LOCALS’ ROME
The day off
In southern Rome rises Monte Testaccio, a hill that in
ancient times was a dumping ground for amphorae:
clay vessels used to transport oil and wine. Centuries
later, the liquids are still a dining-table fixture in this
working-class district, a stronghold of traditional
Roman cooking. Built into the mound itself,
restaurant Flavio al Velavevodetto has a glass wall to
show the stacked terracotta fragments. ‘It’s special to
have a meal in this historic setting, but primarily I
come for the food,’ says Elizabeth. ‘Flavio, the owner,
has taken humble Roman cuisine – simple meats and
seasonal vegetables – and elevated it. He’s meticulous
about his ingredients.’ Her favourite dish is the tender
lamb chops, with their crispy breadcrumb crust. It is
made inside Flavio’s hellishly hot kitchen, where half
a dozen chefs toss pasta and stir enormous pots. In
the adjacent dining room businessmen loosen their
belts to tuck into steaming bowls of pasta; the rich,
oaky smell of pecorino wafting invitingly.
Nearby is another favourite, covered Testaccio
Market, where sunshine leaks in through skylights.
Here, a stall is loaded with still-warm flatbreads the
size of a small child, while across the aisle peaches
spill from their crates. ‘This is still very much a
neighbourhood market,’ she says. ‘You see women
in house dresses, filling carts with vegetables, and
nonnas with their grandchildren.’ Elizabeth says the
city’s traditionalism has been part of its appeal. ‘For
years, Rome was charmingly stagnant,’ she explains.
‘But now people are trying new things.’ She cites the
recently-opened stall Mordi & Vai, where butcher
Sergio Esposito uses 40 years of experience to select
choice cuts for his braised beef paninis. ‘He’s turning
restaurant dishes into affordable sandwiches.’
Some places are worth going to precisely because
they’ve stayed the same. Sora Margherita, in the Jewish
Ghetto, began as a no-frills workers’ canteen and still
serves up traditional dishes, such as meatballs in
tomato sauce, without fanfare. A braided red curtain
masks the entrance, and today’s menu is scrawled on
brown paper in felt-tip. Still, by noon, customers are
elbow-to-elbow, ordering the house special: carciofo
alla giudia, deep-fried artichokes that look like
golden flowers. ‘There were lots of places like this in
the ’70s but almost all turned into something fancier,’
says Elizabeth, who makes reservations here in the
morning, in person, so she can watch the pasta being
made from scratch, as it has been for years. When the
food’s this good, there’s no need to change.
O ristorantevelavevodetto.it; Via di Monte Testaccio 97;
mains from US$11.50
O mordievai.com; Mercato Testaccio, Via B Franklin 12/E;
paninis from US$4.30
Osoramargherita.com; Via del Forno 11; mains from US$13The day job
Elizabeth Minchilli has an enduring love affair with Italian cuisine. She’s
lived in Rome on and off since she was 12, and permanently since 1988,
after meeting her husband Domenico. Having authored six books as well
as the Eat Italy app, she continues to share her encyclopaedic knowledge
of Italian cuisine through her blog, and for the last five years has also run
private food tours. On these day-long culinary ambles through Roman
neighbourhoods, she stops at market stalls, delis and artisanal producers,
revealing where to sample creamy mozzarella, sausages flavoured with
truffles, the city’s best pizza bianca and other secrets.
‘I love what I do because it gives me a chance to show people my city
in a way that’s not so obvious,’ she says. ‘Going to a market or behind the
scenes at a butcher can tell you as much about Rome as a visit to St Peter’s.
What people are eating, how they are eating it and why can give you
insights into such diverse topics as history, economics, cultural and social
norms, religion and family structure.
‘Pick up a vegetable in a market,’ says Elizabeth, ‘and all of sudden you
are surrounded by different people telling you about how you should cook
it. Listen carefully and you come away with not just a recipe, but an
insight into a way of life that you might otherwise have missed.’
Oelizabethminchilliinrome.com‘GOING TO A MARKET
CAN TELL YOU AS MUCH
ABOUT ROME AS A VISIT
TO ST PETER’S’
ELIZABETH MINCHILLI FOOD BLOGGER