Happy last Sunday of January 2023
We celebrated Alex’s 14th birthday on Friday. Fourteen is an exciting age in Italy. You can get a license for a motorino ( I think not), preparing for high school (a giant leap forward into more freedom), girlfriends (Italians take love seriously and start early) and school trips within Italy and around Europe.
To celebrate we booked a dinner at Eggs a restaurant located in Trastevere that specializes in every thing eggs and pasta alla carbonara, Alex's favorite dish. After our lesson with Chef Antonio (see previous post) we now are ready to compare one of Rome’s most famous dishes.
From school we walked over to the train station in Civitavecchia which is directly across from the lungomare. At 5:30 pm the sun was already setting. We shared with the tourist disembarking from the ship’ shuttle a spectacular sunset. We stood for a second to watch the glowing blood red-orange ball with pink and lavender highlights bounce on the surface of the sea. The sunset on the west coast north of Rome never fails to be short of spectacular.
From Civitavecchia, 45 minutes later we came off at Ostiense to meet Riccardo who works in Rome. We were pleased to see the undercroft walkway that takes us from the platform to the other side of the train station completed. It has been at least 3 years of drywall and fencing. Now it is a beautiful clean walkway that was well lit. We usually cross over to shop at Eataly CHECK OUT EATALY or Declathon the sports store.
On hindsight we could have gotten off at Trastevere and walked. But we needed to find parking so we parked the car at Riccardo's parents and took the bus to Trastevere. So much has changed since the 90s. There was a time that you could drive the car and park in Trastevere. After all it was a neighborhood very much like Allumiere. It was called la via di quartiere- village life. Over the years it has gotten impossible for local Romans to live with such terrible parking conditions so, many have moved to the suburbs. Now there are a lot less Italians Trastervine and many tourists.
We arrived for 8pm to a very quite Trastevere. The days have been cold even here in Rome and compared to when we were last here in the summer time when the crowds were shoulder to shoulder, there was hardly anyone.
At Eggs, we were greeted by our concierge who himself had the same idea as we did to return to Italy during the pandemic. He had been working in Australia for some time. Like us he decided that Italy is where the heart is.
Eggs - via Natale del Grande 52, Rome
On the menu was everything eggs, cheese and carbonara. From chef Antonio I learned that the original recipe before pasta alla carbonara, the main dish consisted of cheese and eggs, Cacio e ouvo. The eggs used here are organic from sustainable farms and you can also sample quali, caviar and goose eggs
Check out the menu at the website below
Alex got the traditional carbonara with rigatoni and made with guancialle. Of course we had to try other versions - just to compare. Carbonara made with andouille sausage a spicy smoked sausage and topped with stracciatella cheese. Stracciatella is made from pulled mozzarella curds and mixed in with fresh cream. When you cut into a fresh burrata this is the gooey interior that spills out. The third carbonara was a spaghetti with bacon. Although they were all good the last was a bit salty and that is where you have to be careful as Antonio taught us. Too much salt in the water and the finished dish can be salty. My favorite was the original with the rigatoni - and Alex agreed!
I tried something different and was pleasantly surprised by succulent pulled pork inside a potato croquette and garnished a pepper & ketchup sauce on one side and a plum sauce that complemented the meat so well. Meat and a sweet garnish is a combination I grew up with. Sweet plantains or a mango, a sweet pepper or pineapple relish is a must for me with a meal in Jamaica. I couldn't get enough of this dish. But considering how I have been winter carb loading this portion was perfect.
The staff were friendly and the setting was cozy. No one rushed us and we could enjoy catching up and reflecting on past birthdays. Over a glass of red wine which had a slight fizz from the Shiraz grapes, we toasted Alex’s birthday.
After a friendly chat with the concierge, (one of the many things I love about Italy is how people are not in a hurry for a chat), we took a short walk to the bus and head back to the Noni.
We had a lovely surprise waiting for us. Home made blackberry ice cream! In August Riccardo went crazy (not literally but yes he could not get enough) foraging for wild blackberries (more selvatiche ) all over the Tolfa Mountains.
He collected so many he brought two small buckets to Rome where Nono Salvatore made ice cream. First Salvatore blended the blackberries and froze the juice to preserve the blackberries which lasted until January. Then into the ice cream maker the blackberry concentrate and milk. You can use a non dairy milk. No sugar added. Nothing else.
Incredible! What a treat. Our next present to ourselves will be an ice cream maker. Imagine the flavors we could make from foraged berries!
Have a lovely week
P.S. we came to the conclusion that so far, Chef Antonio’s was still the best carbonara
Jules
I love your delicious dispatches. I would be in heaven with all.that.pasta! Omg and the blackberry ice cream, a must-try. My favorite line is “I think not.” lol HAPPY sweet 14. Wow, where does the time go? How many years have you been there now? 💋