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Italian · regional cuisine

Roman and Lazio

Rome's thrifty, bold cooking: the four classic pastas built on pecorino romano and guanciale, offal ('fifth quarter') dishes, artichokes and Roman-Jewish fried foods.

Flavour character: Salty, peppery and porky: sharp pecorino, crisp rendered guanciale, black pepper, garlic and mint (mentuccia) with artichokes.

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Mouth-watering spaghetti carbonara with creamy sauce and crispy bacon bits served in a bowl.

History

Sheep herding in the Roman countryside produced pecorino romano and the shepherds' pasta dishes cacio e pepe and gricia; amatriciana is named after the town of Amatrice. Workers at Rome's Testaccio slaughterhouse were partly paid in offal, the quinto quarto, giving rise to dishes such as coda alla vaccinara. Rome's Jewish community, one of the oldest in Europe, contributed carciofi alla giudia and other fried dishes. Carbonara appears in print only after the Second World War, and its exact origin is debated.

Commonly told; not firmly documented

Geography and influences

The Roman Campagna, the hills of the Castelli Romani and the Tyrrhenian coast: sheep, pork, artichokes and wine.

  • Shepherd cooking of the Lazio hills
  • Roman-Jewish cooking
  • Papal court

Regional variations

Rome
Trattoria pastas, offal and Jewish-quarter fried dishes.
Lazio countryside
Amatrice's pasta, porchetta from Ariccia, sheep's cheeses.

Festive and seasonal food

  • Abbacchio (milk-fed lamb) at Easter
  • Fried salt cod (filetti di baccalà) and fried artichokes at Christmas

Signature dishes

Not on the site yet: Pasta alla gricia, Carciofi alla giudia, Carciofi alla romana, Coda alla vaccinara, Abbacchio a scottadito, Supplì

Roman and Lazio recipes

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