Are you a traveller or a tourist? Do you go somewhere and really want to see it, know it, be changed because of it? Do you long to know it’s history, meet the people, perhaps even have an impact? Then, perhaps you are a traveller.
One way to really get to know the area in which you are travelling is by taking a food tour. On a recent trip to Rome my family and I had the opportunity to take a very unique food tour with Eating Italy Tours. Eating Italy Tours offers culinary tours in Rome, Florence, Venice, Amsterdam, London and beyond. As you pour over the many tours offered, you might be challenged to pick but only one tour to try. We opted to put our palates to the test with the Testaccio Food Tour, a walk thorough a quaint neigbourhood in Rome that stopped at 10 different markets, restaurants and shops and was led by the very charismatic Domenico (and recently married to Simona) tour guide.
Domenico was ready to show us his city, provide some insider’s tips and help us make sure we were making the most of our visit to Rome. Eating Italy Tours gathered their favourite “attractions, restaurants, bars and places to stay in Rome, as well as their very own shortlist of not-to-be-missed food and drinks!” and creates these one of a kind tours. You have the opportunity to eat your way around a neighbourhood, and I was all in. We started our day with a popular cheese shop. Here we dove into the world of cheese, salami infused with wine, truffled pecorino and balsamic vinaigrette. Did you know the very best vinaigrette is aged? Learning, eating, laughing with our small group of new friends. Not a bad way to start the day.
The rest of the almost 3 1/2 hour tour introduced us to all manner of food. From sandwiches that nearly melted in your mouth, to prosciutto, cheeses, street food and of course desserts. It was a delectable day! Some of the highlights; a tour of the local and famous Testaccio Market; stuffed with produce, meats, and baked goods.
While at the market our group had the opportunity to help create and then eat the freshest of bruschetta and of course buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes. We were then introduced to Italian Street Foods. A relatively new phenomena in Rome. We devoured suppli’, which are in fact deep fried risotto balls paired perfectly with local craft beer. Oh. My.
Did it matter that we didn’t have time to finish our beverages before it was time to head off to our next stop?
No, it did not. This was my Husband’s kind of walk and Rome was turning out to be our kind of city.
We were warmly welcomed by local shops, vendors and restauranteurs. All proud to discuss their trades, their wares, their lives with us. Domenico continued to regale us with stories of the area and educate us on local culture and traditions.
One of the last stops; a pasta restaurant built into the side of a mountain. Three kinds of pasta were presented for lunch. Lunch? Yes, family style lunch was served. (Did I mention yet that you need to arrive prepared to eat on this tour!) *This picture courtesy of Eating Italy because I was too busy eating my carbonara, caico e pepe and now my daughters favourite pasta of all time, amatriciana, to snap a photo.
Then just when you think you can’t eat another bite; an education in gelato. It is not all created equal! What is Gelato? Only the best thing ever. Like ice cream, but richer, denser, and with a lower fat content. Thanks to the food tour we are all now quite the gelato experts, able to spot the fake stuff from the real thing.
Of course no food tour would be complete with out one last stop at the local (and best) bakery in the neighbourhood. Coffee and cookies, with some to go. Yes please!
What I learned:
Do not eat before this tour!
Have an open mind and heart. I may have tried bison salami? A first for me. Sorry bison, but you were delicious.
Small tour groups like this allow you to not only get to know a neighbourhood better, deciding where to shop while you are visiting, but also gives you the chance to meet other like minded travellers.
Be sure to where comfortable walking shoes.
Take along a bottle of water. Drinks are offered often on this tour, but in the heat of the summer, extra water is never a bad idea.
The food tour with Eating Italy was really a remarkable way to get to know this little part of Rome, a tour that we will never forget and one I will now highly recommend.
Disclosure: I was provided tours in order to facilitate this review. As always opinions reflected in this blog are my own.
Beautiful fresh food,it all sounds so inviting!