One of our favorite ways to learn about a city’s food, culture and history is through a food walking tour.
There has been explosive growth of food tours since we took our first in 2010. We like to find food tours that focus on a specific neighborhood that’s removed from the main tourist areas.
During our early-December three-day stay in Rome, we found a 4-Hour Food Tour by Night in the Rome Prati neighborhood, offered through Get Your Guide.
We met Luisa, our food tour guide, at the appointed location. She enthusiastically started our tour with introductions among our fellow food tour guests: a couple from Ireland and a family of three including a teenager from Singapore.
Our first stop was all about ham, and cheese, and wine. What’s not to love? We each savored four different kinds of specialty ham, including Italy’s most expensive. Can you guess which one it was in the photo above?
The next stop was a small shop specializing in fine cheeses and olive oils, among other good things.
In addition to tasting a variety of cheeses and toppings, our guide Luisa gave us a detailed explanation of what the different designations on Italian wines indicate.
Italian wines are classified in one of four categories, ranging from
Vino Da Tavola (VdT), the most widely-produced and generally least expensive, to the most specific wines which are labeled Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG).
While learning, we were tasting a glass of the Vignole wine, which is classified as a Denominazione di Origine Controllata (DOC) wine.
We sampled moliterno al tartufo, a sheep’s milk cheese injected with black truffles that is produced on the Italian island of Sardinia. It’s one of Italy’s most expensive cheeses.
Up next on our tour was a stop at Bonci, a casual pizza stand famous for its crust and wide variety of toppings.
Luisa suggested each member of our group select a different topping. Then each section of pizza was cut into eight pieces, so we could try them all if we liked. (Note, one should come to this tour very hungry.)
Next up was a family-run neighborhood restaurant where we enjoyed two different kinds of freshly-made pasta.
With the pastas, we tried three different Italian wines including a white, a red and a sparkling wine.
One of the owners, as well as the chief pasta maker, came out to greet our group. She wanted to take a photo with Mr. Jones (who is 6 feet, 6 inches or 2 meters tall.)
Our last stop was at a neighborhood gelateria offering a wide range of traditional and unique favors. (We skipped the “Kentucky Tobacco Chocolate” flavor, choosing instead scoops of Cioccolato, caffe and bacio (chocolate, coffee and hazelnut.)
Lusia taught our group a most helpful skill for visitors to Rome: How to spot and avoid from inferior quality gelato.
If you want to take this tour, click this link to book the 4-Hour Food Tour by Night in the Rome Prati neighborhood, offered through Get Your Guide.
Have you done a food tour in Rome? Or, in some other city around the world?
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