Rome is a must-visit for any foodie – the city has a long, storied history of gastronomy that stretches all the way back to its imperial days, over 2,000 years ago. As the empire expanded, it amalgamated all sorts of different cuisines and cooking styles, eventually condensing those into what we know as Roman cuisine today.
Italian food is sustainable and thrifty on the whole, but food in Rome is particularly efficient. Romans find a way to use every bit of a plant or animal in a meal, and that is especially true of the city’s famous pasta dishes. Drop into any trattoria worth its salt in Rome and you’ll find these four classic pasta dishes on the menu – cacio e pepe, spaghetti alla Carbonara, bucatini all’Amatriciana and pasta alla Gricia. Each is different and delicious in its own way, but they all have something in common – they take a few ingredients, and combine them to create something absolutely delicious.
If you fancy making them yourself, read on for a history lesson in how these pillars of pasta came to be, then cook them yourself for a taste of Roman life.