Wretched Excess

 THESE ARE SOME PICTURES FROM LAST SATURDAY'S FOOD TOUR.  (I have not quite got the handle on making this blog look creative, so bear with me...the descriptions will be over or under the photos :-) and my coments, mostly at the end)

Real tirimisu.  We had to eat them early because this place closes before our scheduled dessert at 2:30. We suffered through it.  Haha

 The number one rated cornetto-the traditional Roman breakfast.  Umm, can you say, "BUTTER"?

 Look at those tiny, beautiful wild strawberries on top of this fresh ricotta cheesecake.  We are going back.  Who can guess the cost?

 Pizza next door to Volpetti's.  U-N-R-E-A-L.  Picked as third best in all Rome out of 5800 competitors.  We don't have the name. Darn.  But we know exactly the location.  Heading there this weekend with Dad and G!!!

 Luna, our guide, about to dole out salami with truffles.  Who knew?! Yum!!!

 Take a look at the luscious assortment at Volpettis...

 Baby mozzarella pacifiers.  Too funny.

 We bought a few.  Not.  Look at the cost!!!!!

 This is the new (and somewhat controversial) Testaccio Market. Below.

 The cannoli Queen.

 Perfect carbonnara at Flavio al Velavevodetto.  We ate our first Cacio e Pepe which we tried to recreate yesterday.  This restaurant ROCKS!  Itis built into Monte Testaccio, formed by the terracotta pieces that we put there for centuries from old olive oil containers.  The builings that are built into the hill have a cool temperature all year round.  And they look really "cool" inside too.

 This is the marvelous beef SUPPLI!!!! Observe G's face.  Can you tell how delicious it is???

Keeping this "journal of sorts" of my time in beautiful Roma is a work in progress, for sure!  I'm learning a lot as I go.  Like you can click on all the pictures you want to import and not select them one at a time-duh!? That is great because the time waiting was killing my motivation.  Add to that, keeping up everyday is key.  Backlogging and trying to get to it at the end of another 4 hour evening stroll around the city is just not gonna happen.  That is the time for a cool glass of roscato fizzante.  So here I am with a ton of photos and lots to say and I have to move on to what I am doing TODAY!  I mean it looks like I am here in Rome and I have not seen a single church and we all know that is not true!!

So step back with me to last Saturday and one of the top 10 days on any trip in my life heretofore.  G and I headed off on the Metro to Testaccio on the Aventine Hill, my hands down favorite neighborhood.  We were meeting up bright and early with a tour (I know, I never do tours...) called Eating Italy (www.EatingItalyFoodTours.com-just go there and read all about it and that will save me a bunch of time describing!!)  We got off at the Pyramid and walked to Piazza Testaccio and met our darling guide, Luna!  (Tiny, despite being an expert "foodie, Australian, and knows her stuff and loves her adopted home!)  We can't say enough good things about this tour-9:30-2:30 of non-stop eating and learning.  What a way to go.  Cornetti to gelato, we ate everything.  I'm just going to tell you some highlights and some fun facts:

Tirimisu in itty, bitty chocolate teacups-too cute and delicious.  We ate it first thing with a #1 rated cornetto (yes, it tasted better!).  It was not too sweet despite being so early in the day.  Real Italian tirimisu has no liquor, just expresso soaked sponge cake and the marcapone cream is barely sweet.  Really luscious.

Testaccio was, in Roman times, a huge river wharf.  It had 1 million inhabitants and the largest slaughterhouse in Europe.  The size of 17 football fields lined up!  That's a lot of smelly cattle and blood.  Yuck.
That is why so many Roman dishes use all those normally "thrown away" parts of the animal-like tripe!

Pizza is originally Siscillian.  It was 1905 that pizza left Italy.  The first "remote" pizzaria was in New York City.  Pizza Napolitano is thicker, kneaded.   Roman pizza developed post WWII because flour was so scarce that they needed to roll out the dough very thinly.  Pizza a fondo is cooked in a wood fueled oven, pizza a taglio (what most pizza places have for eating on the street) is cooked in a gas oven.
Pizza Margherita, the quintessencial pizza, was created June, 1889 for Queen Margarita.  The ingredients are the same colors as the Italian flag!

Giolitti's has more than one branch!  Yea.  Glad to know that fact.  The one in Testaccio is the original and their whipped cream maker dates from the 1930's.  The panna is awesome.  And ya know, a big cone of gelato does need a mess of cream on top.  It's traditional so one must comply.

Cannoli really are one of the best foods on the planet.  Look for bakers that have Siscilian grandmothers.  There is one in the new Testaccio Market.  OMG.

Suppli Genovase at 00100 Pizza.  Indescribeably good.  Just go.  Via Giovanni Branca, 88.  Big risotto balls fried with meat and stuff in them.  Lots of flavors, we only had one and at the end of our tour, after salami, tirimisu, cornetti, parmesano, pizza, bruschetta, DELICIOUS pasta, cannoli and on the way to gelato.  And still, this is what we want to eat again!!!!  So. Very. Memorable.

That is our food tour experience.  We are going back this weekend on our own to rediscover, buy and show Grandpa the delicacies of Testaccio.  The diet begins today in anticipation.  Not really.