Gelato in Rome

Gelateria San Crispino

This is the sixth post in the Spontaneous Weekend Trip to Rome Series. Other posts in this series include: Dal Paino Pizzeria in Rome, Etabli, Il Convivio,Ciuri Ciuri Pasticceria Gelateria Siciliana, and Sant'Eustachio Il Caffe

Gelato.

The word is almost synonymous with Italy. Virtually every person who gave me advice about Italy told me to definitely eat lots of gelato. Seems like it wasn't unusual for my traveling friends to get multiple scoops of gelato a day while in Italy!

Italians are obsessed with their gelato. Italy is the only country in the world where the market share for handmade gelato outnumbers that of industrial gelato. This is why gelato is so good in Italy. Virtually every shop you see is handmaking their own artisanal version of the stuff.

For some reason, many of the best gelato shops seem to be concentrated around the Pantheon, which is great for tourists since the Pantheon itself is definitely a must-visit, and is conveniently located near many other sites.

Alas since I only had a weekend in Rome (and I was already eating so much other stuff), I only managed to fit in three gelato places. Yes, I know, weak right? Most people are eating 2-3 gelatos a day!

So, even though it's nowhere near a comprehensive review of the best gelato places, I did manage to hit at least one supposed "must-try" as well as a couple other fun ones.

Tres Scalini is a gelato shop in Piazza Navona that boasts being the inventor of the luscious chocolate dessert, tartufo, a ball of rich, dark chocolate gelato accompanied with dark chocolate pieces and a cherry in the center. The shopkeeper gave me a sample of the dark chocolate gelato to try, which was mind-blowingly good. It was intensely dark, rich, and easily the best chocolate gelato I'd ever had.

Alas we stopped by here right after a crazy huge meal, so I did not think I could fit an entire tartufo in my stomach (yes, I know, weak!). Instead, I ordered a scoop of their yogurt flavored gelato, (seemingly much lighter) which was quite good, though it was nothing compared to the dark chocolate tartufo gelato.

Definitely order the tartufo if you come here here (or at least the deep chocolate gelato that they use to make it!).

Piazza Navona has several gelato shops, and we tried the one right next door to Tres Scalini our first full day in Rome. Unfortunately I did not write down the name of the place (does anyone know?), but I believe it was to the left of Tres Scalini in Piazza Navona.

Anyway, the owner at this place was passionate about his gelato, telling customers (in English) that he used the finest ingredients and you wouldn't find a better gelato around.

I do agree that I liked the texture of the gelato here better than the yogurt gelato at Tres Scalini, which I found just a tad chalky for some odd reason.

If you want to save money, order the gelato at the counter and just walk around the square with it. It will cost you about 2.5 Euros for that. Getting the same product via table service at one of outside seats will cost you about double (although then you have guaranteed seating in Piazza Navona, which is also pretty valuable - so perhaps it's a toss up?)

In any event, definitely spend at least a little time in Piazza Navona to people-watch while feasting on dessert.

If you just do a tiny bit of research, you will soon see Il Gelato di San Crispino pops up over and over again as people's favorite gelateria in Rome. They use high quality ingredients, make the gelato in small batches, and serve up intensely authentic flavors.

They are sort of food Nazis, only offering gelato in cups (I guess cones interfere with the enjoyment of the pure gelato?), and refusing to mix certain flavors if they think the flavors don't go well together. Unlike the friendly shopkeepers in Piazza Navona who happily handed out samples and spoke to customers about their gelato, the sole shopkeeper at San Crispino was reserved and mute, silently handing me my cup of gelato before shutting down the store.

It's quite expensive too. My tiny, tiny little micro cup of gelato (about 1/4 the size of the "smalls" at other places) cost me a pretty three Euros.

Although I only tried one flavor, I agreed that it was the best of the bunch. The flavor is clean, pure, and very real.

We stopped by here just shy of midnight on our walk back (in the rain!) from the Trastevere area. I was lucky to catch the gelateria before it closed.

I would definitely come back again to try more flavors, as I've heard their fruit-flavored gelato are absolutely fantastic. Just keep in mind you are paying for quality, not quantity here.

Bottom line - you won't get better gelato anywhere else in the world, so definitely, definitely try as many as you can while you're in Rome. You probably can't go too wrong no matter where you go, but I think it's worth at least doing some research and trying a few really good places.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Lime & Cilantro

I guess I'm still a grill noob, excited by the prospect of trying to grill anything.

We've had tons of fun grilling all sorts of stuff our year in the new home. We've grilled vegetables, like asparagus, zucchini, and eggplant. We've even tried fruit, such as pineapples (Bryan's favorite) and peaches (served with ice cream on top, yum!).  We've done entire salmon filets many times (one of our favorites!) and various steaks on a semi-regular basis.

For some odd reason, one day I thought it might be fun to try grilling potatoes.

Can you even grill a potato? I'd never heard of anyone grilling potatoes. I don't think I'd ever had it at a restaurant.

Perhaps the closest thing I'd had was tin-foil wrapped potatoes (not unlike Bryan's family's famous tin-foil chicken) thrown into a fire during a camping trip.

Thankfully, the internet is full of answers. I found a great, simple Bobby Flay recipe for grilled sweet potatoes, kicked up with lime, cayenne pepper, and cilantro.

Bryan loves cilantro and basically is a huge fan of anything Bobby Flay makes, so I was pretty confident this would be a winner.

Sweet potatoes are a bit tricky to grill. You need to pre-cook the potatoes. Bobby Flay suggests boiling the potatoes until they become soft. To save time, I microwaved mine instead for about 5-6 minutes.  Note - don't forget to poke holes in the sweet potato with a fork before microwaving. Otherwise, the steam created inside will cause the potato to explode! I learned this the hard way in my toaster oven in college!

You don't want to overcook the potatoes. If they become too mushy, they become far too floppy and delicate for the grill.

While microwaving (or boiling), prepare your topping by mixing together fresh lime zest, cayenne pepper, and salt. Chop up some cilantro on the side.
 
Once the potatoes are cooked. Slice them into evenly thick pieces (mine were about half an inch) or cut wedges. Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

Grill for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. 

Season with the salt mixture and top with chopped cilantro.

Enjoy!


Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Lime & Cilantro
recipe from Bobby Flay, with tweaks in the method by me

Ingredients
3 sweet potatoes, unpeeled
Kosher salt
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
Pinch of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
Freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

Parcook or microwave sweet potatoes (remember to pierce potato skins with a fork if you plan on microwaving!) for about 5-6 minutes, or until mostly cooked but not yet mushy (it's harder to grill when it becomes too floppy!)

Meanwhile, mix 1 tablespoon of salt, lime zest, and cayenne in a small bowl to make the salt mixture.

Cut the potatoes into nice, thick slices or wedges. Brush all sides with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill for about 1 1/2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Season with the salt mixture and top with chopped cilantro.

Serve!

Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé

This is the fifth post in the Spontaneous Weekend Trip to Rome Series. Other posts in this series include: Dal Paino Pizzeria in Rome, Etabli, Il Convivio, and Ciuri Ciuri Pasticceria Gelateria Siciliana

We were desperately running out of time.

Our flight out of Rome was at 1:30 PM in the afternoon. Since it was an international flight, we really needed to get to the airport by around 10:30AM, maybe 11 at the latest if we wanted to risk things.

Yet I really, really wanted to try to visit one last place before leaving this beautiful city.

After some diligent research the night before, I had concluded that Cafe Sant Eustachio near the Pantheon (which, interestingly, is also where many of the best gelato places reside), had the best coffee is Rome.

It was a 25-minute walk away (yes, we walked everywhere), near the Pantheon.

We only had one hour.

"Should we go for it? It's really tight." said Bryan, the organized, always-on-time, gets-stressed-when-we're-late kinda guy.

"Let's go!" I said, the spontaneous, always-running-late, trying-to-squeeze-too-much-out-of-life kind of gal.

And we were off, power-walking like we'd never done before in the quest for incredible coffee.

The process for buying coffee in Italy is a little different than at most places. It's a bit confusing if you don't know what's going on (which we did not!), especially if the place is packed.

First, go to the counter (on the right side of the store) and order what you want. You pay first and they print out a receipt for you.

Then stand in a second line at the coffee bar and wait for a barista to be available. Hand him your paid receipt, and then he makes your drink to order.

The only question they ask is whether you want sugar or not. Apparently one of their signature things is that they put a lop of sugar on the bottom of the cup.

I'm not sure how secret their method is, but it sure seems secret. The whole process is hidden behind this big barrier, so you really can't see what they are doing at all.

If you want to feel like a local, stand at the counter and drink your coffee. It costs less this way, and seems to be the way most Romans enjoy their coffee.

We tried both the signature "Gran Cafe" (a larger espresso) and "Gran Cappuccino" (larger, creamier cappuccino).

Both drinks were excellent, though I couldn't get past the sugar at the bottom. I realize I had a choice when ordering, but there was a part of me that wanted to try the coffee the special way in which they made it. I soon realized I prefer my espresso basically black, and my cappuccino only barely sweetened.

For a souvenir, we purchased a sealed can of Sant Eustachio beans to take back to the US with us. It would be one of the few souvenirs we brought back. 

I definitely plan on grinding these beans and trying to make some espresso at home, sans sugar. 

Can't wait. If nothing else, it will temporarily bring me back to Rome.

Sant’Eustachio Il Caffé
Piazza Sant’Eustachio 
82 00186, Rome, Italy.

Ciuri Ciuri Pasticceria Gelateria Siciliana

This is the fourth post in the Spontaneous Weekend Trip to Rome Series. Other posts in this series include: Dal Paino Pizzeria in Rome, Etabli, and Il Convivio.

Before this trip to Rome, I was woefully ignorant when it came to Italian cuisine.

As a kid, my understanding of Italian food was quite simply spaghetti with red sauce, garlic bread, and pizza from Little Caesar's or Pizza Hut. We loved going to the Olive Garden in high school, viewing it as a special treat (as hungry and poor high school students, I'd always get the bottomless salad and breadsticks! - ahh, such memories).  I still remember trying a caprese salad for the first time in college and thinking that the cheese tasted bland, sort of like tofu.

My exposure to Italian cuisine expanded when I moved to Boston. Various trips to the North End over the years exposed me to authentic Neapolitan-style pizzas, scrumptious homemade pastas, fantastic main entrees, and, of course, delicious Italian desserts from the numerous pastry shops. By far my favorite thing to do in the North End was to enjoy a cup of cappuccino and a super fresh cannoli from Mike's or Modern.

When we arrived in Rome, we soon began to appreciate the various colors of Italian regional cuisine. More specifically, we started to recognize that certain dishes were prevalent all over Rome (e.g., pasta carbonara and grilled artichokes), while other favorites were noticeably difficult to find, including my favorite Italian dessert, the cannoli.

Turns out, cannoli are native to Sicily.

Nevertheless, after some diligent research, I found a cute little bakery that was reported to have fantastic cannoli, possibly among the best in Rome.

Better yet, it was right around the corner from one of the most fascinating sites we saw in Rome.


You might think I'm talking about the Colosseum (which is also definitely a must-see), but I'm actually not.

Welcome to the Basilica di San Clemente, a Roman Catholic church within walking distance of the Colosseum. The church itself is beautiful, though the real interesting part about this church is not what's upstairs, but what's downstairs.

This current church was built on top of a 12th century church, which in turn was built on top of a 4th century pagan temple. What's interesting is that for centuries no one knew any of this until the 19th century, when they accidentally stumbled upon the 12th century church during archaeological excavations. They have since excavated both places. For about five Euros, you can gain access to the bottom two levels. 

Take the stairs down to the first level and explore the surprisingly well-preserved 12th century church, which still contains many intact frescos on the walls dating back to the 9th century.
Walk down another set of dark stairs and enter the remains of the 4th century pagan temple. Walk through a twisting maze of cold, dark tunnels made of ancient stone blocks. It's downright fascinating, and I would highly recommend visiting.

Of course, once you emerge, conveniently head down the street to Ciuri Ciuri, a quaint little Sicilian bakery and gelateria less than a 5-minute walk away.

Cannoli (singular form = cannolo) are from Sicily, the island off the "boot" of Italy. Many believe that cannoli came from the Arabs when they controlled Sicily, citing that the flavors used in making cannoli, such as pistachio powder and candied fruits, clearly have an Islamic origin.

Good cannoli should be light and crispy - not at all greasy. The best cannoli are filled on the spot (to order) with sweetened sheep's milk ricotta cheese.

Ciuri Ciuri offers two different sizes of cannoli. Because we were still so stuffed from our crazy lunch that day, we were thrilled that we had the option of just getting some mini-cannoli.

If I'd had more room, I would have loved to try their gelato. Alas, all we could fit was an espresso and mini-"cannolo" each.

Ciuri Ciuri fills their cannoli to order, which meant we enjoyed two deliciously fresh cannoli.

It was a great place to take a short break (our feet typically start to get very, very tired around mid-afternoon after walking so many miles each day in Rome). The ambiance is super cute, the staff is friendly, and the sweets are great.

I did find that the Sicilian cannoli were a bit sweeter than my preference. Perhaps it's the Asian gene within me, but I don't like desserts that are very sweet. I know that this is probably the authentic way of making it, but if I could, I would have loved for the sugar to be dialed down just a bit.

Thankfully, such minor "issues" can be easily resolved with a nice, strong cup of espresso. In fact, together it worked just about perfectly.

I'd highly recommend stopping by here for a snack, whether you are visiting the Collosseum or Basilica di San Clemente. It's really not a far walk from either one.

Ciuri Ciuri
Closest stop: Colosso
Via Flaminia n. 127/129
40900 Rimini
Tel. (+39) 0541 39.40.59

I am on Pinterest!

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you know that I recently joined Pinterest!

I'm still getting the hang of it, although it's oddly addicting. Initially, I just thought it would be a cool way to try to organize my blog entries visually. I still aim to do that. However, along the way, I started having fun just "pinning" various cool photos of neat stuff I found on the web.

Anyway, feel free to to follow me here if you'd like. :)

Happy pinning!

Il Convivio

This is the third post in the Spontaneous Weekend Trip to Rome Series. Other posts in this series include: Dal Paino Pizzeria in Rome and Etabli.

There's one good general rule of thumb when traveling in Rome. Try to avoid eating right inside the busiest and most popular squares. More often than not, those restaurants are touristy, packed with foreigners, and serve mediocre food.

Instead, walk a few blocks away from the bustling squares. Some of the best restaurants are hidden in random alleyways just off the beaten path.

Il Convivio was the only Michelin starred restaurant we visited in Rome (one star). Italian food is Bryan's favorite cuisine, and he wanted to make sure we ate Italian food every single meal. Some of the fancier restaurants in the city seemed to be more French-like, so we shied away from those.

Similar to most of the good restaurants we tried on this trip, Il Convivio is a few blocks away from Piazza Navona. After walking a several blocks away from Piazza Navona, walk along the right side of this narrow, pink building (pictured above), and then turn into a (seemingly) desolate alley. When in foreign countries, a combination of downloaded maps and the free GPS feature on your smartphone is your friend.

At the end of the lonely street, you stumble upon this lovely little oasis.

People eat really late in Rome. Even though our hotel concierge had told us we had a reservation for 7:30PM, we later learned that the restaurant did not even open until 8PM. We walked around for another 30 minutes before returning to sit down in this warm, cozy space.

The menu is physically huge, though it has a reasonable number of offerings. You can either get the 7-course tasting (which, when compared to the rest of the menu, is a good value at 110 Euros), or order a la carte. Frankly, ordering a la carte is more expensive, although you do get a wider variety of choices.

The dishes on the tasting menu did not appeal to us that day, so we decided to order fewer dishes (aka, not seven courses!) a la carte. We soon realized that our three-course dinner was really going to becoming like a 10-course meal after you include all the little "free" bites that popped up throughout the meal.

We enjoyed a fantastic wine with this meal, an Italian "pinot nero" called Blauburgunder Riserva 2009.

Soon after we ordered, the server took our breath away by setting down this gorgeous tray of amuse bouches. Hardly little bites, these beautiful creations were more like full-on appetizers to whet the palate.

On the top tier, huge deep-fried olives came served alongside a creamy sauce. 

On the bottom tier, we tried light, airy bread topped with homemade butter and fish roe; braised snails ("escargot"); and savory Parmesan ice cream served in a crunchy cracker cup topped with Parmesan tuile and pine nuts. All three were delicious, though I thought the Parmesan ice cream was the most interesting.

Bread service was exquisite, and came with semolina, spelt, whole wheat, milk bread, and focaccia. I've always loved those stick-like crackers that they serve at Italian restaurants (yes, even the pre-packaged ones), so I was thrilled to try their homemade version here.

I specifically told the server I wanted something that wasn't too heavy or huge as a starter. He suggested this lovely smoked amberjack, which was served alongside micro-"rocket" (arugula), baby strawberries, and homemade croutons.

Bryan made no such request, and ended up getting what must have been one of the biggest starters on the menu. He essentially ordered the crudo special, which was really enough food for 2-3 people.

Here they are, close up!
 

From top to bottom, left to right:  tuna tartare with asparagus and carrots, raw shrimp with roasted red pepper and sea salt, calamari with carrots and celery, amberjack with olives & roasted red pepper, amberjack with red pepper flakes and sea salt, scallop with liver sauce and herbs, raw oyster with red onion sorbet, and raw prawn with rocket and strawberries.

Primo (Pastas)

Their fresh, homemade pastas were fantastic. This creative dish had a combination fresh fish roe and dried fish roe tossed with spaghetti. The pasta had fantastic texture (nice and chewy), and the two types of fish eggs gave the dish a deep, rich, almost aged flavor.

We also had fettuccine with Porcini mushrooms and shaved black truffles, which was lighter yet beautifully fragrant with the rich aromas from all the mushrooms.

Secondi (Entrees)

I ordered the deep fried red mullet as my entree. If you're squeamish about seeing a whole fish, you may not want to order this dish. It's an entire fish (gutted) deep fried with the bone (yes, you can eat the crispy bones!). It had a pretty strong, "fishy" taste, which I did not love. Bryan thought it was good (but then he generally is able to enjoy stronger flavors  - e.g., blue cheese, liver, and the like - much more than I can).

We both agreed that it tasted fantastic with the cilantro-chili sauce with which it was served. On the side there were traditional Roman accompaniments, such as grilled artichoke and potatoes, which were pretty ordinary.

Bryan got the gorgeous seafood stew, which had a mix of squid, shellfish, and fish in a really bright flavorful tomato based broth. This dish was executed well, with beautifully rich flavors waiting to be soaked up by many pieces of bread (as well as the croutons already in the dish!).

Time for Sweets

As a "pre-dessert", we enjoyed an unusual smoked tea ice cream served with pizza bianco (white pizza) , salumi, and candied rosemary.
Finally, for dessert we had a nice trio of cheesecake-themed sweets: classic cheesecake with raspberries, cheesecake foam "millefeuille", and  cheesecake ice cream with black cookie crumble. Though they were all pleasant, I think I'll still take a traditional Italian cannoli over these any day.

But it wasn't over yet! They brought over a beautiful assortment of mignardises (or petit fours?) for us to finish off the meal. From top left to right: double chocolate cake, rum gelee, raspberry tart with blueberry, lemon macaron with mint, cannoli with pistachio, and a chocolate-filled macaron. These were all pleasant, though none blew me away [I was also woefully full by this point].

Coffee
Coffee is already fantastic in Rome. Imagine how much better it is when you order their deluxe version! We tried an espresso from Brasile Santos Dulce, one of their deluxe choices (at a hefty 5 Euros a shot!). Despite the high price, the flavor was gorgeously intense, chocolately, smooth, and all around a pleasure to drink.

I had initially chosen not to order an espresso. After taking one sip of Bryan's, I totally decided I wanted a cup too. Bryan ended up ordering a second cup once I decided I wanted one!


Overall, we enjoyed our experience at Il Convivio a lot. The ambiance is really warm and inviting, and the service is excellent. Dress up when you go (most men were wearing sports coats or suits with ties) - you'll feel out of place in jeans. It's definitely a date or celebration type restaurant.

The food is excellent and the kitchen definitely executes some creative dishes using high quality ingredients. Ironically, my favorite dishes were probably the "surprise" ones, such as the Parmesan ice cream or smoked tea ice cream. (OK, maybe I just really like ice cream!) I did really enjoy the pasta dishes, which were among the best we had in Rome. If I had to skip one, I would actually probably skip on the "Secondi" (main entree) part of the meal. Though delicious, they weren't nearly as creative as the rest of the meal.

Even if you don't order dessert, at least try one of their deluxe coffees to enjoy with your mignardises.

Piazza Navona

And do still visit Piazza Navona. It is a gorgeous square vibrantly full of energy and life. It's a great place to enjoy a dessert, relax, and just people-watch. It's unquestionably a must-visit and we returned numerous times during our trip. Just make sure to head away from the main square when it's time for dinner. 

There are just too many other excellent options nearby.

Fresh English Peas with Mint

Is spring almost over?

We've been really spoiled in Boston this year. We had the mildest winter I've ever experienced (I think it snowed once or twice the entire winter?). Since then, we've had this long, drawn-out period with reasonably mild temperatures.

It's June now, yet it still feels refreshingly spring-like outside.

Nevertheless, there are rumblings that the sweltering heat will come soon enough. Perhaps I better share with your my recent spring vegetable escapades before it becomes too late!

I'm a huge, huge fan of fresh English peas. I first tried  fresh peas from a pod at a farmers market in Kendall a couple years ago. The farmer just handed me a pod and showed me how to eat them, raw.

They were so, so good. Fresh, sweet, and definitively crunchy.

The other day I picked up a package of freshly shelled peas from the market.

I wanted something light, reasonably unadorned, yet bursting with natural flavor.

I ended up making a simple side dish of peas with fresh mint, which perfectly hit the spot.

The mint adds a lovely fragrant, floral note to this dish. Chop it up finely, maximizing the amount of flavor from the herbs.

Quickly blanch the peas in boiling water. I would cook it for 1 minute and then taste test it. If you like the crunchier (not mushy) mouth feel of fresh peas, I would err on the shorter cooking time. Once finished, throw the peas into an ice bath. This will stop the cooking process (you don't want them to turn mushy!) and preserve that gorgeous, bright green color.

Saute the peas in a saucepan with a little bit of butter and oil (I didn't really measure, but maybe I added 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of oil?). Add salt and pepper to taste. Finally, throw in chopped mint.

Enjoy!


Fresh Peas with Mint
inspired by the Amateur Gourmet and White on Rice Couple, 

Note: this is a really, really flexible recipe, and the amounts below are just guidelines. Feel free to add more oil, butter, salt, pepper, etc. depending on your preference!

2 cups fresh peas, removed from pod
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon olive oil
salt & pepper to taste
handful of fresh mint, finely chopped (about 2-3 tablespoons)

Blanche the shelled beans in boiling water for about 1-2 minutes. Cool immediately in an ice bath and filter. Over medium heat, melt butter and oil together. Add peas and cook for about 1 minute (until hot). Add salt and pepper to taste. Toss in mint at the end and stir.

Serve!