If you went to Rome and didn’t visit the Sistine Chapel, didn’t visit the Colosseum, would you be missing out on the city’s best?
Not if you’re and . When the chef and the art critic visit the eternal city, they uncover a different side of Rome: a painting from the 1st century AD hidden deep underground, the origins of a very Roman street food dating back to the 1880s, the secrets to “the best carbonara in the world”.
Having travelled the length of Italy discovering the culture, history and food in earlier seasons of Italy Unpacked, the duo now head to the Italian capital, where they discover the city is similar to a great lasagne – made up of layers of rich history.
“Every great work of art in Rome, every great recipe has deep roots in the past. That’s why to appreciate the richness of this city you have to dig beneath its surface,” says Andrew Graham-Dixon in Rome Unpacked (starts Wednesday 9 January, 8.35pm on SBS).
And so the pair hop on a bright red scooter and traverse the city, eating and exploring, fuelled by street food, pasta and a few delicious dishes Locatelli cooks up.
It’s enough to make you want to book a ticket to Rome right now. There’s plenty more in the show, but here are nine particularly compelling glimpses of the other side of Rome, dalle esperienze di Giorgio e Andrew.
Ancient art, deep underground
The duo’s first stop is at the Basilica di San Clemente. Graham-Dixon describes it as “one of the most beautiful churches in Rome” and the impressive mosaics, ceiling frescos and historic elements (it was built in the Middle Ages but includes elements from as far back as the 6th century) would make it a top 10 experience just as it is. But the basilica itself is just one part of one of the city’s most important archaeological sites. Below lies the remains of a 4th-century church (which are open to the public) and the remnants of a 1st-century building (which usually aren’t – but Locatelli and Graham-Dixon were able to arrange a visit, and thus see a 2000-year-old wall painting. It’s enough to make any history buff wish they were able to make like Locatelli and travel with an art historian who gets access to the special stuff!). The Basilica’s is a little sketchy on details for visitors – however is a good summary of the when, where and how to arrange a visit.
No cream, no bacon in “the best carbonara in the world”
Declaring that “You’ve got to learn how to make a carbonara, a real carbonara Andrew,” Locatelli takes him to , a restaurant/deli that’s been run by the same family for four generations. This, along with the family’s , famous for its , is on the must-do list for many visitors to Rome but most of us don’t get an imtimate lesson in how to make what Locatelli calls “the best carbonara in the world”. Chef Nabil Hassed shows the pair how he makes his version. The number one rule? No bacon. Instead, the keys are guanciale (cured pork cheek), the right kind of spaghetti (shaped through a traditional bronze mould, rather than the Teflon versions more common these days – thus giving the pasta a slightly rough surface, which makes the sauce stick to it nicely), a mixture of both parmesan and pecorino for the cheese and a little fat from cooking off that guanciale. No garlic and definitely, definitely no cream. Catch the show to see Nabil Hassad’s full lesson, or check Roscioli’s for more lessons from the chef. (You can also give Roscioli’s pizza bianca a go at home – get the recipe ).
An essential Roman street food (aka “Romeness sandwich”)
“Oh mamma mia, how good is that!” saysGraham-Dixon. What he’s enjoying so much might surprise you: not a painting, not a dazzling piece of Italian architecture, not even pizza or pasta. He’s eating a kidney sandwich. Among the many pieces of Rome’s history that the pair discover is a place that, Locatelli says, changed the face of the city’s food: an abattoir. Built in 1888 in Testaccio, it was Europe’s largest municipal abattoir. “Between 1870 and 1901 Rome’s population doubles from a quarter of a million to half of a million. With so many new mouths to feed they needed meat, and more of it than ever,” Locatelli explains. The rich families of Rome sent their servants to the market to buy meat, usually a front quarter or a back quarter. “What was left in the place was all the other bits, what they called the quinto quarto or we call the offal in England.” And many workers received these ‘fifth quarter’ pieces as their wages: liver, kidneys, hearts, tripe and the like. “And they give it to the wife, and the wife would just cook it and sell it, and so that’s how they all made their money,” Locatelli explains.
This was the foundation of a particular kind of Roman street food, sold at street stalls and markets. Although the abattoir closed in 1975, its legacy lives on nearby, at a at Testaccio market. “From the age of 14 Senor Sergio Esposito worked at the abattoir and for the last 40 years he has been cooking offal using traditional recipes passed to him by his grandmother,” Locatelli explains.
Locatelli and Graham-Dixon tuck into a kidney sandwich (“the flavour is incredible, says Locatelli) and a tripe sandwich (“Lots of people when you even say the word tripe they go ‘ewww how can you eat that’, but the truth is it’s such a delicate beautiful dish,” says Graham-Dixon.) “We tasted Romanity,” says Locatelli. “Romeness sandwiches!” declares Graham-Dixon.
Jewish baking from the 6th century
The pair’s next stop is another piece of edible history, this time a sweet one that has been delighting Romans and visitors for 300 years. It would be easy to miss the unassuming , which has been operating on a corner in the Jewish quarter for 300 years. Easy, that is, unless you go when they are at their busiest and the queue snakes out the door, or when they are baking and the aromas of sweet breads and pastries, candied fruits and perhaps an oddly appealing slightly burnt note might waft into the street. The most famous product of the shop is pizza ebraica, also known as pizza dolce, which is nothing like the savoury pizzas we know so well. As a staff member tells the pair, it’s a recipe that dates back to the 6th century; big trays of lumpy rectangular sweetbreads made with glace fruit, almonds, pine nuts, raisins, oil, wine, sugar and flour. They often look burnt – but don’t let that put you off. Locatelli says it’s “very special” and we can confirm from personal experience that he’s absolutely correct. Along with the bakery visit, the show gives an insight into the contribution of the Jewish community to Rome, and the harsh reality of Jewish life in the city when the Jewish ghetto was constructed in 1555.
A once-hidden masterpiece about the power of love
One of Rome’s many masterpieces was, for many years, not seen by most of its residents or visitors. What Graham-Dixon describes as “the most magnificent High Renaissance dwelling in all of Rome”, the fortress-like , was built in the 1500s by one the city’s most powerful families, but has more recently been home to the French embassy, which now allows of the building several times a week. Locatelli and Graham-Dixon are here to see one particularly impressive room: the Carracci Gallery, which underwent an 18-month restoration in 2014-15, and is home to a series of frescos by Annibale Caracci. “Started 1597, finished 1608, 11 years in the making. And the theme of the whole thing, it’s the power of love,” explainsGraham-Dixon, who goes on to tell a story of what happened to the master artist who created the priceless series of paintings decorating the vaulted ceiling of the room. “The Cardinal [who commissioned the work] for whatever reason was a really mean guy, so when Carracci finished and finally asked for his payment, the Cardinal got his accountant to do all the sums and he said well you’ve been living in the Palace for 11 years, so we’re going to charge you for the board and lodging, so we’re going to pay you 100,000 pounds for doing the picture but we’re going to deduct 99,500 pounds because you’ve been staying in the palace … They paid him 500 for 11 years work. Carracci was so upset, he just falls into this terrible depression and that’s the end of him, he dies basically of a broken heart.
“You could say justice was served, the family extinguished in 1731 when the last Duke, Antonio Farnese died without direct heirs. The Palace has been the French Embassy for the last 81 years, keeping Carracci’s masterpiece a bit of a secret but now the doors are open and it is gradually being rediscovered.”
A gilded palace full of treasures (including the Bean Eater)
The Farnese is not the only palazzo the pair visit. At the , which spans an entire city block, they visit the splendid Galleria Colonna. It includes a richly decorated hall created to commemorate the role of the Colonna family (who still live in the palace) in an important battle that occurred in 1571 and is famous for another reason too: it’s where the final scenes of the movie Roman Holiday were filmed. The building is also home to a Carracci painting known as Mangiafagioli, or The Bean Eater. “I know this picture because it was right in front of the cookery books that I used to have in school!” says Locatelli.
A (very clever) taste of modern Italian food
It’s not all history in Rome Unpacked. For a taste of modern Italian food, they pay a visit to the inventive, multi-ward-winning Italian chef Cristina Bowerman at , in the Trastevere neighbourhood in the heart of Rome. Bowerman’s food is a Michelin-starred mix of innovation and Italian food tradition, so it’s no surprise that she has two very clever dishes to share with her visitors. First up, a savoury cheesecake with a base made of cooked, dried and crumbled pasta, in place of the usual biscuit crumb; a filling made with purred cannellini beans (“Beans are really part of our tradition,” she explains); and a sprinkling of cooked, dehydrated and powdered mussels. It’s followed by a dessert that’s not what it seems. It looks like a green cannelloni with a semi-freddo filling and sauce – and it is, sort of. The surprise is that all but one of the elements of the dessert are made from beans: a bean mousse, a bean powder, a meringue made from aquafaba, the water leftover after cooking the beans used in the dish.
A rare glimpse of Bernini’s troubled soul
Rome Unpacked is dotted with fascinating facts – like the reason one of the city’s most beautiful piazzas, Piazza Navona, is the shape it is (it was built on the site of an athletic stadium). Graham-Dixon and Locatelli are full of admiration for the ornate centrepiece of the piazza, the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, or Fountain of the Four Rivers, and how Bernini won the commission from the Pope at that time (there was a bit of trickery involved).
Gian Lorenzo Bernini was both architecture and sculptor, and his works are among the city’s highlight’s, including the colonnade of St Peter’s and the statues that line the St Angelo bridge. “Bernini is all over this town, but has a man he remains to most people I think quite mysterious, it’s as if you can’t really touch his personality. In fact he was quite a troubled guy,” Graham-Dixon says. And so off they go with a special appointment to see something that gives a quite graphic insight into the artist’s mind: a rarely seen sculpture at the Spanish embassy in Rome. The bust shows an emotional, almost manic Bernini; a true reflection of his troubled, violent side (when Bernini’s brother slept with his mistress, Bernini tried to beat his brother to death and then ordered his servant to cut the mistress’s face with a razor, according to Graham-Dixon).
“One of the most amazing pictures in the world”
He’s now regarded as a major talent – but in his own time (1571-1610), Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio was a rule-breaker and at the chapel of Tiberio Cerasi, there are two paintings that embody his boldness. “This one shows St Peter and immediately you are face to face with Caravaggio’s great revolution… to cast the people from the streets of Rome and to put them in his paintings and he’s doing that here at this terrible scene, the crucifixion of St Peter,” Graham-Dixon explains. “And in his own time these paintings were really shocking… Italian painting at that moment before Caravaggio was very artificial, very mannered, very contrived, very little smell of reality in it and suddenly with Caravaggio you’ve got Peter’s sunburnt face, his scrawny torso, his agonised expression.” One one side of the chapel, two Caravaggio masterpieces flank a work by Carracci.
The second Caravaggio, showing the conversion of Paul/Saul on the road to Damascus is another prime example of the artist’s challenging style. “One of the most amazing pictures in the world,” says Graham-Dixon and Locatelli agrees, saying it’s one of the best paintings he’s seen in his life.
There’s plenty more to discover in Rome Unpacked including market shopping; Locatelli’s cooking; a community village that shows a quieter side of Rome; and a visit to the Gallery of Modern Art to see a poignant war-time painting. The two-part series screens January 9 and 16, 8.35pm on SBS, then on .
flavours of rome
Roman broccoli (broccolo romanesco)
