andiamo agli supermercati!

i love food. that should be pretty obvious, so it follows that one of my favorite parts of traveling is perusing the supermarket, finding similarities and curious products. the best part about roman supermercati is that even large, corp-esque places carry farm-fresh products.

when we first arrived at our apartamento, we went for a short stroll around the block to check out our environs. we needed a fuse because M blew one with his computer by our first evening a roma! it was pretty amazing that we found a lighting/electric shop just around the corner and bought a 10-pack of fuses for .50euro. just across the street from the lighting shop was a small alimentari which i can't seem to remember the name of.

it was around 7 when we went shopping, so they were pretty close to shutting down shop. it was much larger and cavernous than i expected, and we picked up some great items. i decided to make artichoke & ricotta ravioli with a zucchini/tomato/alici (pickled sardines)/olivi/pecorino sauce. not bad. not bad.

as you can see, we also picked up some mirtilli e cereali (blueberry & cereal grains) yogurt, salame, chili flakes, coca liiiiiight, acqua frizzante, and some canned tonno. tuna in italy is the bomb. you can pick up a generic brand like rio mare (equiv to chx of the sea), and it tastes absolutely different in the most amazing way. the fish is brinier, firmer, just amazing. M even emailed the rio mare website after we returned to ask if they distributed to the US, but unfortunately, they DON'T. BAH!!!

standa is a supermarket franchise found all over italy. their website isn't that great (as are most italian sites), but it is convenient for looking up weekly specials and discounts. when i lived in rome, standa was my savior. it was the closest one-stop-shop to my apartment, and an experience all it's own. above standa on viale trastevere is a small clothing store (oviesse) and a profumeria (limoni) which sells cosmetics, perfume, and all sorts of other bath products.

back to the good stuff. a few years ago, birra wasn't as chic in rome. everyone drank wine, especially at home, and only drank beer at english-style pubs and occasionally during lunch on a hot day. now birra is a popular at-home and in-the-streets beverage, so standa stocks more than peroni and moretti. heineken and guinness are quite popular.

now onto the "ethnic foods" aisle. this is hilarious. why doesn't uncle ben just stick to what he knows: rice?!?? salsa? really beezy?

there was actually a whole section of "il tehx-mehx" at standa. tortilla chips were a total shock to me.

we brought back quite a few bags from standa. that package of pachino tomatoes was a real prize. they were perfectly sweet and ripe right out of the store. that's the most annoying thing about buying produce from american supermarkets: you always have to wait a couple days for items to ripen. not in italy. mmm. more tonno, surprise. M got some latte fresco (fresh milk) which is something like 1-2%. they don't really classify their milk by percentage like we do. it's more like fresco, whole (integrale), and cream. there's a little box of latte soia in there, too.

these were winners. little cherry peppers stuffed with tuna, sardines, and giant capers in olive oil. holy crap. we went back a couple days later and they were out. boo.

and my favorite italian beverage, aranciata without added sugars. it's so good and light. mmm. i wish they had it here. the san pellegrino aranciata just isn't the same. it's too sweet and overly-carbonated for my taste.

this item was a curious crap shoot: black olive-flavored tuna paste. it was pretty good on rosemary crackers, but the little bit of grey, separated liquid that squirts out first isn't the most appetizing.

yet another trip to standa....this time we brought home some fizzy grapefruit soda, icky, bland pretzels, bread for breakfast toast, pickled artichoke hearts, fresh burro from campagna, little fresh mozz balls, white chocolate (that was actually quite waxy compared to the cheap, hershey's equivalent galak bar i had the day before), and my obsession, milk/choc-hazelnut spread.

man, there's nothing like fresh, local butter. it was so deliciously creamy and bright. wow. ps, i love butter. M and all of my friends can validate this.

lamberto, the apartment owner's son, in his brief introduction to the neighborhood, told us that just outside the portone (big front door of the building) there was a store full of "strange things for foreigners." he spoke amazing english (his gf's from nyc), but in italian, foreigner = straniero = strange. anyhow, the little store did not disappoint, and in fact, had quite the stock of "strange" items.

aren't these old el paso kits ridiculous? i love it. good ole betty crocker found her mexican way to italy.

who doesn't love patak's? M and i adore their mango pickles with rice and lentils. it's nice to know that if i ever move to italia, i can get my indian fix at home. there are actually quite a few excellent indian and middle eastern/north african restaurants in the city because of the immigrant population. i love that kind of unexpected diversity.

a few french maionese-based sauces. i should have checked the ingredient list on the americaine...i wonder what kind of crap they think we eat.

okay, i'm totally guilty. i thought this blackface packaging for these nougat candies was ridiculous. it's interesting how afro-italians don't feel the same racist-tinglies an american might seeing this.

i think this pretty much sums up that store for foreigners: american nutty. italians never eat peanut butter. you will absolutely not find it in any supermarket because they eat nutella or butter or jam on toast. this ground peanut confection is completely "strange" to them. why is it such an important part of our cultural identity?

pub 66: snack time!

good lord, i have no excuse for such a lapse in posts!! sometimes life seems overwhelming, but then i realize it's just a food blog. breathe. not that serious. cool? cool.

not surprisingly, there's more from italy.

after 3-4 hours of walking around in the convection inferno lovingly known as "rome," M and i decided to find a shady spot to cool down with a beverage, snack, and good, old-fashioned sitting. we had spent the majority of the morning roaming around the via del corso, which is rome's major shopping district. it's peculiarly long, straight, and wide; tracing a medieval horse racing course and spanning from piazza venezia to piazza del popolo.

long. straight. wide. these all seem like normal characteristics of a road, but not in rome. there are about a million short, serpentine vicoli (small streets) barely wide enough for a moto to pass through.

but enough with the histography lesson, back to snack time! after wandering around the tiny off-shoots of via del corso, we finally chose pub66, a small, unassuming, but popular little...well, pub. we sat al fresco at a small, wooden table covered by a shade-bestowing ombrellone. this little spot was perfectly secluded so that we didn't hear a lot of street noise, but enjoyed watching all the pedestrian activity.

to start: acqua frizzante (naturally lightly fizzy) and a coca liiiiiiiiight. i swear to god, you have to say it that way. it's just how you pronounce "light" in italiano. even M started ordering it that way.

this ridiculous pub had long island iced teas on the menu, so M had to try one out of sheer curiosity. how do they know what goes in a long island in rome? mixed drinks aren't really popular there...except mojitos. M's verdict: gross.

since we weren't that hungry and didn't want to spoil our dinner appetites, we decided to split a foccacia italiana, which was a toasty, chewy, thin bread topped with thick cuts of uncured parma ham, ruchetta (arugula/rocket), mozzarella di bufala, and pachino (small, sweet tomatoes). i just pushed the ham off to M's side and worked on the cheese/tomato/rocket/olive oil. it was pretty good. and damn good for a restaurant in the tourist zone. it's tough to go wrong with all fresh, local ingredients. that's the crux of roman cooking. everything's fresh. everything's locally farmed. on in-season produce is served. damn, i miss that.

M said the meat was kind of gross because it was so thick...and much like eating large cuts of raw flesh. sounds like sushi to me, which we all know is the shit. so what's his problem!??!

pub66 was a nice find in an area full of restaurants and cafes that rely on proximity to popular tourist sites rather than good quality food and service. i'm super picky and was pretty bummed to be caught on the via del corso looking for a place to eat that wouldn't enrage me. thanks for the lunch and couple-hour-coolout, pub66. perhaps we'll meet again.

unfortunately i don't remember the exact street pub66 was on, but it was very near la Galleria Alberto Sordi, the closest thing to a mall rome has. it was basically west across via del corso from G.A.S. on a small vicolo.

in the ghetto....

during my first stay a roma many years ago, i enjoyed a lovely, traditional roman-jewish meal in the ghetto. yes, "ghetto." the word actually has italian roots (hence the "h" after the "g"). "ghetto" either came from venetian slang "getto" or "gheto" which referred to the caustic by-product of purifying metal ore which was dumped in areas of jewish confinement or "borghetto," which translates more directly into "borough."

either way, rome's ghetto is not run down or dangerous, but it is the area where roman jews were once confined and locked in at night. rome's beautiful sinagoga anchors the neighborhood with it's tall, square dome (to differentiate it from round, christian cupole). today it is full of kasher (kosher) and non-kasher restaurants serving up crispy carciofi al giudia (jewish style 'chokes), salty fish of all varieties, and pasta. the fare is jewish, but also distinctly roman.

the previous day, i took M past the sinagoga and il portico d'ottavia (portico of octavia), which augustus built for his sister around 27 CE. over the years, the portico housed statues to jupiter, was part of a library/school/curia complex, was burned down and rebuilt, hosted a fish market, and more recently was integrated into the church of sant'angelo in pescheria (saint angelo in the fish market).

today it is the ancient neighbor of da giggetto al portico d'ottavia, my favorite roman-jewish restaurant.

their website is actually quite thorough, though complicated, in describing the neighborhood, history of the restaurant, traditions, style, and menu.

and the physical menu above depicts the portico d'ottavia!

oh, i almost forgot. da giggetto has a pretty extensive wine list organized by rosso (red), bianco (white), rose (blush), and sparkling. each category was then further broken down by region. it's my preference to drink the vino di casa (house wine) because they are quite often excellent, pair perfectly with the food, and are pretty much dirt cheap. we ordered a liter or the house white, and i think it set us back a cold 5 euro. we also drank acqua frizzante, which is light, naturally effervescent spring water. a bottiglia (bottle) of that averages about 1.50 euro with table service.

for antipasti, we ordered una fiore di zucchina, un carciofo al giudia, and baccala. the zucchini blossom was stuffed with fresh ricotta and acciughe (anchovies) then lightly fried. this was awesome; perfectly salty, fishy, and cheesy. the best aspect of roman cuisine in general is the total freshness of all products. mmm. jewish style artichokes are trimmed, leaves flayed out, then deep fried until crispy like potato chips. ours was a little over-fried, and was too crunchy, if you can believe it.

NB: roman style artichokes are trimmed very small, hollowed out, blanched, stuffed with herbs, then put in olive oil.

our baccala was fantastic, though! it was irresistibly light, crisp, juicy, salty, and meaty. i couldn't have asked for a better baccala experience!

M ordered some prawn dish, but they were out of that (we arrived around 1030/11, mind you), so the waiter suggested this dish. i can't remember what it was called, and it's not on their website. anyways, these whole shrimp were massive, juicy, briny, sweet, salty, buttery. i don't even know how to describe them other than "perfect." M agreed. i even sopped up some of the brainy juice from his dish with my fish.

i originally ordered the sole (one of my favorite, and M's least, fish), but they were out of that as well! so instead i got the whole dory. again, i have no idea what sort of voodoo they performed on this unlucky fish, but it was BANGIN. i mean, seriously. it seemed like they just classically seasoned it with salt, pepper, and oil. they slit the skin on both sides, then lightly pan fried it. holy wow did it taste like heaven! i love the practice of serving whole fish. it's always fun to dismantle it...reminding me of my days catching and cleaning fish in MN. also, the cheeks are the best part!

da giggetto was excellent, and we enjoyed a leisurely dinner al freso (as usual) in the ghetto. i wanted to cap off my meal with un caffe, but i feared not being able to sleep. mmm, a doppio does make the best digestivo, though.

Autogrill - Ciao: Roma, Stazione Termini

rome's termini station has several quick food options ranging from mcdonald's to autogrill to spizzico. with the exception of mcd's, the other chain restaurants in termini are quite novel due to their foreign-ness. we meandered from restaurant to restaurant to check them out and grab something quick to eat before our train departed to sperlonga.

after refusing the "road house grill," we settled on what i think was autogrill-ciao because of their bright colors and clean interior. now that i think about it, perhaps this was gusto? dangit.

anyways, there was a back room after the sandwich counter that housed all sorts of tasty candies, breads, snacks, and fresh produce. there was also a cafe tavola, but then again, what place that serves food doesn't?

M. was in serious need of diet coke (or pepsi, which, btw, has very little market share in rome, at least). we picked up a coca-cola light, which you must pronounce "coe-kah laaaaiyt" if you want them to understand what you want. this made M. lol, but he grew to enjoy ordering his coca light's over the course of our stay in roma.

i also ordered him a vasco di gama panino, caldo, which was a small, toasted sandwich with an olive-studded bun, ham, and cheese. nothing crazy, but a nice, cheap, simple fast food 'wich in one of the craziest train stations in europe.

benvenuto a roma!
(welcome to rome!)

delta sky lounge crown club

so i was gone for a couple weeks....and planning on blogging about the places i went and things i ate along the way here on K&S. unfortunately, google apps weren't so awesome in italy. wtf, right? i couldn't log into my gmail consistently, and thus no logging into blogger. damn you!!

anyhow, that just means that it's going to take me at least a couple weeks to get all these food pics up here on the fabulous Ketchup&Soup. So here we go...

what's the best part about a 12 hour layover in JFK after missing your initial flight to NYC and thus your international connection? oh wait, NOTHING.

however, we did decide to fork over $50 to (stupid) delta to use their sky lounge. open bar, wifi (which was not working, btw), tv, chairs...it actually made what could have been horrendous quite bearable. nothing like getting a bloody mary at 634am to enjoy with your nutella and walnut fig bars!

new rounds of snacks came out every few hours, so we mowed down on some serious eats to get our money's worth out of the lounge. M. started with a bagel, jam, butter, cream cheese, mini cinnamon bun, fig-walnut bar (SO BOMB), and a puff pastry twist.

we went through a lot of drinks. i started stacking. it passes the time.

wtf is "cheese food"??? i don't know, and i didn't have one, but M. did. i bet it was just kind of gummy and salty. if it ain't actual cheese, i'm not down with it.

we ate these little thimbles of hummus on a variety of honey mustart twists and mini pretzels. it was actually quite tangy for a jarred, airport hummus.

more snacks. my favorite, of course. there were blue cheese stuffed green olives, the above mentioned pretzel mix along with candied peanuts, colorful goldfish, and a spiced nut mix.

a little bit later, a "lunch" round of goodies came out. this was hotly anticipated as the sky lounge started to get more populated. some tasty crudete. crisp and refreshing! the mini cups in the ice bath on top are little desserts. i didn't have one because i forgot, but i think they were little chocolate mousses, butterscotch puddings, and vanilla custards. they were pretty cute, actually.

these mediterraneal pinwheels weren't too bad. tomato tortilla wrapped around spinach, kalamata olives, red onion, and feta. tasty little bits.

the best offerings are featured here: mini polenta cakes topped with roasted red pepper (lacking flavor but nice w goat cheese), turkey noodle salad, and a crab and shaved fennel salad (SO GOOD). i went in on that crab salad at least three times. yummy.

a nice cheese plate helped round out the meal with some sort of gouda, pepper jack, cheddar, brie, and goat cheese. i think i had enough of that goat cheese to pay for my sky lounge entry!

and lastly some cookies. i was already stuffed from eat and drinking all day that i think i only had a pastry twist or two from here.

lesson learned: if ever have another layover longer than 4 hours, i WILL buy a day pass to the sky lounge and drink the crap out of their bar. thanks for the 12 hours, delta. i hate you so much.