Walking Food Tour in Italy
Eve Ghuloum
Giant statues towered above us as we walk around the scenic city of Rome. The smell of fresh pasta filled the air as we made our way down to the town square, where we were going to meet our tour guide. Almost every alley we went down was made of worn down cobblestone, which was about half the size of the smallest streets in Menlo Park, making for uneven footing. Along the walk, we encountered a number of boutique shops. These cute shops displayed leather jackets, a variety of purses, special olive oil, and other goods. Everything in them was high quality and made by hand. Every so often one of my parents would say, “Oh, we should go in there later.” Once we had reached our meeting point, we found our tour guide standing under a restaurant awning.
Although the weather had been warm for the past few days, it had been raining on and off for 24 hours, so everyone in our group had an umbrella in hand. After all introductions had been made, we made our way to the first stop, a deli. Stepping into the shop, the first breeze of cool air was reminiscent of a first step into a grocery store. The couple that owned the store introduced themselves and showed us to the back of the shop, where we tried an assortment of soft cheeses. The front of the store displayed different cuts of meat and a few preserved vegetables.
Some how the air outside had become colder that in the shop and there had been a drizzle of rain so the cobblestone reflected the sky; it had transformed from a concrete grey to a deep blue with streaks of cloudy white. The streets were filled with old architecture. Every restaurant, clothing store, and apartment building was 50 years old minimum. The next stop was in a small alley, right off the corner of a cafe. The tour guide explained that this specific restaurant was the oldest standing restaurant of its kind. Their specialty was a deep-fried cod, cooked to the perfect time in order to make the fish retain moisture. The light and airy batter was balanced out by the flaky and moist cod. The sun was starting to set, painting the sky a gray color with an orange hue. The beautiful scenery set the tone for a leisurely stroll to our next location. The sound of shoes hitting the cobblestone surrounded me as we listened to our guide chat about the landmark and secrets only locals would know. Although I haven’t enjoyed pizza in the past, this stop changed my mind; Every ingredient was as fresh as possible. The aromatic smell of basil and tomatoes filled the air as soon as I step foot into the restaurant. Rows of different pizzas lined the counter between the employees and us.
Our guide ordered each of us a slice of Margherita pizza. The crust was salty and balanced the sweetness of the tomato sauce, which was spread across the slice as a base with basil and fresh mozzarella. This was arguably my favorite stop as the pizza was fresh from the brick oven. “In traditional Margherita, there are no whole tomato slices or chunks, the sauce should be smooth,” our tour guide explained to us. The pizza reminded me of focaccia because of the thick crust and essence of herbs. As our guide talked about the restaurant, we watched as the sun finished setting. The sky was a beautiful shade of dark purple as a background to the buildings towering above me, making me feel like an ant looking up at a human.
Soon the sky was an endless hole, speckled with little dots of light. The ground was blue and red, reflecting the signs of restaurants and bars. The clicking heels became louder as the light went down. The bars and restaurants we passed were lively and full. Every bar we passed was so overflowing with people that some had to stand outside, chatting with their friends.
It smelled of cigarettes and wine as we weaved our way through the narrow streets of the night. Although we had been there for multiple days, I never got used to seeing random cafes and alleyways everywhere. This stop was a traditional sit-down restaurant where we had small portions of multiple kinds of pasta. Each was extremely different from the previous; my favorite was the Cacio de Pepe, which is a simple pasta made of Pecorino roman cheese and crushed black peppercorn. Coincidentally this was also what I got the first day we arrived at a small restaurant near the hotel we were staying at. Sometimes the simplest dish can be the best, and in this circumstance it was. So with our final savory location done, we were looking forward to the next and last stop, gelato.
During our walk, we went across a bridge overlooking a river, which reflected the street lamps. The calm and peaceful water was nice to watch as we leisurely sauntered to the gelato shop.
It was close to 11:30 once we all entered the gelato shop, the environment was pretty similar to an ice cream shop in the Bay Area. Except the scoops they used were flatter and were a very similar shape to a spatula. There was an array of flavors, ranging from classic chocolate to a rose and pear. I immediately gravitated towards a flavor that had rosemary and honey in it. Another difference between ice cream and gelato is how they ‘scoop’ it, for ice cream you would use very deep spoon type utensils. When scooping gelato you use a much flatter spoon thing, this ensures that the gelato is packed into the cup or cone. During that trip we ate gelato almost every day; it was amazing. The flavor I picked was a perfect balance of sweet, salty and floral. It was also very visually appealing, the little rosemary sprigs and pockets of honey through out were pleasing to the eye. Ending on a good note, we said our goodbyes, thanked the tour guide and took a taxi to our hotel.
