TESTACCIO Birthplace of Cucina Romano

Posted on 06/06/2016 | About Rome, Italy

The Testaccio district of Rome has been a foodie neighbourhood since ancient times. Their Emporium (square dedicated to the sale of food) is where at least 90 percent of all produce was imported into Rome. At the time they used amphora (clay pots) to contain liquids and there is literally a mountain of terracotta amphora fragments, the 45-metre-tall Mount Testaccio, beside the former Emporium. Needless to say this is a fascinating area for food lovers to explore.

Located between the Tiber river and the Aurelian Walls, south-east to Circus Maximus, this former working class area has been able to maintain its authentic Roman spirit and of course its close connection to food. While the slaughterhouse buildings have been turned into an art museum (MACRO Contemporary Art Museum of Rome), music school, architecture school and other cultural institutions, the tradition of the eateries and Roman food is well preserved.

Even that mountain of clay trash that spans a city block, has restaurants dug into it. On my Taste of Testaccio Food Tour with Eating Italy we stopped for pasta at one, Flavio al Velavevodetto. They served up the hat trick of classic Roman pasta: carbonara, cacio e pepe and amatriciana.

This eating tour had some unusual stops which made sense since we were in Testaccio. One was to the Non-Catholic Cemetery in Rome. Near to Porta San Paolo, its backdrop is part of the Aurelian Walls and the Pyramid of Cestius, a unique monument dating to approximately 12 B.C. English poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley, the son of Goethe, Antonio Gramsci (the Italian political philosopher) and the Russian painter Karl Bryullov are all buried here.

The visit was both fascinating and helpful to walk off what we had been consuming on the tour. We had pizza margherita by the slice (al taglio) at Volpetti Più, 24 month old Parmigiano-Reggiano, truffled pecorino and salami served with Barolo wine at Volpetti and incredible pastries and chocolates at Barberini.

The Romans often make a breakfast of cornetto and coffee. A cornetto “little horn” is a melt-in-your-mouth croissant-like flaky pastry which can be stuffed as in cornetto alla crema (with custard), alla marmellata (with jam or marmalade), al miele (with honey) or al cioccolato (with Nutella). Barberini’s are sinfully delicious and irresistible as are their chocolate cups filled with tiramisu.

After the cemetery we went to the new Testaccio Market. The old market was a collection of shacks in Testaccio Square (the former Emporium) but moved in 2012 to a spanking new building that’s clean and sanitized. What it lacks in atmosphere is made up for by the vendors (most who moved over from the old place). Most often a stall is manned by the same family for generations and they are experts in what they sell.

We tried bombetta (baked pork neck with pecorino cheese) and beer at Food Box which specializes in the street food of Puglia, and elsewhere buffalo mozzarella made into a caprese salad with tomatoes and green basil, and fresh baked bread which we made into bruschetta by rubbing raw garlic over a bread slice, dousing it with olive oil and adding fresh tomato and basil.

In Roman cuisine quinto quarto (the "fifth quarter") is the offal of butchered animals. Offal amounts to about a fourth of the weight of a carcass and is as much a part of Roman cooking as the meat of the beast. In the past slaughterhouse workers were partly paid with the offal so innards are very important to an area such as Testaccio. While I saw lots for sale in the market, Eating Italy was squeamish to serve it to us tourists.

I had to wait until I went on my own to Tullio, a famous family restaurant from the 1950’s near the centrally located Piazza Barberini. There I had brains in a garlicy butter sauce. It was over-the-top rich and more brains than I could handle. I could see the appeal to Romans but also understand the decision of the foodie tour company to leave us on our own to discover offal.

Instead on the tour we went on to sample the traditional Roman snack food, supplì (rice ball filled with meat and mozzarella) at Trapizzino and ended with gelato at Giolitti which has been serving the neighbourhood great iced desserts since 1914.

In between we had stopped at a nasione. In 98 AD the roman consul was first termed as guardian of the city’s water supply and from then on providing water to its people has been part of Rome’s job. In modern day Rome you can find around 2,500 public fountains which are called nasoni (big noses). These fountains contain clean water that is safe for drinking: the same water that comes out of the taps in the homes.

There’s a small hole at the top of the nose shaped spout. Plug the end of the spout with the palm of your hand and water will shoot upwards out of this hole in a perfect drinking arch. Only in Rome. And this is free for all.