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Travel Guides

Traditional Food in Rome 

The Ultimate Guide to Roman Cuisine

Why Roman Cuisine Is Unlike Anything Else in Italy

Roman cooking is rooted in cucina povera, the "poor kitchen" tradition of transforming overlooked ingredients into something extraordinary. Where other Italian regions reach for cream or butter, Rome relies on guanciale, pecorino, and pasta water. The city's cuisine was shaped by the Jewish community of the Ghetto, by centuries of market life around Campo de' Fiori and Testaccio, and by the slaughterhouse workers who turned offal into the dishes now considered Roman classics.

Key ingredients in traditional Roman cooking:

Pecorino Romano (aged sheep's milk cheese)

Eggs, aged pecorino Romano, guanciale and black pepper. No cream, no onion. The sauce emulsifies with pasta water into something simultaneously rich and light — a result of technique, not shortcuts. Spaghetti or rigatoni are the only acceptable formats.

Three ingredients: tonnarelli, pecorino Romano, black pepper. When made correctly, the cheese forms a smooth, glossy sauce with the pasta water. When made badly, it clumps. The difference between the two is the entire point of finding a trattoria that knows what it is doing.

Originally from the town of Amatrice, now fully Roman. Rigatoni or bucatini with guanciale, San Marzano tomatoes, pecorino and white wine. Avoid any version with pancetta or onion — those are substitutions, not variations.

Amatriciana before tomatoes arrived in Italy. Guanciale and pecorino, nothing more. One of the oldest pasta dishes in Rome and one of the most underrated — ordering it is a signal that you are paying attention.

Rome's fried food tradition is serious and specific, and many of its most celebrated dishes appear as antipasti or light starters rather than main courses. The Jewish Ghetto is the epicentre, but the culture of frying well runs across the whole city.

A deep-fried rice ball filled with ragù and mozzarella that stretches when pulled apart — hence "al telefono," like a telephone cord. Eaten as an antipasto or standing on the street, available at most rosticcerie and many pizzerias across the city.

Carciofi alla Giudia – Jewish-Style Artichokes

Whole Roman artichokes, flattened and fried twice in olive oil until the outer leaves are crackling and the heart is tender. No batter. Just artichoke and oil — a two-ingredient dish that is one of Rome's most celebrated.

Salt cod in a light, crispy batter, a Jewish Ghetto classic. The most famous version is served at Filetti di Baccalà near Campo de' Fiori, where the recipe has not changed in generations.

Fiori di Zucca Fritti – Fried Zucchini Flowers

Zucchini blossoms filled with ricotta and anchovy, fried in a light batter. A spring and summer starter. The anchovy against the sweet ricotta is a combination that sounds too simple and tastes exactly right.

Carciofi alla Giudia & Supplì al Telefono 

Coda alla Vaccinara – Oxtail Braised Roman Style

Oxtail slow-cooked for hours in tomato, celery, wine and spices until the meat falls from the bone. Born in Testaccio, the neighbourhood built around Rome's former slaughterhouse. The defining dish of that quarter and one of the most complex things on any Roman menu.

Abbacchio alla Romana – Roman Milk-Fed Lamb

Very young lamb, roasted or braised with white wine, rosemary, garlic and anchovies. Deeply seasonal, most present around Easter. The anchovy dissolves into the sauce and deepens it without any trace of fishiness.

Coratella con i Carciofi – Offal with Artichokes

Lamb heart, lungs and liver cooked with artichokes, white wine and herbs. Quinto quarto at its most direct. A spring dish, available when Roman artichokes are at their peak, and an acquired taste that rewards the willing.

Pollo alla Romana – Chicken Roman Style

Chicken braised with tomatoes, sweet peppers, white wine and herbs. The peppers are non-negotiable and give the sauce its particular sweetness. A straightforward, comforting trattoria staple found across the city year-round.

A soft brioche bun split and filled with fresh whipped cream. Rome's signature morning pastry, found in every bar and cornetteria from early morning. Best eaten at the counter with an espresso.

Short-crust pastry filled with pastry cream, topped with pine nuts and powdered sugar. Comforting, unshowy, and a fixture on the dessert menu of most traditional trattorias.

Crostata di Ricotta e Visciole – Ricotta and Sour Cherry Tart

A Roman Jewish speciality: crumbly pastry filled with sweetened ricotta and sour cherry jam. One of the city's most distinctive desserts, best found in the bakeries of the Jewish Ghetto.

Denser and more intensely flavoured than the Florentine style. The seasonal varieties, particularly figs in late summer and chestnuts in autumn, are worth seeking out. Avoid any gelateria with towering, brightly coloured display — the best is kept in covered metal containers.

 — dry whites from the Castelli Romani hills just south of Rome. The classic house wine of the Roman trattoria, light and mineral, ideal with pasta and fried starters.

 — the local red from the hills of Lazio. Earthy, slightly tannic and increasingly well-made. The right match for coda alla vaccinara and abbacchio.

 — house wine, typically served in a carafe. In a good trattoria it is almost always Lazio DOC and almost always the correct order.

 — the traditional way to end a Roman meal. Ask what the house has rather than requesting a brand. A small, cold glass of something herbal and bitter after the secondo is as Roman as carbonara.

 — coffee in Rome is short, strong and taken standing at the bar. A digestivo espresso after dessert is standard. Adding a shot of grappa or sambuca makes it a caffè corretto.

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