Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Rome off the Tourist Track – Testaccio Farmers Market

Testaccio is a funky neighborhood located below the hills of the Aventine and across the river from the southern end of Trastevere. It was the site of an ancient river port. Most of the trading on the Tiber took place here.

The area, like most port towns was a little rough and tumble. Now it's the place for clubs, cool boutiques and of course the market. The market will be moving to a new location soon but the current one is worth checking out. The prices are not that much cheaper than Campo de Fiori, which is the market closes to me, so I won't be going often. I still need to visit the huge market near Termini.

Here is some very interesting information about Monte Tesaccio. This man-made mountain was formed during the height of the Roman Empire by the fragments of the clay containers used to import olive oil and other things.

I have no idea how to cook these but I want to try.


One of my favorite fruits.


Testaccio is hard core Roma (soccer) country. Do not roll up in this hood rocking your Lazio shirt. Ha.

15 comments:

erin said...

love the cars in the last photo.

Here's a great recipe (and video) for the artichokes. It was the best visual lesson I found to learn how to cut them right, b/c they're tricky!
http://www.mestolando.com/recipes/risotto-with-arborio-rice-and-artichokes
You should try it and let us know how it went :)

Anonymous said...

tracey k/Ohio: VERY interesting about the Monte Tesaccio! I couldn't imagine a giant mountain of crushed pottery. I'm lost on how to prepare the artichokes, but I love the hearts that come in the jar. I could eat those strawberries until my lips fell off! YUM! (LOL!)

LuLu said...

Those strawberries look SO good!!

Anonymous said...

mmmmmmm carciofi alla romana :-) one of my favorite dish i tried there this past trip!!!

glamah16 said...

Your so lucky with the great marketsto shop in. Steam them or stuff them. They look like they will be very tender.

Jen said...

That produce looks beautiful. I just bought what may be the last of strawberries in our area today. My CSA farmer was selling some last batches. He has some kind of plants that bloom several times, so who knows... maybe there will be another batch!

Homebody at Heart said...

I was just looking for some of those to make marinated artichoke hearts in the grocery store (were they sell them in cellophane plastic 6-packs. Those look waaay better. Another reason to be envious! (Oh, and blogger ate my comment on your previous post, but here's the gist of it, ride the bus. It seemed that that there is a chance for conversation, they're helpful and they usually seem nice. Oh, and let loose of theat LA baggage.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

erin - thanks for the tip. I really like that website.

tracey k - me too. Love strawberries.

lulu - see above comment. :)

eryn - I haven't had that dish. I must try it.

glamah16 - Yes, it's great to have so many markets around. I work in the morning but will try to get to the big one by Piazza Vittorio soon.

jen - I can't wait to see what the markets will have in season this fall.

homebody - I am working on it. I lived in L.A. for ten years and lived in America all my life. It's going to take me a minute to leave all my baggage where it belongs....in a dumpster. :)

Tracie P. said...

with those artichokes, here's wacha gotta do (they are the small ones, right?):

clean them, quarter them, then get one bowl with flour, one with egg, then one with bread crumbs. season the flour too, if you like. roll them in the flour, shaking off the excess, dip them in the egg, then coat them well with the bread crumbs.

fry the hell out of them!

trust me, it's good. if you can find the babybaby ones without the chokes, they're even more tender and better.

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

tracie b - grazie mille! I think a nice crisp white would work well with this dish.

Anonymous said...

Hi caribbean ragazza
I'd like to know where is the place that is in your pic?
It looks familiar.It reminds me of Sardinia
This photo seems the same
http://www.bbmarcella.it/Isarutas.jpg

If it's not Sardinia, is the sand like this?
http://www.isognatori.com/public/T-isarutas.jpg
http://www.fotografieitalia.it/foto/323/Is%20Arutas_323-05-50-30-3088.jpg

E' proprio bello e interessante questo blog.
thanks and have a great weekend

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

anon - graziie. No the photo in my profile is of a beach in Anguilla, British West Indies. It's a tiny island in the Caribbean where some of my family is from.

The sand there is white and very fine.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the answer
lol they seemed twin beach...anyway also some of my family is from there (sardinia :))
There the sand is different, it's quartz sand, it's like rice. They stole a lot of them, just because it's rare.

Anonymous said...

oh I adore this market, and I love the fact that all the vendors realy come from nearby villages...
There is a great J Oliver recipe in his book "Jamie's Italy" (risotto ai carciofi is a treat !!)

nyc/caribbean ragazza said...

Isma - It is a great market, one of my favorites.