3 Things to eat in Rome in Winter

Can You Say TAROCCO?

Three Things to Eat in Winter in Italy

plus Carnival Treats that Come only Once a Year

Blood Oranges

Supposedly the orange first arrived on the Italian peninsula in the 17^th century, brought back from the East by a Jesuit priest. Today the Tarocco blood orange is the most popular orange in Italy for good reason. Grown in Sicily, it is juicy, seedless, easy to peel and usually sweeter than the more intensely red Moro and Sanguinello varieties. Mounds of brightly colored oranges are the highlight of fruit stalls during the dark winter months. Packed with nutrition, they have more Vitamin C than navel oranges (or “blonds” as the Italians call them), and the flavonoids that contribute their distinctive red hue also provide a sizable dose of the precious antioxidant anthocyanin. Enjoy as a snack, a dessert, freshly squeezed into a pulpy juice that can be ordered at any coffee bar, or try in a Sicilian salad of oranges, sliced bulb fennel, and black roasted olives.

Carciofi alla Giudia

Artichokes

Chilean poet Pablo Neruda once wrote an “Ode to Artichokes” comparing them to armed warriors with tender hearts. Both fall and spring varieties are cultivated in Italy, which boasts the largest production in the world. The Romanesco artichoke, harvested from February to April, is used for succulent, deep-fried “Carciofi alla Giudia”, a classic staple of restaurants in the Jewish Ghetto in Rome. While kitchen hands are busy shucking and cleaning the vegetables in the back,  perfectly stacked pyramids of artichokes set in front of the restaurants advertise the specialty to passers by. Equally delicious are the tender and flavorful “Carciofi alla Romana” braised in broth, olive oil, garlic, parsley and mint. A word of warning: the Italian word for artichoke, “carciofo”, can be used informally to describe a dull, foolish man.

Caldarroste

Chestnuts

Castagnaccio

Although November is the month for the chestnut harvest, in wintertime as well vendors of hot roasted chesnuts can be found all over Rome, selling their toasty wares in paper cones. For many Italians, the appearance of chestnuts in the markets marks the beginning of autumn, and also explains the presence of skillets with holes in kitchenware shops; these curious pans are used to roast le castagne over a fireplace or even on stovetop burners. Because of their rich nutritional content, they have been referred to as “the grain which grows on trees”, and indeed are also dried and ground into chestnut flour, which is used to make Castagnaccio, a savory pudding dressed with pine nuts, raisins, olive oil and rosemary.

Carnival Treats

Frappe

Castagnole

Two of the most common carnival treats in Rome can only be found in period of Carnival in February and are synonymous with cold weather, costumed revellers, parades and confetti.

Frappe, also known as Bugie (lies), Chiacchiere (chatter), or Cenci (rags) are ripply, crispy, flaky sheets of deep-fried dough dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled with chocolate.

Castagnole resemble donut holes:  dense lumps of sweet cake, often flavored with a hint of citrus, that are deep fried or baked, soaked in rum or Alchermes and rolled in granulated sugar.

Tip: when buying sweets in bakeries or pastry shops it is customary to purchase by weight. The most common unit of measurement is the etto, or 100 grams, (plural etti).