Jessica Scott

5 Italian Foods That Are Better in Rome (written for TravelTrivia.com) Italian food is one of America's favorite types of cuisine. Something I learned very quickly when I visited Italy, though, is that our American versions of many popular Italian foods taste nothing like the real thing. In most cases it is less that they are "good" versus "bad" and more that they are just completely different things, but there are some foods that you just truly haven't tasted unless you've eaten them in the country that invented them. Here are five Italian foods that taste much better in Rome - and not just because you can eat them while gazing at the Trevi Fountain. 5. Cacio e Pepe Italian for "cheese and pepper," cacio and pepe sounds like a simple dish, but Romans love it - and know how to make it incredibly delicious!. Almost every restaurant in Rome has cacio e pepe on the menu, and it is one of the number one recommendations you get from the locals about what to eat in town. The dish is made by tossing hand-made tonnarelli pasta with a spicy cheese sauce made with pecorino cheese and a lot of plain old black pepper. Starchy pasta water is added to make the sauce creamy and smooth, and the resulting plate of pasta perfection will have you begging for seconds. 4. Supplì You might be surprised to learn that Italians (especially the ones in the south of Italy) love fried foods just as much as Americans do. One example of this is the delicious, deep-fried supplì, a ball of rice, ragu, and and mozzarella that is breaded and fried into a palm-sized round or oblong shape that you can eat right out of your hand. These are not to be confused with the very similar (and in my opinion, even tastier) arancini in Sicily, which usually include a slightly different sauce and chunks of mortadella. 3. Carbonara Carbonara is a good example of a dish that many Americans enjoy, but have never truly experienced until they have eaten it in Rome... even if there is some speculation that perhaps American soldiers occupying Italy after World War II may have had a hand in inventing it. This classic pasta is made with thick, spaghetti-esque pasta and either pancetta or guanciale (pork cheek), with an egg and some Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino Romano cheese being stirred in at the last minute to make a delicious, smooth, creamy sauce. There has been much debate over whether carbonara was invented by Italian carbonari (coal miners), or by American soldiers who would mix pasta with bacon and eggs to make a heartier meal, but once you take a bite, none of that matters anymore. 2. Pizza You can't leave Rome without trying its pizza! While the official pizza capital of Italy is Naples (where I and about a hundred other people once stood in line for three hours to get a slice of the famous local pizza), Roman pizza is pretty amazing in its own right. Roman-style pizza isn't smothered with grease and toppings like American pizza: it is thin, crispy, and usually covered with with tomato sauce (although the surprisingly delicious pizza bianca comes with no sauce) and topped with cheese and vegetables or thin meats like prosciutto and salami. In Rome (and all of Italy), it is expected that you order one pizza per person because their version is lighter than ours, so be prepared to walk it off afterwards! 1. Carciofi (Artichokes) Nowhere else in the world does an entire city's population urge you to eat artichokes. Romans love this tangy vegetable so much that it has actually been given a Protected Geographical Indication by the European Union. Carciofi are the number one food in Rome when they are in season between February and May (and even when they are frozen and cooked out of season in some restaurants months later). You can get them steamed or stewed or find them in other dishes like pasta or as a pizza topping. The most delicious artichokes, though, are either the "Jewish-style" artichokes, which were invented in Jewish ghettos during World War II and are made by deep-frying the artichokes to a consistency that is almost like a light, airy potato chip, or carciofi alla Romana, in which the artichoke is stuffed with wild mint and garlic and brazed in white wine and olive oil. About the Author: Jessica A. Scott has been a novelist and freelance writer for over 10 years. She loves travel and divides her time between her original hometown of Louisville, Kentucky and her adopted hometown of Saronno, Italy