I’ve said it before, I am unable to consider a greater method to start a visit than with a foodie tour, and Rome is in no way an exception. So, as soon as I landed in Rome, I took my very own advice and went on to the meeting point Roman Food Tour within the Trionfale district. Read on to search out out why you mustn’t miss a food tour in Rome and why I selected this one.
Roman food tour
Searching for the perfect food tours in Rome I got here across Roman Food Tour website and I used to be drawn to their foodie tours of Rome’s neighborhoods. It’s at all times good to get out of the important tourist areas and discover little treasures that only locals find out about.
About eating in Rome
Or should I say food in Italy? Food is such a giant a part of Italian culture and social life! People love going out for lunch or dinner, meeting friends for an aperitivo or simply having a chat with the bartender while sipping their morning coffee. Sunday dinners are a chance to assemble the entire family on the table. Visitors crave Italian food, but as a rule they fall into tourist traps, eating mediocre stuff as a substitute of the perfect, authentic food.
Food tour in Rome might be each a foodie and a cultural experience. You will find out about typical dishes and their history, where the ingredients come from and find out how to select a very good wine within the supermarket. This is all helpful information to maintain you well fed throughout your journey. You will learn what to eat in Rome and where.
Moreover, it’s possible you’ll forget among the beautiful things you will note in museums, but you might be talking concerning the food tour you took in Rome for a very long time!
A step-by-step foodie tour of Rome
The meeting point for our Taste of Trionfale food tour was La Pasticceria Siciliana. I do know, didn’t we speak about typical Roman food? Well, the reality is that Romans, like most Italians, prefer something sweet with their morning coffee. It’s often value trying a Sicilian style patisserie wherever you’re on this planet.
We met our guide, Lukrecja, outside the cafe and sat down at a reserved table on the terrace. Having a coffee on the terrace in December is reason enough to book a flight to Rome, right? I enjoy these small group tours especially when traveling alone as it is easy to seek advice from and feel included.
First stop – Italian breakfast
We began the tasting series with coffee and cannoli of our alternative. We went inside to look at our server fill the cannoli with ricotta cream. One vital tip I’ve discovered is rarely buy pre-filled cannolas. The ricotta cream will make the cannoli soggy. Always select a spot where they stuff them on the spot to enjoy their crunchy texture.
Lucretia, a Milanese who moved to Rome, was obsessed with Italian food and flavors. She also taught us some coffee rules in Italy.
Pizza al taglio
Our second stop was for pizza, but not Roman style pizza pizza al taglio. Pizza slices are the road food of the Romans at any time. Perfect for breakfast, lunch, as a snack or late dinner if needed. They cut the pizza with scissors and weigh it. You can eat one among the most affordable snacks in Italy or some of the expensive street food in case you select a spot next to the Trevi Fountain.
Anyway, we stopped at Bonci Pizzarium, probably the greatest sliced pizza places in Rome and beyond. Gabriele Bonci’s pizza has turn into so famous that there may be at all times a line outside his first shop in Trionfale.
They served pizza on a regular basis with plenty of different toppings so it’s hard to get tired of it. We had three various kinds of pizza and a side dish.
Supplì are deep fried balls made from rice and tomato sauce. They are a typical Roman snack, you can even find them with a cheese and pepper or meat filling.
We selected potatoes, lard and salad (mainly kale) for the pizza. This shouldn’t be your typical pizza, right? That’s what beauty is. You can try different flavors and select your favourite. I gave up lard because I finished eating meat a while ago, but I loved the opposite two. For some reason, I never thought I could have potatoes as a pizza topping, but it surely works.
The third stop of a foodie tour of Rome
After pizza we went to La Nicchia cafe. La Nicchia is a spot you’ll be able to never discover on your individual. It’s tucked away in a residential area where few tourists ever pass by. We were the one customers because it was before noon and our table was already set with the tasting platter. Licorice guided us through the tasting, explaining each bite, its origins and place in Roman cuisine or greater Italian cuisine. We had the artichoke which is extremely popular in Rome but often not many tourists taste it.
We then learned to understand the difference between green pesto and red pesto, and the impact of only one ingredient that sets them apart. Then cheeses and truffle honey, white truffle and Parmesan cream, and eventually black truffle. We were also spoiled to try the 30 12 months old balsamic vinegar and a few of the perfect prosecco I’ve ever had. La Nicchia can also be a gourmet shop where you’ll be able to buy all these delicacies to take home.
Trionfale Market – the guts of the foodie district
The reason I selected this food tour in Rome was due to Trionfale Market. I actually have visited several other food markets in Rome and elsewhere in Italy and it’s at all times an awesome foodie experience. However, the Trionfale Market is off the tourist trail. This is where locals come to do their every day shopping and you will discover all the pieces from fresh fruit and vegetables to fish, meat, fresh pasta or bread. It’s a foodie’s paradise.
The Roman Food Tour has three tastings out there. We began with the Caprese, made with fresh mozzarella and drizzled with olive oil. Then we tried Melanzana alla parmigiana (roasted eggplant with Parmesan, a Sicilian dish that they only cook on special occasions). We also tried two kinds of local wine: white Vermentino and red – Cesanese. These are typical unpretentious wines that Italians buy with their on a regular basis meals.
Lunch with Roman Food Tour
And so we arrived on the last stop of the tour, a good restaurant near Trionfale Market. If you’re thinking that you have already eaten an excessive amount of food to sit down down for lunch, you are not unsuitable. If you’re happening this trip, come hungry and leave some room for that last spot.
We had a alternative of a pasta dish: Amatriciana or Carbonara, typical Roman Pasta or Gnocchi Quattro Formaggi. I could not finish the gnocchi because there was still a surprise waiting for us, Tiramisu. You cannot say no to Tiramisu in Rome, right?
Useful information
The tour takes about 4 hours and although there may be some walking involved, the distances are quite short. The meeting point is near Cipro Metro Station on Line A. The last stop is closer to Ottaviano Metro Station. Click on the link for useful tips about public transport in Rome.
You might be lower than 1 km from the Vatican partitions at any point throughout the tour. However, I like to recommend planning a lightweight remainder of the day. I do not think you must visit the Vatican in spite of everything that food.
Reservation options
You can book a morning gourmet tour within the Trionfale area here. The Roman Food Tour has another fun food tours value seeing:
– A Sunset Food Tour in Trastevere can be my next alternative
– A Night food tourfor those of you preferring to have mornings free for sightseeing
Final thoughts
A visit to Rome has probably been in your to-do list for some time. When you finally book this tour, take into consideration greater than just ticking off Rome’s top tourist attractions. Find a method to organize your trip, for instance, go on a food tour pasta classfind Rome’s non-tourism attractions and create an itinerary that most accurately fits what you are really excited by.
