A Street Food Stroll in Rome with Eleonora

At the end of our recent trip to Italy, FHFB and I spent a couple of days in Rome.  When we first visited Rome many years ago we found it to be very much like any large city - large, busy, noisy and unfamiliar.  Since then we have figured out that in order to understand Rome, like any large city, we needed to learn about and understand the different areas of the city.  For example, the area around the Pantheon or the area around the Piazza Navona.  I'm sure that each of these city sections have their own name.
 

A new part of Rome (for us) was introduced to us by Eleonora from aglio, olio e peperoncino.  She also writes a blog called Roma Every Day.  I've become a follower of aglio, olio e peperoncino and blogging friends with Eleonora since last year. 

Eleonora and  Frog Hollow Farm Girl eating chocolate!!!

Check out Eleonora's blog - it is chock full of delicious Italian recipes, and all things Italian.  I

t's always a delight for me to read and it makes me long for Italy!

Farmer's Market at Campo di Fiori. 

(This link tells you about many of the piazza's in Rome)

 

Our afternoon with Eleonora consisted of a Street Food Stroll.  Now, if you have been a follower of Frog Hollow Farm Girl for a while, you know that FHFB and I love to cook and to eat - and especially in Italy! 

Eleonora describes the Street Food Stroll as follows:

Street Food Stroll

If your idea of delving into a culture is to tune into the city's most cherished food traditions, this is the walk for you. Our leisurely stroll and sample tastings include tavola calda fare, portable goodies, ancient chocolatier confections, fried treats, pizza sold by weight, plus artisan pastries, gelato and grattachecca.

We had a wonderful time.  Here are some pictures from the afternoon as we strolled through Rome.  There aren't many pictures because we were too busy talking and eating!!! LOL

 

Shopping in Campo di Fiori with Eleonora.

Here I am learning how to drink out of a Roman water fountain. 

When you press and stop the water that you see running from the spout at the bottom of the picture, the water spurts up from the top.  I believe that this water comes from the original aquaducts but I'm not absolutely sure.

The chocolate shop!

We have a delightful afternoon and learned about a new section of Rome called the Jewish Ghetto, not far from the Campo di Fiori.  This is a very historical and solemn portion of the city - you can check out this link to learn more.  Of course there was food connected with the Jewish Ghetto, and the most famous dish to try to get is the deep fried artichoke. Now, we never did get back to the restaurant for that artichoke, and I'm disappointed that I didn't push myself a little more and get back when the restaurant opened, it  wasn't far from our hotel.
Next time, DEFINITELY!!!!

Eleonora was a wonderful guide - we so enjoyed our time with her and would recommend trying one of her culinary tours if you happen to have a few hours in Rome.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll be linking in to Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper!

Ciao, bella!

xxoo

 

Panicale

During our April trip to Italy, we did three things that we had never done before.  The first thing was that we took a cooking class with Sharon Oddson - my last few blogs describe all of the recipes and have some yummy looking photos to go along with them.  The second thing that we did was taking the train from Florence to visit FHFB's cousin Mario and wife Pam at their wonderful little farm right outside of the wonderful little town of Panicale, Umbria, about 90 minutes outside of the city of Florence.  I think that I'm overusing the word 'wonderful', sorry!

Isn't this just heaven???

Here's a photo of my son, Pam, Mario and FHFB on the brick patio, where we sat and ate a delicious meal and drank local wine most of the afternoon. 

I think I'll just post the photos with short explanations - the photos just bring me back to that very wondeful day!

When we arrived (Mario picked us up at the train station) Pam  had a wonderful table full of delicious Italian specialties for us to try.  You can see the one bottle of local red wine labeled 'B'.

Mario built his own outside pizza oven and stone grill - don't these little chops look delicious and so rustic?

Believe it or not, we do other things besides eating!  After we sat and ate for a few hours, Mario took FHFB and my son to his neighbor's home to fill up on their homemade wine.  Pam and I stayed behind and had some time to get to know each other - it was the first time I had met her and she is a fascinating and intelligent lady.  I loved hearing about her life.

The next three pictures show the process of getting the wine from the large oak wine barrel into what looks like a white plastic bucket.

Here's the next step, pouring the wine from the white bucket into Mario's large glass wine container using the biggest funnel I have ever seen. 

And here's the wonderful container that Mario has for the trip home in the back seat of his car...

So, after the wine delivery, Mario took us on a walk through his property.  The most amazing thing that I saw (and there were many amazing things to see!) were the artichokes growing in his garden.  When we were in Florence artichokes were all over the vegetable markets - they were in season and just delicious and beautiful to see in huge piles.  Have you ever seen them grow?

Aren't they they gorgeous??

You know, as I'm putting this blog post together I'm missing Panicale so much.  It was such a lovely day.  Here are some more photos just to enjoy and dream with:

Walking through the woods, Mario showed us where the wild boar forrage for acorns. 

Wild cyclamen also grow in the underbrush.

An olive grove on one side of Mario and Pam's property.  I think the olive trees closer to the bottom of the photo belong to Mario and Pam.

A view of the front of the farmhouse and the patio where we sat and enjoyed a delicous meal with wonderful people.

My son and I enjoying the wine - this was bottle 'A'!

It was hard to leave this very tranquil and lovely home. 

Mario and Pam are wonderful hosts and very lucky people. 

They love their home and property so much and it shows in every nook and cranny.

Thank you both so much for making such a wonderful memory for all of us!

My next post will be about the third new experience we had during our trip - a street stroll in Rome with Eleonora from aglio, alio e peperoncino. 

I'll be linking to Seasonal Sundays at The Tablescaper and Foodie Friday and Alphabet Thursday!!

Ciao, bella!

xxoo