Roma Part II

Besides pasta, what else is there to talk about when it comes to the eats of Italy? There's gelato, coffee, pizza, and meat...obviously. So let’s go in that order.

Gelato from Giolitti

Giolitti is an institution. It was founded in 1890 and even on a freezing January day, there can still be line stretching from the gelato counter across the expansive displays of confectionary goods all the way to the door. They also have the largest selection of gelato flavors we saw anywhere in Italy. V said and I quote that the pear flavor was even better than Capogiro’s. That is indeed a Big Deal. 

Left Flavors: Pear & Coffee. The coffee actually tasted like real coffee: bitter & refreshing. 

Right Flavors: Pistachio & Stracciatella. The pistachio even had real chunks of pistachio, finally! Italy is the only place where you can get pistachio flavor that doesn’t look like it resulted from a science experiment. 

Coffee from Sant' Eustachio II Caffe

This place is also an institution, hence why I am also blogging about it because while the cappuccino was spectacular, just about every cappuccino we had in Italy was spectacular. This is the reason why Starbucks doesn’t exist in Italy and I love it.

Creamy cappuccinos with perfectly foamed milk. 

Pizza from Forno at Campo Fiori

Remember when I said Rome is known for pizza? Obviously, we weren’t going to neglect this food group so we set out for the most famous Forno (aka oven) in Rome.  Of course, we technically got pizzas from the wrong Forno since these were more like flatbreads and the Forno (owned by the same people) around the corner was the place that served the actual fresh pizza. They literally disappeared in seconds as each pizza that came out of the oven was immediately cut up and placed into eagerly awaiting hands. You weren’t even allowed to choose which pizza you wanted since they went so fast. We got a classic margherita but the mozzarella on it was heavenly. 

What we bought from the "other" Forno:
Parma Ham & Cheese
Potato with Herbs
Wild Mushrooms

Porchetta (pronounced with a k instead of ch)

Porchetta has redefined pork for me. Just take a look at it and you can see why. Its a boneless piece of pork that is moist, seasoned perfectly and possesses just the right amount of fat. I think we had about 5 porchetta sandwiches each over the course of our trip.

We bought some from this vendor at the Camp Fiori market to have ourselves a little picnic. 

Coming up: Venice & Milan and I'll talk about the beauty of the aperitivo.