Food file: Rome

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This was published 12 years ago

Food file: Rome

Alfresco with gusto ... diners outside Rome's Pantheon Temple.

Alfresco with gusto ... diners outside Rome's Pantheon Temple.Credit: AFP

In a city of churches, Ute Junker finds plenty of culinary temples at which to worship.

Favourite flavours

Rome is the papal city but it's the city's Jewish population that has had a lasting impact on its cuisine. Rome's Jews were traditionally among the poorest people in the city and their inventive recipes using simple ingredients have been adopted city-wide. Fried whole artichoke (carciofi alla giudia) is a must-try: it looks like a deep-fried chrysanthemum and the crisp exterior contrasts beautifully with the creamy interior. Try it at Da Giggetto or Piperno.

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The local drop

There's nothing nicer than an evening spent tucked in one of Rome's cosy wine bars and Cul de Sac (73 Piazza Pasquino, +39 06 6880 1094), just around the corner from Piazza Navona, is one of the oldest. Arrive early to grab an outside table and take your pick from an extraordinary range of both old- and new-world wines.

Top tables

Every city should have a restaurant like Antico Arco (7 Piazzale Aurelio, Gianicolo, +39 06 581 5274, anticoarco.it): a cosy place that serves inventive yet easy-to-eat meals. There's plenty of game on the menu but lots of herbs and vegetables keep things light.

Ask local foodies where to find the best seafood and they'll point you to Quinzi & Gabrieli (Via delle Coppelle 5-6, +39 06 687 9389). The menu ranges from fish to octopus and sea urchin, with an emphasis on raw seafood. The service can be hit-and-miss but the food is worth it.

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They say that if you wait long enough, everything comes back into fashion and the menu at Checchino dal 1887 (Via di Monte Testaccio 30, +39 06 574 3816) suggests that's true. The restaurant specialises in offal, once the staple food of the poor, now considered authentic Roman cuisine.

If you can stomach the thought of rigatoni con pajata (pasta with small intestines) or fagioli e cotiche (beans with intestinal fat), no one does it better.

Budget bite

About $20 for a multi-course meal? It's hard to believe but somehow Ristorante del Pallaro (Largo del Pallaro 15, +39 06 6880 1488) manages to keep delivering fine food at bargain-basement prices. There's no menu: you eat what you're served. When that includes antipasti, delicious home-made pasta, a simple main dish such as roast veal and dessert - with a half-litre of house wine thrown in - who are we to complain?

Special night

Romans are in love with tradition. The flip side: they're slow to innovate. Cristina Bowerman, the spiky-haired chef at Glass Hostaria (Vicolo de' Cinque 58, +39 06 5833 5903, glassrestaurant .it) is an exception. Her restaurant's chic industrial interiors and fusion cuisine - think pistachio-crusted scallops and pork belly served with jasmine rice, white chocolate and candied capers - make her stand out from the crowd, as does her Michelin star.

Locals love

Spaghetti carbonara is considered a classic Roman dish; aficionados will debate for hours about how much pecorino cheese and what sort of pepper should be used. What they do agree on is that Da Giggetto (Via Alessandria 43, +39 06 841 2527, giggettoilredellapizza.it) has one of the best carbonaras in town.

Don't leave without trying

You haven't had gelato until you've tried it at one of Rome's artisan gelaterie. Il Gelato di San Crispino (42 Via della Panetteria, Trevi, +39 06 679 3924, ilgelatodisan crispino.it) is famous for the quality of its ingredients, while at Al Settimo Gelo (21a Via Vodice, Prati, +39 06 372 5567), unusual flavours include cinnamon and ginger as well as chilli chocolate.

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