Rome (Day 3) - Food Tour in Testaccio, Real gelato vs. Fake gelato, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, and a trattoria in Trastevere

We booked a food tour through the town of Testaccio. It's known as a working class neighborhood and has some great culinary establishments. I'd been on food tours before, and this one had a lot of food, and good food. Here we go...

Stop 1 - Barberini is a bakery and cafe. We tried their cornetto and tiramisu. I'm not a fan of tiramisu, so I guess this wasn't the best stop for me. But their counter of goodies sure looked pretty good.

Stop 2 - Volpetti...This was probably the coolest shop we stopped at. Have you ever seen so much prosciutto?! They've got cheese in the display, and also some aged balsamic vinegar which you can sample.

We tried some salame, prosciutto San Daniele, and a couple cheeses - pecorino al tartufo and parmigiano reggiano.

Stop 3 - Just around the corner is Volpetti Piu, a cafeteria style place that makes use of some of the awesome ingredients found in the picture above.

Here, we tried some pizza margherita. I guess I never noticed it, but the margherita pizza is made up of the colors of the Italian flag...Green basil, red tomatoes, and white cheese. Here, they have Pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice).

Along the way, we stopped by a bit of a strange place, but also very strangely beautiful. It is a protestant cemetery which is the burial site for some known poets such as John Keats.

Stop 4 - Testaccio Market. The market has a long history in Testaccio, though it recently moved to this new, more modern location. Apparently there was a lot of hesitancy about the move, but the producers and such are all very much the same. We got some tomatoes from this stand and some bread from another to make some incredible bruschetta. (Yup, we tried recreating a good bruschetta when we got home)

From there, we took our bowl of tomatoes to another stand for some insalata caprese. This stand is interesting because they say the owner cuts the prosciutto with a knife, just as thin as a meat slicer can.

Nope, not yet done at the market. Off to a Sicilian bakery in the market where they fill the cannoli right in front of you. Best cannoli I've ever had.

Stop 5 - Flavio Al Velavevodetto was a stop where we had those 3 pastas we had yesterday! But for a pasta lover like me, no problem. Their cacio e pepe was probably my favorite here. We also had some house red and white wine.

Stop 6 - 00100 Pizza. They have a variety of things here, but we tried the suppli alla genovese which is kind of like an arancini. I'm not sure how I felt about this. Later in Cinque Terre, we had another arancini. I think I like how they do this better in America.

Stop 7 - Giolitti. They have some great gelato, and this time, I actually opted for the fruit flavors - Fruitti di Bosco and Limone.

According to our tour guide, 85% of gelato in Italy is fake. So here goes, how do you tell real gelato (homemade, made from scratch) from fake gelato (where they use a pre-made mixture)? There's two simple ways just by looking at it.

Real vs. fake gelato

1. Big Mounds = Fake gelato - Those big inviting mounds of gelato signify it's fake gelato. That evil stuff (fake gelato) has some sort of chemical in the mixture that allows it to solidify and stay in those large mounds.

The real, homemade stuff is more fluid, almost as if it melts more easily, and so they naturally flow down. So the real gelato, you'll see sitting much lower than the top of the container.

2. Colors - The fruit ones are easiest for this test. Real gelato is made from crushed versions of the actual fruit. When you crush a banana, it doesn't turn out this bright yellow color that some banana gelato looks like. Instead, it should be more like a lighter color, maybe even a light grey color. So look for the natural colors of the fruit. Or another example is pistacchio which shouldn't be a bright green.

So there you have it. If you go to Italy, I've researched and put together lists of real gelato places in Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, and Venice. Let me know.

-------------

Moving on, we began a walk back to our apartment, stopping by a biscotteria in Trastevere.

We continued on and stopped by Piazza Navona to see it in the day time. (Much nicer at night in my opinion).

From there, we walked over to the Pantheon. In the second picture below, you get a sense of just how large this structure really is.

The Pantheon was built in AD 126 and is one of Ancient Rome's most well-preserved buildings and is considered to be one of the greatest architectural feats in Ancient history.

It also has a tomb which allegedly is the burial place for Raphael.

Another major sight not far from here is the Spanish Steps. I'm not sure how I feel about the Spanish Steps. Perhaps it was the timing, but it just felt like a collection of tourists. Here's a view from the bottom and from the top of the Spanish Steps.

On the way back, we stopped by the Victor Emmanuel Monument. This large white monument is built in honor of the first king of unified Italy. This is that same structure you can see in my earlier picture from St. Peter's Basilica.

For dinner, we went to Da Enzo, a trattoria in Trastevere. Reservations recommended.

Da Enzo probably had my favorite Carbonara. One of the key features in carbonara is the guanciale. In America, restaurants and recipes typically pancetta or bacon of some sort, but nothing beats guanciale, which is made using pork jowl and when done right, has this perfect crunchiness to it if you call it that.

We also tried another traditional Roman dish, Coda alla Vaccinara (oxtail). Very good. 

I would happily recommend Da Enzo to anyone going to Rome.

And hey, why not end the day with more gelato, this time from Fior di Luna in Trastevere.