ROUSES.COM
53
italy
O
ur walking food tour started at the open-air market that
surrounds the statue of Giordano Bruno in
Campo de’ Fiori
, a
rectangular square south of
Piazza Navona
. Farmers and fishermen
sell everything from fish and flowers to spices, peppers, and long-
stem artichokes, which are peeled right before your eyes.
From the market we went to a butcher shop where fresh meats,
sausage, and charcuterie hung from the ceiling. We sampled the
Parma ham, prosciutto and salami with
Bella oil-cured olives
and
balsamic capers
. At a local bakery we tried a chewy focaccia and
bought fresh, hot, crusty breads. We sampled pecorino and fresh
mozzarella at a cheese shop then stopped for bruschetta and wine
at a small restaurant where we also learned how to make authentic
Roman pizza. I wanted to toss the pizza dough in the air the way
you see it done in movies, but I quickly realized that it’s not as easy
as I thought!
I topped my pizza with artichokes, chicken, tomatoes
and fresh mozzarella. The
pizza panettiere
(baker) warned us not to
use too much fresh mozzarella or we’d end up with a soggy bottom.
Of course Tim didn’t listen.
After our tour, we went back to the square and tried the bread
topped with the
balsamic creams,
pestos,
white truffle oils
and
olives oils sold there.
As soon as we were back in Thibodaux we immediately sourced
all of the ingredients we tried in Rome, and arranged for our own
“Italian” Chef Nino to include them in his May cooking classes.
Look for these new items in select stores along with our other
Italian selections:
•
Cento Roman artichokes
•
Cento San Marzano certified tomatoes
•
Anna “OO’ flour
•
Tondo Red and Tondo White balsamic creams
•
Bella oil cured olives
•
Balsamic capers
•
Maurizio pastas
“I just wanted to let you know that
Erica called her brother and sister-
in-law who live in New Orleans
to ask them about your Rouses
Supermarket, and you would never
believe it, they were right inside
one of your store shopping! I think
this is the funniest thing ever, and
how the world is very small!!! They
told us to COMPLIMENT with all of
you guys because you have such
great shops and very well furnished
and they love to shop at Rouses!”
—Ciao, Chef Andrea
Once we cleaned the artichokes, we seasoned them, then seared and
boiled them in olive oil and water.
If you don’t want to clean them
yourself, look for large jars of carved, cleaned and marinated artichokes on
our Italian display.
Finally, we learned how to make spaghetti from scratch for the
Spaghetti alla Chitarra with Amatriciana
. It was a pretty cool
process. Jason and I made fresh pasta with our two and three year
old boys once we got back. They loved helping!
If you don’t have time
to make fresh pasta yourself, we sell Maurizio spaghetti chitarra.
Once we were finished preparing all of the courses, we all sat down
at a long table, and sipped on some wine while Chef Andrea and his
wife served the dishes we had just prepared. We learned that Chef
Andrea’s wife, Erika, had family in New Orleans.
It’s a very, very
small world after all
. We promised to come back to Rome, and they
promised to come visit us in Louisiana.
Before we had even landed back in the states,
we had an email with a note from Chef
Andrea and copies of the recipes we prepared.
A FOOD TOUR OF ROME
by
Jason Martinolich, Rouses Grocery Category Manager
(left to right) Jason Martinolich, Mandy Rouse Martinolich, Donald Rouse, Cindy Rouse Acosta, Chef Andrea
Consoli, Steve Galtier, Tim Acosta
