Roman cuisine facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

This page is about the modern Italian cuisine of the city of Rome. For the cuisine of the ancient Roman civilization, see Ancient Roman cuisine.

Spaghetti with carbonara sauce

Spaghetti cacio e pepe

Bucatini with amatriciana sauce

Abbacchio, a lamb preparation from the Italian Easter tradition

Pizza al taglio

Pecorino romano

Roman cuisine is the traditional food from Rome, a famous city in Italy. It uses fresh ingredients that grow in the countryside around Rome, called the Roman Campagna. These ingredients include peas, artichokes, and fava beans. You'll also find seafood, young lamb and goat, and cheeses like pecorino romano and ricotta.

People in Rome often use olive oil for salads and raw vegetables. For frying, they prefer strutto (pork lard) or fat from prosciutto. Rome's most popular sweets are small pastries called pasticcini, delicious gelato, and handmade chocolates. Some dishes are traditionally eaten on specific days. For example, gnocchi is a favorite on Thursdays, baccalà (salted cod) on Fridays, and trippa (a dish made from animal stomach) on Saturdays.

Many pasta dishes in the Lazio region, where Rome is located, use guanciale. This is a special type of cured pork made from pig's cheek. Famous examples include carbonara and amatriciana pasta. Another popular pasta dish is arrabbiata, which has a spicy tomato sauce. Roman cooking also uses less common parts of animals, like in coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew). Abbacchio is a well-known lamb dish from Roman cuisine.

Other iconic foods from Lazio include pecorino romano cheese, which is made from sheep's milk. You'll also find pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice) and porchetta (a savory pork roast). The local Frascati white wine is also very popular. The long history of the Jewish community in Rome has also influenced the food. A great example is carciofi alla giudia, which are Jewish-style fried artichokes.

A Taste of History
Traditional Roman Flavors
Pasta Power in Rome
- Famous Pasta Dishes
Sweet Treats and Drinks
Dishes
See also

A Taste of History

Rome's food traditions have changed a lot over many centuries. The city was a very important food center during ancient times. Back then, Ancient Roman cuisine mostly used grains, cheeses, beans, and fruits. As the Roman Empire grew, people learned about new cooking styles and ingredients from other places.

Later, during the Italian Renaissance, Rome became famous for its fancy cooking. Some of the best chefs worked for the popes. For instance, Bartolomeo Scappi was a chef for Pope Pius IV in the Vatican. He became famous for his cookbook, Opera dell'arte del cucinare, published in 1570. This book had about 1,000 recipes and showed cooking tools, including one of the first pictures of a fork! Roman and all Italian food changed a lot when new crops arrived from the Americas. The tomato, for example, became a key ingredient thanks to this exchange.

Traditional Roman Flavors

The Testaccio neighborhood, once Rome's main market and slaughterhouse area, is still a great place to find traditional Roman foods. This area was known as the "belly" of Rome. Butchers, called vaccinari, lived and worked there.

Traditional Roman cuisine often included the quinto quarto, which means "fifth quarter." This refers to the parts of animals that were not considered the main cuts of meat. These less common parts were often carefully cooked with many spices and herbs. Coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew) is a very old and popular dish. You can still find it on menus in most Roman restaurants today. Lamb is also a big part of Roman cooking, often roasted with herbs.

The Jewish community has had a strong influence on Roman food for over 400 years. Dishes like carciofi alla giudia (Jewish-style artichokes) and pizza dolce di Beridde are delicious examples of this heritage.

Pasta Power in Rome

Pasta is a super important part of Roman cuisine. There are many famous Roman pasta dishes.

Famous Pasta Dishes

Cacio e pepe: This simple dish means "cheese and pepper." It's made with pecorino romano cheese and black pepper.
Gricia: This sauce uses guanciale (cured pork cheek) and hard cheese, usually pecorino romano.
Carbonara: Similar to gricia, but with the addition of egg.
Amatriciana: Like gricia, but with added tomato.

You might have heard of Fettuccine Alfredo. It was invented in Rome but is much more famous outside of Italy. Most people in Rome don't consider it a traditional Roman dish. While spaghetti is a common pasta shape, Romans enjoy many other types too!

Sweet Treats and Drinks

Rome offers many delicious desserts, and many of them use ricotta cheese. A unique Roman treat is the grattachecca, which is a type of shaved ice often flavored with fruit syrups.

When it comes to drinks, Rome is known for its white wine. Wines from Frascati and the Roman Castles are considered some of the best in the city.

Dishes

Name	Image	Description
Abbacchio alla romana		This is a special lamb dish from Roman cooking. People in central Italy often eat it during Easter and Christmas. Abbacchio is a protected food product in Europe. In the Roman dialect, abbacchio means a young lamb that is still drinking milk or has just stopped. A slightly older lamb is called agnello.
Bucatini all'amatriciana		This pasta sauce is made with tomatoes, guanciale (cured pork cheek), pecorino romano cheese, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil, white wine, and salt. It comes from the town of Amatrice and is one of the most famous pasta sauces in Roman and Italian cooking.
Bruschetta		An appetizer of grilled bread topped with garlic, olive oil, and salt. It's often served with tomatoes, vegetables, beans, cured meat, or cheese.
Cacio e pepe		A pasta dish from the Lazio region. Its name means 'cheese and pepper' in local dialects. It's made with grated pecorino romano cheese and black pepper.
Carbonara		A pasta dish made with cured pork, hard cheese, eggs, salt, and black pepper.
Carciofi alla giudia		This is a famous dish from Roman Jewish cuisine. It's essentially a deep-fried artichoke. The recipe started in Rome's Jewish community.
Carciofi alla romana		A typical Roman dish of artichokes cooked in a pan. In spring, many Roman families make this dish, and it's served in all restaurants.
Coda alla vaccinara		This is an oxtail stew in modern Roman cuisine. It includes various vegetables, especially celery. Oxtail is considered part of the quinto quarto, or "fifth quarter," referring to less common cuts of meat.
Coppiette		Strips of dried meat (pork or horse), usually spicy.
Crostata di ricotta		A baked tart or pie. It's made with ricotta cheese mixed with sugar and lemon zest. Sometimes it also has cocoa or raisins.
Fiori di zucca		Zucchini flowers filled with mozzarella and anchovies, then battered and deep-fried.
Gnocchi alla romana		These gnocchi are made from semolina, milk, butter, and Parmesan cheese. They are seasoned with salt and black pepper.
Maritozzi		These are sweet bread rolls, often made with dried fruit. After baking, they are split open and filled with whipped cream.
Pasta alla gricia		This dish's name might come from the Romanesco word gricio. In old Rome, grici were sellers of simple foods. Many came from a Swiss region called Grigioni. So, pasta alla gricia means pasta made with simple ingredients like guanciale, pecorino romano, and black pepper, which were easy to find at a local gricio.
Penne all'arrabbiata		A spicy sauce made with tomatoes, garlic, peperoncino (chili pepper), parsley, and extra virgin olive oil. This sauce comes from the Lazio region, especially Rome.
Rigatoni con la pajata		Pagliata (or pajata in Romanesco) is a traditional Roman dish. It uses a special ingredient from a young calf, prepared in a unique way. The classic version is served with rigatoni pasta.
Saltimbocca alla romana		Saltimbocca is an Italian dish. It has veal wrapped with prosciutto and sage. It's then cooked in white wine and butter. The original version is saltimbocca alla romana.
Scaloppine alla romana		Scaloppine are thin slices of meat, usually beef, veal, or chicken. They are coated in flour and sautéed in different sauces. Popular sauces include lemon (piccata), mushroom-wine, or a pizza-style tomato sauce.
Supplì		Supplì are snacks that look like rice balls with tomato sauce. They often have mozzarella inside and are typical of Roman cuisine. Some people think they came from French croquettes and were brought to Rome by Napoleon's troops in the early 1800s.
Trippa alla romana		This dish, made from tripe (animal stomach), was once popular among Rome's poorer residents. Now, it's a staple of Roman cuisine. It's part of the quinto quarto tradition, which used less common parts of butchered animals. These parts were given to the general population. Trippa alla romana is an old recipe, traditionally eaten for Saturday lunch. Many historic restaurants still have a sign saying "Sabato Trippa" (Tripe Saturday). The dish is made with tripe, onions, peeled tomatoes, carrots, white wine, pecorino romano cheese, and pennyroyal leaves.