.
How to do that?
Easy: reserve one of my private tours and let’s built the perfect customized itinerary to take you around not only the best landmarks of the city, also the greatest eateries in Rome. We will make sure you have an authentic experience!
by Ximena Amarales | Dec 11, 2018 | Food in Italy, Rome |
There is much more than just beautiful panoramas and stunning attractions in Rome: be ready to taste some of the most wonderful dishes you ever had.
There are not only main dishes that you should try: today I am going to tell you about the beautiful desserts that await in a bakery. Stop over when going through the busy streets of Rome.
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by Ximena Amarales | Nov 26, 2018 | Food in Italy, Rome |
When traveling to the italian capital, one can get the chance to join some of the best Rome tours and to learn not only about arts and history, also many details about the local life.
Learning about people’s culture and traditions is a great add-on to a basic trip. It makes the difference between just visiting and deep exploring your destination.
But when it comes to Rome, you cannot expect to just visit the city. It is just as natural to also mix in with the locals and feel that Roman Holidays vibe.
Well, why don’t you just book my special Vespa tour in Rome and plan a customized itinerary through the city’s best highlights?
Not only sightseeing: we can also stop over to have some of the best street food in Rome and an amazing taste of the regional cuisine.
Here’s the top 10 plates you need to taste when in Rome.
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by Ximena Amarales | Jan 2, 2017 | Food in Italy |
We learn that pasta won’t make you gain weight!
If you’d banished pasta from your cupboard due to concerns over weight gain, then think again: an Italian study found that the more pasta you eat, the less likely you are to gain weight.
If you’ve banished pasta from your kitchen cupboard in the hope of squeezing into last year’s Speedos or bikini before your summer holidays, you’re making a terrible mistake.
An Italian study published in the journal ‘Nutrition and Diabetes‘ this month, reveals for the first time a link between how much pasta you eat and how slim you are likely to be.
The study questioned some 23,500 men and women of varying ages and social backgrounds across Italy about their dietary habits and recorded their body mass index (BMI) and waist-to-hip ratio.
The results of the study were surprising and good news for pasta-lovers everywhere.
“Our findings show a negative association of pasta consumption with general and central obesity” the authors wrote. In short: the more you eat pasta, the less you are likely to be overweight.
Body mass was found to decrease with pasta consumption in men and women. Source: ‘Association of pasta consumption with body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio’. Nature and Diabetes, July 2016
The results run contrary to the popular belief that servings of pasta will have you piling on the pounds, a misconception which has caused pasta consumption to fall worldwide.
Even Italians are turning away from pasta, a food which has played a central role in the country’s famed Mediterranean diet since medieval times.
The traditional Italian diet, based around cereals, legumes, seasonal fruit and veg and lashings of olive oil is considered to be one of the healthiest ways to eat.
But if the traditional Italian diet is so healthy, how did pasta get such a bad reputation?
The researchers lay the blame squarely at the feet of fad diets.
“Pasta consumption has decreased as the concept of adopting low-carb, high-protein diets against obesity has increased,” the authors wrote. But in spite of their popularity, there is still significant scientific debate surrounding the possible negative effects of such diets on kidney and bone health.
It turns out, that even among people who don’t follow a healthy Mediterranean diet, pasta is still associated with a more streamlined physique. But why does pasta make you slimmer?
The precise mechanisms are still a mystery, but scientists think it has to do with the foods we tend to eat pasta with.
“Pasta intake was observed as being associated with the intake of other important food groups, such as tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and onions,” – foods, which can all be helpful when losing weight.
The true extent of pasta’s weight loss powers will perhaps be revealed by a future study. Until then, feel free to tuck into as much pasta as you like, safe in the knowledge that a plate of spaghetti in and of itself is not going to cause you to balloon. Buon appetito!
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