Posted by Loulou on Nov 12, 2014 | 6 comments

 
WOW!  Check out those artichokes!!!

Signed, peeled, delivered!

Oh, boy, mama has just come back from her first visit to the open market in camop de’ fiori with treasures galore! I see that she has puntarelle, those strange curly-ques of blanched chicory leaves that no one seems to know beyond Rome, and which, when dressed with an anchovy, olive oil, lemon, and garlic sauce are almost better than any salad in the world (well, at least I like the anchovies!).

Then she pulls out baby artichokes, peeled and trimmed, one of the luxuries of shopping in Rome’s open market—they cost the same as the ones on a stalk but these are ready to make carciofi alla romana with garlic and mentuccia, a lovely small-leafed mint that no cook in Rome would be without. Actually, now that I think about it, I get kind of wee-wah around mentuccia so maybe it’s related to my catnip patch! But sweeter, and our guests don’t go all glassy-eyed after eating the carciofi, haha.

After she had bought all her vegetables, mama asked the nice lady she has known for 20 years if there was any rosemary for her focaccia and was handed little bundles of sage, rosemary, basil, mentuccia and parsley with a stalk of celery thrown in for good measure! Mama says it’s so sweet to shop in Rome because everyone understands food in the same way (unless they are under 25! Kids don’t cook or have any idea any longer about their food—sad, sad) and if you need a bit of rosemary, then certainly you’ll need all the others too. There are always little gifts thrown into a bag at the open market or when the bill is 8 euros and 30 cents, they take 8 euros and forget the rest. Even in the crisis, which is evident here, mama says.

I see out of my little window that half the old lovely shops are closing and being replaced by fast food counters or simply selling what I call STUFF. Things that have no purpose, no style, no worth, and are probably in a shop created to launder mafia money. Seriously.

But, mama says, the heart and soul of Rome cannot be changed by the crisis or crooks—Rome’s heart beats on and on and with it, my mama’s heart beats strong and steady with love, content with the knowledge that she and papa will always come back to the world’s most beautiful city. As the old kitties say, “Roma, mai in una vita”—you will never know all of Rome’s wonder, even in a lifetime.

Well, let’s just start with today: ziti with brocoletti rape sauce and puntarelle with anchovy dressing.

I’ll lick the salad bowl…

Wild broccoletti to be steamed, pureed and made into sauce for ziti.

Whiz up any greens with a little broth, parmesan and lemon juice and toss with pasta.