This walking tour/seminar on traditional Roman food takes us from the Testaccio quarter, the heart of traditional Roman gastronomy and a pilgrimage destination for food-lovers everywhere. We finish with a visit to our docent's home near the Colosseum for a personalize lesson in Roman cooking.

Our tour begins at Piazza dell’Emporio, on the Tiber River, gateway to Testaccio. Together with our docent, well-known food writer and author of several books about Roman cuisine Maureen Fant, we will look at the remains of the ancient river port and warehouses where most foodstuffs entered ancient Rome until its fall in the Middle Ages. From here we will make a quick walk through Testaccio--the belly of Rome--to the famous outdoor market in Piazza Testaccio. Along the way, Maureen will lecture on the history of Roman cuisine from antiquity to the present and draw a picture for us of the linkages between Roman cooking and Roman culture.

In the market, Maureen will show us how to negotiate the stalls of fresh tomatoes, herbs, fruits, meats, and cheeses, painting a portrait of Roman cooking and the incredible fresh ingredients that underlie it. After filling several bags with the best the market has to offer that day, we will visit some of the specialty food shops in this typical Roman quarter, notably the extraordinary Volpetti (for cheese, bread, and cured meats), but, depending on time and individual preferences, also a fresh-pasta shop and perhaps a wine store.

Finally, we will take a short bus or tram ride to Maureen's home near the Colosseum for a glass of wine from the Castelli Romani and an informal cooking lesson as we prepare a few typical (and quick-cooking) Roman dishes from our purchases. These might include spaghetti cacio e pepe or alla gricia, frittata di asparagi, insalata caprese (if you’ve never had it here, you’ve never tasted it!), thin green beans with extra-virgin olive oil, baked fresh anchovies, fresh fava beans and pecorino cheese, pizza bianca with prosciutto and fresh figs, and many other seasonal specialties, depending on the group’s preferences and whims—and the time of year. The seminar will continue around the dining table, with questions and answers about what we saw at the market as well as more on general topics, such as the proper use of different olive oils and vinegars or how to cook pasta. In good weather we may retreat to our host's rooftop terrace with views of the Colosseum, to sniff the potted herbs, take photographs, and see a bit of bella Roma.