A guided tour in the heart of Trastevere to live an authentic gastronomic experience, immersed in the Roman Renaissance
Rome, in addition to having had its period of greatness in ancient times, during the Renaissance, was a destination for architects and artists who changed the history of art forever.
Precisely in their works there are precious ideas for reconstructing the eating habits of that period. For this tour we will be guided by the places and history of two great protagonists of this period, but of two different moments: Raffaello Sanzio (1483 – 1520) and (Francesco Borromini 1599 – 1667).
Admire the frescoes of Raphael in Villa Farnesina
Our journey begins at Villa Farnesina, the first suburban home in the 16th century.
In 1505 Agostino Chigi, a rich Sienese banker and well-known patron and art dealer, bought a large plot of land on the banks of the Tiber in Rome. At that time the Trastevere area was considered extra urban and Agostino chose it precisely to build a residence far from the bustling city center. Villa Chigi, so called before its current name due to the transfer of ownership to Cardinal Alessandro Farnese at the end of the 16th century, was the first "suburban villa" in Rome and immediately became a Renaissance architectural model. Several elements converged in it which were then copied to many other homes of the time, such as his luxuriant garden, which went all the way to the banks of the Tiber, and to his own extraordinary frescoes, created by the greatest artists of the time such as Raffaello, Peruzzi and Sodoma.
The most famous part of the villa is the loggia entrance, designed by Raffaello Sanzio as a pergola to ideally connect the interiors with the garden and the river seamlessly, creating a sort of optical illusion.
Raphael thought in detail all the frescoes in the loggia and concentrated on the realization of the imposing cycle of the stories of Cupid and Psyche, then identifying Giovanni da Udine as his most suitable pupil to paint the ornamental botanical festoons that divide the various pictorial scenes.
This decorative motif, made in 1517, in addition to being a representation of the outdoor garden, it wanted to be a mirror of all the varieties that can be used and appreciated at that time, including those from America, discovered just twenty years earlier.
Several documents attest that this can be considered the oldest document of the introduction of the plants brought back by Colombo to Europe.
An exceptional testimony to the biodiversity of fruits and vegetables known in Europe afterwards the discovery of the New World, a figurative inventory of over 170 plant species.
An enormous variety of spontaneous and cultivated plants, from the most common such as elderberry or the inflorescence of fennel to flowers such as roses, lilies, irises and anemones, or vegetables such as artichokes, cabbage, carrots and turnips.
Among the vegetables we also note the species imported from America such as the yellow pumpkin, the zucchini and some corn on the cob corn.
Having said that, there are also some great absentees that we would expect to see represented: the potato, which at the time had not yet been imported since Columbus never met it in his travels, but was discovered by the Spanish Pizarro in the second half of the sixteenth century . As well as tomatoes, which were not represented because they were introduced to Europe in the second half of the sixteenth century, and which were not immediately lucky as they were considered fruits of a poisonous plant (for its large amount of solanine) and used for several centuries only as ornamental plant.
Discover the ancient Trastevere ovens
In those days Trastevere was not the romantic neighborhood and a bit radical today, but a popular suburban suburb known above all for the artisan shops and for the numerous ovens that produced bread throughout Rome.
Raffaello Sanzio, while working on the frescoes of Villa Farnesina, fell in love with Margherita Luti, daughter of a baker, who had a shop right in the house just beyond the Porta Settimiana, at the crossroads with Via Santa Dorotea. Raphael's infatuation with the beautiful young woman from Trastevere finds testimony in his famous painting dated 1518 The fornarina, which also portrays the same subject of another of his famous works The veiled.
Still today you can see the window from which the fornarina appeared to appear, in the house with a typical Roman garden inside, where until a short time ago there was the historic Osteria Romolo.
If you want to try some of the most authentic gastronomic experiences in Trastevere, the advice is to go to some of the most traditional ovens: for historic sweets Innocenti biscuit factory, while for the classic Roman pizza al fIno La Renella. To try a truly unique experience go to the church of Santa Barbara: next to it, a little hidden, there is the filettaro, a tiny centenary tavern: it seems that its battered and fried cod fillets are unmatched.
Where to try a Renaissance menu
Heading from the house of the fornarina towards via Garibaldi, which leads to the Gianicolo, on the corner (coincidentally) with via dei Panieri, we find the Il Ferro e il Fuoco restaurant with a modern look, which however hides a truly unique menu, inspired by the ancients Renaissance recipes.
Chef Emidio Gennaro Ferro together with Elena Prandelli, manager of the hotel that houses the restaurant and a great lover of history and gastronomy, have created a very interesting gastronomic journey through the careful study of the dishes of the time between the late fifteenth and mid-seventeenth centuries.
Starting with the aperitif based on rose water, a very popular drink at the time, obtained by filtering rose petals and adding Malvasia, one of the most common wines in Italy during the Renaissance.
The first course of the tasting menu includes a small one pie with white meat sauce and truffle sauce.
It should be noted that at the end of the fifteenth century, thanks to the tastes of the de 'Medici, one of the most popular dishes in the noble courts was the shortcrust pastry with pigeon ragout. In fact, the pigeon was considered the animal closest to heaven, therefore to God, and therefore reserved only for the nobility and the upper classes. Fish, on the contrary, was considered the most impure food, precisely because it lived in water, a world in opposition to the celestial world.
The people ate legumes, vegetables and, when possible, meat from domestic chickens and pigs.
The second course of the tasting menu is a dish of gnocchi with fresh cheese, butter and sage. The dough is made only with water, flour and fresh cheese, strictly without potatoes, since at the time they had already been imported from America, but used only as an ornamental plant. Only in the late seventeenth century they began to appreciate the qualities of the tuber and to consume them also in the kitchen.
The cockerel with bitter oranges, rose water, spinach and crushed celeriac, is a recipe faithful to the original found in Book of Arte Coquinaria by the master Martino da Como, the most famous cook of the second half of the fifteenth century.
An emblematic dish, mirror of the flavors of the time, which they found in thebitter-sweet the most common taste. This was due to the methods of preserving the food: with salt, sugar (in the form of syrup or honey) or agresto (a sour dressing obtained by cooking the must of unripe grapes and by adding vinegar and spices).
Finally, the menu offers a Blancmange based on almonds, sugar and pomegranate. Almonds at the time, often in the form of almond milk, were widely used in the kitchen.
To conclude, a truly original digestive: theHypoclas. The faithful reproduction of a liqueur created at the court of Isabella de 'Medici Orsini, at the Castle of Bracciano, on which several legends of amorous murders hover. The curious antidote was based on malvasia and various spices including nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon, ginger … and a curious secret ingredient with properties unknown to us: deer anal glands (fortunately not available today).
Sleep in an ancient monastery designed by Borromini
The choice of this restaurant to bring such an original gastronomic experience to life is also given by the context in which it is located: a former seventeenth-century convent, which has recently become an elegant hotel, the hotel YOU Woman Camilla Savelli.
In 1642 Donna Camilla Virginia Savelli, noble Roman woman with a strong religious vocation, but forced to marry a Farnese, commissioned to Francesco Borromini the construction of a convent in the heart of Trastevere. The famous Italian Baroque architect then designed a small church, Santa Maria dei sette dolori, still frequented by the faithful of the neighborhood, and a monastery that was to house the new order founded by Donna Savelli, the Augustinians of the seven pains.
The convent has always remained operational over the centuries, until about ten years ago, when the imposing structure was converted into an elegant hotel, where you can sleep in the ancient nun cells, now refined rooms equipped with all comforts.
The location of the former monastery enjoys an extraordinary view over all of Rome and hides a delightful garden inside, the ancient vegetable garden of the nuns: a true oasis of peace.
Choosing to sleep here, as well as an experience with impeccable service, is like living a thousand stories together: from the life of Donna Camilla Savelli to the charity work of the nuns in the village of Trastevere, up to to the ancient Roman cave 1st century AD, found under the convent and used by the nuns during the Second World War to hide and save some Jewish families.
Over the centuries, and during the last restoration, the most characteristic elements left by Borromini have been perfectly preserved, such as the wonderful entrance gallery with checkerboard floor, the staircase and the fountain in front of the entrance to the refectory, today called Sala Borromini.
Here the nuns ate modest meals marked by the prayers of the mother superior and, as for them, the invitation here is to listen to history, fully enjoying the flavors and atmosphere of the Italian seventeenth century.
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