Rome Food Tour:Walking tour through Rome’s offbeat neighborhoods to taste the best food in Italy

PRLog (Press Release) - Sep. 26, 2011 - Rome Food Tour:
Walking tour through Rome’s offbeat neighborhoods to discover the best food in Italy

The juice from the mozzarella di bufala ran across my plate as I pierced the juicy white ball with my fork. Our guide, Kenny, explained that this mouth-watering product was known simply as “the pearl of the table.” After just one bite I was in total agreement. Amazingly, the mozzarella di bufala was only the first of seven mouth-watering food tastings that were included on the Real Taste of Rome Food Tour (http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com) and I wouldn’t even want to try and choose my favorite.

I had been to Rome a half a dozen times before which is why I was interested in seeing something other than the beautiful, yet perennially crowded historic center. Searching for things to do in Rome (http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/2011/08/09/five-of-th... ), I stumbled across Eating Italy Food Tours by reading a wonderful blog post about Rome’s Only Tomato Poet. The article described a tomato vendor in one of Rome’s most famous outdoor markets (called “mercati”) who carries over 45 varieties of tomatoes and for every customer he hand picks the perfect combination for whatever dish they may be preparing. Three weeks later I found myself standing in front of Carmelo, the Tomato Poet, and his dizzying array of tomatoes. After sampling a half a dozen of them I understood why Kenny says that no two varieties taste the same.

Our next stop was Volpetti a place that should be on any foodie’s itinerary when looking for where to eat in Rome (http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/2011/08/21/where-to-e... ). Volpetti is tiny but it is overflowing with every kind of Italian delicacy. This should be an obligatory stop for any foodie visiting the eternal city. Volpetti has over 140 kinds of cheeses on display and Alesandro, one of the kind owners, is happy to let you taste anyone you like. Kenny had us sample culatello, which is considered the greatest expression of salami- at 120 Euros a kilo it must be. After tasting it, the price no longer seemed so unreasonable.

The Real Taste of Rome Tour allows you to experience not only Rome food, but also its culture, history and architecture. To me this is what made the tour so unique and utterly enjoyable. The food tastings were pared beautifully with wonderful sights and anecdotes from as far back as Julius Cesar and Cleopatra to the rough and tough decade of the eighties. Everyone on the tour had a favorite place and story and mine was definitely the ancient mountain of trash, called Monte Testaccio. This 49-meter hill is made up entirely of millions of shards of terra cotta amphora that carried the olive oil from Spain to Rome. The sight and the color that Kenny infused it with left me still thinking about this fascinating landmark for weeks after the tour.

The tour lasted three hours and at the end my stomach was full of wonderfully, delicious delicacies from all pages of the Roman cookbook. Though it wasn’t just my stomach that went away satisfied, my head was just as full with fabulous stories that I have been entertaining my friends with ever since I returned from Rome.

The Real Taste of Rome Tour is offered from Monday through Saturday all year long. To purchase tickets visit Eating Italy Food Tours’ website, www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com. You can follow their blog at http://www.eatingitalyfoodtours.com/blog/which is updated regularly with interesting and often humorous stories covering all aspects of Rome’s food scene as well as culinary travel adventures from all over Italy.

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Eating Italy Food Tours in Rome offers unique food tasting and cultural walking tours in Rome's most delicious neighborhoods. Each tour is created to give tourists and locals alike a taste of Rome- its cuisine, history, culture and architecture.