9 Must Eat Foods When in Rome

Italy has some of the most delicious food in the world, and whilst Rome and I have not always gotten along, the city does have culinary delights like nowhere else.

Here are my 9 must eat foods when in Rome:

1. Tiramisu

A coffee lover I am not, however I figured that if that was ever going to change it was going to be in Italy. Whilst I didn’t come around to espresso, I did thoroughly enjoy this delicious, light and fluffy dessert.

Tiramisu is a delicious dessert anytime of the day.

2. Pizza

Italians are competitive when it comes to their pizza and in my opinion the Romans do it the best. Usually purchased by the slice, indicate how large you would like your rectangular piece to be and you pay for it by weight.

Whilst Napoli has a thicker puffy crust, Roma pizza is rectangular shaped and served by the slice.

3. Mozzarella

Served topped with fresh tomato, basil and olive oil, I have never eaten mozzarella this mouth-watering anywhere else in the world.

Mozzarella cheese is usually served with fresh ingredients.

4. Prosciutto

Rome offers some of the tastiest fresh produce in Italy with most delis and grocers serving tastings in the store. Meat hangs from the ceilings, truffles are arranged on counter tops and olives are displayed in abundance. Do yourself a favour and visit a delicatessen whilst in Rome, your taste buds with thank you.

Freshly sliced prosciutto from a Roman delicatessen is a must.

5. Bruschetta

This traditional Italian starter is served on fresh bread, topped with the ripest roma tomatoes, fragrant basil and full-bodied olive oil.

Bruschetta is wonderfully fresh and fragrant.

 6. Pasta

You can’t NOT eat pasta when in Italy. Many Roman pastas are very basic simply served with olive oil, pepper and parmesan.

With limited ingredients the Romans let fresh pasta speak for itself.

7. Suppli

If you aren’t full enough already, you need some suppli. Similar to arancini balls, suppli is a traditional Roman snack consisting of rice, tomato sauce and egg.

Suppli are fried and served hot, the perfect snack.

8. Cannoli

We’ve reached dessert and you have not eaten until you’ve put a Roman cannoli in your mouth! Filled with fresh ricotta and sprinkled with pistachio this truly tastes like heaven.

Ricotta filled, pistachio sprinkled goodness.

9. Gelato

One of the best Italian foods ever created, a huge 85% of the gelato sold in Italy is fake! But there are so many good gelato stores in Rome that you can easily find if you know what to look for. Real Gelato is made from fresh ingredients, not milk powder. Therefore real gelato should be muted in colour, not fluorescent. It should also sit evenly with the edge of the container, not piled high. Real gelato is heavy and can’t be whipped into a fluffy mound.

Real gelato is so much tastier than the fake stuff, you just need to know the tricks to spot it!

I was lucky enough to do a food tour whilst in Rome and it was a fantastic day. If you want to explore the culinary delights of this amazing city I thoroughly suggest Eating Italy Food Tours.