Roman cuisine

Roman cuisine is the cuisine of the Italian city of Rome. Roman cuisine is based on seasonal ingredients mostly from Roman Campagna, and prepared in a simple way. Among these, the most important are vegetables (typical are peas, globe artichokes and fava beans), meat (milk lamb and goat) and cheeses (Pecorino romano and ricotta). A typical condiment in Roman cuisine is strutto, pork lard prepared and canned each winter. Also used is the fat of prosciutto, while olive oil is used only for raw vegetables and - occasionally - to fry. Specific dishes are often assigned to the days of the week, such as gnocchi on Thursday, baccalà (salted cod) on Fridays, and trippa for Saturdays.

Rome's food has evolved through centuries and periods of social, cultural, and political changes. Rome became a major gastronomical center during ancient age. Ancient Roman cuisine was highly influenced by Ancient Greek culture. Subsequently, the empire's enormous expansion exposed Romans to many new, provincial culinary habits and cooking techniques. In the beginning, the differences between social classes were not very great, but disparities developed with the empire's growth. Later, during the Renaissance, Rome became well known as a center of high-cuisine, since some of the best chefs of the time worked for the popes. An example of this could be Bartolomeo Scappi, who was a chef working for Pius IV in the Vatican kitchen, reaching fame with his cookbook Opera dell'arte del cucinare, published in 1570. Here he lists approximately 1000 recipes of Renaissance cuisine and describes cooking techniques and tools, giving the first known picture of a fork.

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