I have been in Rome for the past week and have been picking up a bunch of restaurant tips for people who might find themselves in the hungry in the "Eternal City". I have roamed (pun intended) around the main viales, narrow vias, and tiny vicolos day in and day out. Before coming I found a Gourmet Collector's Edition on Rome from 2003 and circled all of the places that I wanted to try. I also used a few of my family's trusted guidebooks, but those were not as descriptive or telling. Here are a few of my discoveries on where and how to eat in Rome. There will be more names and addresses to follow.

First, you must try all of the typical Roman pasta dishes. Cacio e Pepe is a simple dish of spaghetti with grated cacio, a local ewe's milk cheese, and black pepper. Amatriciana is a tomato-based pasta sauce with rendered guanciale (cured pork jowl). I have had spaghetti, penne, and rigatoni with this type of sauce and they are all great. Alla Gricia is also made with guanciale but with pecorino romano, and no tomatoes. And of course, carbonara. Carbonara is a heavier sauce of egg yolks and pancetta. It is hard to go wrong by eating one of those dishes, and they all usually come out to be about 8 or 9 euros.

For lunch I really would recommend sticking to panini and pizze if you are on a budget. Rome calls what we would think of to be focaccia "pizza bianca". You can find it "stuffed" with different ingredients and they make great sandwiches for no more than 3 euros. The best one I had was at the famous il Forno in Campo di Fiori. It was strozzaprieti cheese, walnuts, and arugula. Yum.

As for meat dishes, stick to simple things. Saltimbocca a la Romana, meat with sage and ham in a wine sauce is a sure bet. If you want to try some different traditional foods, head down to Testacchio, which lays to the south of the city on the Aventine hill. Besides visiting the Pyramid of Caius Calus and the tombs of Shelly and Keats in the Protestant cemetary, you should definitely make a stop at Checchino dal 1887 for Coda a la Vaccinara. It is an oxtail stew with tomatoes and spices and even some chocolate (apparently).

There is no need to eat dessert in a restaurant in Rome. We have been to many different places and the desserts are always average, yet they are almost always 9 euros (and very small). Instead, go to a gelateria and have an ice cream for about 4 euros. Our favorite of the week was Gelateria dei Gracchi located on the via Gracchi in Prati, a few blocks from the Vatican. It is a hidden parlor, more known to the locals than to tourists, and the flavors are phenomenal. The Ricotta and Pear, Chestnut and Rum, Persimmon, Apple and Cinnamon, Cream of Pinenut, and Date and Fig are ALL to die for.

Next time I will follow up with a short list of my favorite restaurants and shops to buy artisinal goods.
A dopo!

The other day I made a really delicious stew. No, I mean REALLY delicious stew. I had been thinking about it for a while before I made it, ever since I rediscovered the hyssop that I had bought at Kalustyan's a long time ago. I had read up on the Mediterranean herb and learned that it was often used as a rub for lamb, as it helps with the digestion of fatty meats. And then I saw my first quinces of the season at the Greenmarket- those wonderful fruits so full of mythology. I kept thinking about a lamb stew with quince and hyssop. I wanted to make the stew before I left for Rome, where I am now, so I went to the market early last week to get all of my ingredients.
Partly becuase of the NY Times article on Bill Niman's switch to sustainable goat meat, and partly because there was no lamb, I decided to use goat meat instead. I bought 1 lb of cubes from Patches of Star Goat Dairy and moved on. I wanted to marinate the meat, so I got some garlic, onions, carrots, and celery for my aromatics. And some rosemary and thyme to compliment the hyssop. What would I marinate it in? Red wine did not so like a good pairing with the quince, and white wine did not seem seasonally appropriate for some reason. Then I remembered that I had a bottle of Eve's Cidery Bittersweet in the fridge at home. cider sounded great with quince, as apples and quinces are feminine fruit friends. It also sounded right for the season. Maybe red wine would be better for the deeper Winter months, but not for an October/November stew. I got sweet potato (the Japanese white kind), parsnips, and more carrots for the stew garnish.
Below you will find the approximate recipe, but if you want to make a stew, you can really trust your instincts for the quantities and specifics. That is the whole fun of stew- the personal nuances of flavor that only you can bring out. For now, let me just skip to the end result. The stew was delicious, 98%local, and very Autumnal. It was a repeat times 10. What I really liked about it was that it was sweet, not because of sweetners, but because of the naturally sweet cider, sweet potato, and quiince. Their mellow sweetness further brought out flavors in carrots in parnsips that I had never tasted before. There is a lot of preparation work, but the technique and presentation is a no brainer. Here are the basics for my Goat, Quince and Hyssop Stew:

1 lb goat meat, cubed
1/2 carrot, sliced in large rounds
1/2 onion, large dice
1/2 celery stalk, large chunks
Few sprigs of Rosemary
Few sprigs of thyme
Pinch of hyssop
1 clove garlic
Hard Cider (about 1 cup, enough to cover the meat)
Splash of olive oil or canola oil
Salt and Pepper

Season the meat generously with the salt and pepper. Put it in a medium-large container. Add all of the ingredients, pouring over enough cider to cover the meat, as well as a dash of oil. Marinate for 8 hours or overnight. If you can, turn the meat over in the marinade, to make sure it is all coated well.

For the stew:
2 tablespoons butter or oil or a combination of the two (you will need more, so keep it on hand)
1/2 quince, peeled and cut into medium sized chunks
1/2 carrot, peeled and cut into medium sized chunks
1/2 sweet potato (depending on size), rinsed and cut into med. chunks
1/2 parsnip, same as carrot
Goat meat drained from marinade
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
Hard Cider (about 1 1/2 cups)
Rosemary, Thyme, Bay leaf
Pinch of hyssop (about 1 teaspoon)

Heat the butter/oil in a heavy bottomed pot. I love Le Creuset pots for making stews. Every woman must have one in life.
Add the quince, carrot, sweet potato, and parsnip, and cook, stirring occasionally, until they gain some color. Transfer to a plate or bowl.
Toss the goat cubes with the flour and coat evenly.
Heat up more fat in the pot until very hot and add the meat. You only want to add enough meat to cover the bottom of the pan, so that you can brown each side well. Don't poke at it or turn it over too soon, or it won't gain that nice browned edge and create as much flavor for the stew. You can do this in a few rounds. Each time, wipe out the pan and add more fat. You want those little brown specks in the bottom of you pot, because those are caramelized proteins and have a lot of flavor. If you do not wipe out the pot between rounds, those can burn and ruin the overall flavor of the dish. What I do is after each round, I pour off the oil and add a few drops of cider, and quickly scrape up the protein bits (this is called "deglazing"). I pour the liquid over the vegetables or already cooked meat off to the side, and then wipe out the pan to continue cooking the meat. That way you do not waste those extra bits of flavor in between rounds.
Once you have browned all of the meat, deglaze the pot with a drop or two of cider, just enough to wet the bottom. Scrape up the brown bits and then add all of the meat and vegetables back into the pot. Pour in enough cider to just barely cover the ingredients. Add the herbs. Bring the liquid to a bare boil, and then let it simmer quietly for 1- 1/2 hours, or until the meat is falling apart at the touch. Take off the heat and serve with warm crusty bread.
Enjoy your seasonal stew!
This serves 2 people well, with enough for leftovers, but might not be enough for 4 people.

For other recipes using quince, like Quince Jam and Membrillo, check out Simply Recipes.