Nowhere encapsulates Rome’s gastronomic philosophies quite like its famous Testaccio neighbourhood. Take a stroll through the streets and you’ll find trattorie serving up classic Roman fare like rigatoni con la pajata (pasta with calf intestines), a deep, rich, oxtail stew called coda alla vacinara, and coratella – a dish of heart, lungs and oesophagus, sautéed with purple artichokes. This sort of food is a once in a lifetime novelty for many of us, but in Rome, this is just lunch.
Testaccio started life as a dock – actually a very important one for imperial Rome. The city imported thousands upon thousands of amphorae of olive oil every year to feed the extravagant tastes of its citizens, but instead of reusing the terracotta pots – called ‘testae’ in latin – they discarded them by the docks, stacking them efficiently into a towering mountain. These pots gave the area its name – ‘Testaccio’ literally translates as ‘broken pots’ – and Monte Testaccio (‘broken pot mountain’) stands tall and proud to this day as a monument to Roman resourcefulness (and a somewhat carefree attitude to waste). Today, the mountain has become a fantastic wine cellar thanks to the excellent ventilation provided by the pots, and is home to nightclubs, shops and bars, which all nestle in amongst the amphorae. It was even famously used as a gun battery by legendary Italian general Giuseppe Garibaldi in his defence of Rome from the French in 1849.
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Quinto Quarto: inside Rome’s offal obsession
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