@gjaffe PHOTOGRAPHS SUSAN WRIGHT @sw_photo
Cobbled Via dei Cappellari in the district of Parione. Right Flavio, owner of Flavio Al Velavevodetto, carries two local pasta dishes from his kitchen
An 18th-century sacred fresco outside the Church of Sant’Egidio. Right A cat poses outside an antiques shop in Trastevere. Opposite an artfully positioned Vespa
The day job
Elizabeth Minchilli has an enduring love affair with Italian cuisine. She’s lived in Rome on and off since she was 12, and permanently since 1988, after meeting her husband Domenico. Having authored six books as well as the Eat Italy app, she continues to share her encyclopaedic knowledge of Italian cuisine through her blog, and for the last fve years has also run private food tours. On these day-long culinary ambles through Roman neighbourhoods, she stops at market stalls, delis and artisanal producers, revealing where to sample creamy mozzarella, sausages favoured with truffes, the city’s best pizza bianca and other secrets.
‘I love what I do because it gives me a chance to show people my city in a way that’s not so obvious,’ she says. ‘Going to a market or behind the scenes at a butcher can tell you as much about Rome as a visit to St Peter’s. What people are eating, how they are eating it and why can give you insights into such diverse topics as history, economics, cultural and social norms, religion and family structure.
‘Pick up a vegetable in a market,’ says Elizabeth, ‘and all of sudden you are surrounded by different people telling you about how you should cook it. Listen carefully and you come away with not just a recipe, but an insight into a way of life that you might otherwise have missed.’
● elizabethminchilliinrome.com
ELIZABETH MINCHILLI FOOD BLOGGER
‘GOING TO A MARKET CAN TELL YOU AS MUCH ABOUT ROME AS A VISIT TO ST PETER’S’
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February 2016
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