Food & Home Entertaining
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
ED'S LETTER<br />
WHEN IN ROME<br />
ave you ever<br />
thought you<br />
knew superior<br />
quality, only to<br />
be shown what<br />
true five-star<br />
stuffismadeof?<br />
It’s a humbling<br />
experience that also makes you<br />
laugh a little at yourself. Just like<br />
shelling out for 500-thread-count<br />
Egyptian cotton sheets and then<br />
sleeping on 100% mulberry silk,<br />
coveting cashmere until you rub up<br />
against ultrafine merino wool, and<br />
eating pasta anywhere in the world<br />
untilyou’vetwirledyourforkin<br />
Italy,asIwasremindedonarecent<br />
trip to The Eternal City.<br />
And while I delight in the freedom<br />
of being unashamedly greedy in<br />
Italy by using the excuse that it’s<br />
only polite to follow their meal tradition<br />
of having antipasto, primo, secondo,<br />
contorno and dolce, every one of these<br />
courses could, for me, be pasta – solo.<br />
Since I’m confessing, I may as well<br />
admit that up until a year ago (okay,<br />
six months), I didn’t know that adding<br />
cream to a carbonara sauce is on<br />
a par with serving pork chops at<br />
a bar mitzvah.<br />
So, with the memory of all of those<br />
Roman pastas I ate – nay, suctioned –<br />
still as fresh as the Parmesan I sprinkled<br />
with abandon over them, I think I’m<br />
qualiied to vouch for the deliciousness<br />
of our cover dish – while it wasn’t made<br />
inItaly,ourfoodeditor,Claire,hascreated<br />
a ragù worth raving about.<br />
In case pasta’s not your thing (which<br />
isanalienconcepttome),wehavelots<br />
of other Italian-inspired dishes – check<br />
out Dianne Bibby’s ‘festa’ to celebrate<br />
Italian National Day on page 82, plus an<br />
irresistible breakfast pizza on page 62,<br />
whichIguaranteewillgetFather’sDay<br />
on 19 June off to a cracking start.<br />
As for me, I’ll be perfecting my<br />
cream-free carbonara this month –<br />
trust me, once you’ve seen and tasted<br />
the way it should be, you’ll never go back.<br />
Here’s to la dolce vita and the words<br />
ofthelate,greatFedericoFellini:“Life<br />
is a combination of magic and pasta.”<br />
Ciao for now,<br />
X<br />
I thought it only itting to share recommendations of some of my latest<br />
favourite pasta spots in Roma! Pictured below left is a delectable beef<br />
ragù with fettuccine, savoured at Ristochicco (ristochicco.it) – while it’s<br />
a matchbox-sized bistro, its portion sizes are anything but! Booking is<br />
essential. Next, taking centre stage, is a bona-fide carbonara that was so<br />
good,InearlyweptwhileIateit–atCucina&Vista(cucinaevista.com).Its<br />
Piazza di Spagna position means its close to the fashion-forward set who<br />
swan down Via Condotti in a constant stream, but its first-floor location<br />
allows you to rise above it all in a white-washed haven of tranquillity. On<br />
therightisspaghettiwithlobster,freshtomatoandgarlicatCostaParadiso<br />
(ristorantecostaparadiso.com).AssoonasIspottedthisrestaurant–<br />
Costabeingmypreciouslatedad’sname–Itook<br />
it as a sign that I was meant to go there. And, boy<br />
oh boy, was it buonissimo! Costa definitely would<br />
have approved.<br />
Ed’s photograph by Dylan Swart<br />
2 JUNE 2016
Change language