Il Forno The Oven, Il Fornaio The Baker

 

Very few tourists to Italy understand the historical importance the bakery had to the community surrounding it. It amuses me to hear complaints about Italian apartment rentals not having large ovens. Historically, most Italians had no ovens at all. Women would take their bread and meat to communal ovens of their town or village for baking and roasting, then return to pick them up, the way we walk into a restaurant for take out food. So this made the forno a major player in every Italian community. In Liguria focaccia was developed in order to test the communal oven to see if it was hot enough to bake bread. Whether it’s called a Panificio, Focaccieria or Il Forno, the bakers are integral to their communities. The bread culture in Italy is pervasive with regional festivals and many towns whose reputation rest on claims of making the best bread in the country.

 

Forno Antico Santa Chiara is in one such town, Altamura in Puglia. As we left Matera, one of the desk clerks from Hotel San Martino suggested that if we wanted the bread with the D.O.P. designation, we should try this very old bakery. She forgot to tell us about the focaccia that we discovered was the very best we have ever eaten.

Specific shape doesn’t seem to matter, what does matter is that this bread is said to last for 8 – 15 days. That would be a small miracle, because it would be impossible to keep it in the house that long. Our small loaf was shared with friends and we polished it off at one sitting. The crust was crisp and it had a firm crumb with a very nice flavor.

 

The texture of the bread looked similar to the loaf in the photo on the left, baked by a friend of the family we were visiting. The Pane di Altamura loaf was a bit darker, with a yellow cast, but the crumb was identical. Admittedly, for us the real star of the show was the focaccia that came in many variations and was delicious beyond our expectations. Besides the tomato, it came in onion, zucchini and the zucchini and eggplant combination that you see in the photo on the right.

More photos are better, right? I’m only sorry I didn’t take a photo if the onion focaccia before we inhaled it.

 

I did however manage to control myself long enough to snap this photo of it sitting atop the map on my lap, as we drove away from Altamura. Truly, I would not even consider going to Southern Italy on another trip without a stop in Altamura for more focaccia. It is mind boggling how simple ingredients like bread, onion, olive oil, oregano and salt, when combined can become a euphoric distraction. Our next itinerary is already planned; one of each wrapped to go (porta via) to place in the car trunk for safekeeping until we arrive at the next hotel, and another for the trip to that hotel, or to eat at the small table outside the forno. The to and from destinations are not as important as returning to Altamura.

 

The bakery also sells biscotti as you can see on the far left of the photo on the left or in the photo on the right. Antico Forno di Santa Chiara has been in business for generations, since before Columbus discovered America! With products like these, it is no wonder. I’d like to share one more photo with you.

As a former potter, the two small breads above the door did not go unnoticed by me. I had seen many tributes paid to and images made of “kiln gods” as “insurance” for a successful “firing”. I suspect this was the baker’s way of asking for a blessing on his forno and the successful baking of his daily bread. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

Via Ambrogio del Giudice 2, Altamura, Provincia di Bari, Puglia

Il Fornaio is a very popular sign seen on bakeries all over Italy, but does not necessarily indicate the name of the bakery. Il Fornaio in this photo is located just off Campo di Fiori in Rome’s Centro Storico neighborhood and that is indeed the name. A very popular bakery with tourists who just stumble across it on their visit to the Campo, Il Fornaio also attracts locals who know that it is a great spot for a quick lunch.

As you might be able to tell by the photos I took through the display cases above, zucchini focaccia as well as tomato is available, but more importantly, this bakery has a very good reputation for pizza bianca, the white focaccia so typical of Rome. They also display the largest mortadella I have ever seen. It must be 5 feet long and the width is bigger than a man’s head, and I have photographs to prove it. As an ongoing joke, two generations of my family have posed with what we refer to as “Big Mort”. Besides the foccacia, Il Fornaio also sells panini and suppli (rice croquettes filled with mozzarella) for it’s customers needing a quick purchase, and I’m told the cannoli and other pastries are good too. More often than not, locals will go in and order a slice of mortadella layered onto a piece of pizza bianca.

Via dei Baullari, 5
00186 Rome
Tel: 06 68803947‎

In Florence, Il Fornaio Galli has several locations, but we visited the one on Via Sant Augostino in the Oltrarno neighborhood of Santo Spirito. Once again focaccia was quite prominently featured and it got us in the door. It made for a great snack, but but don’t forget to take a look at the pastries.

Don’t those tuna pockets on the top shelf look like a light lunch in the making or perhaps the spinach and ricotta version next to them? Looks like Il Fornaio is giving patrons some nice vegetarian options with the zucchini or porcini pizze in the center of the case. the sausage focaccia or pizza also look like a nice way to keep mid afternoon hunger at bay, but the pizza bianca with prosciutto cotto is probably what most locals eat, if they are anything like their Roman counterparts.

All that bread and those rolls look like a good addition to any pantry if you are renting an apartment. It would be easy enough to make your own panini if you also visited a salumeria or small grocery store. Cookies and pastries looked very classic here and would had been hard to resist, if it were not for the fact that we already had reservations for a late lunch with friends. That didn’t however, deter someone I know from ordering a slice of potato and rosemary focaccia.

Firenze: Via S.Agostino 8/r

Piazza delle Cure 15

Via Pacinotti 43/r

Via dei Neri 18

http://www.giovannigalli.net/galli-panificio.asp

By All Means, Go

  

Find yourself a good guidebook and please see as many things as possible, but don’t limit yourself to the tourist trail. Some of the most fascinating, memorable moments you will have on your trip will be those times you go into backstreets never ventured into by tour groups. Take along a map so you can feel free to get lost, but will have a means to be found. The Colosseum ( Coliseum) is one place you couldn’t miss if you tried because it dominates the landscape, but don’t linger there as it is a popular place for pick pockets as well as tourists. Piazza Navona is the place to people watch or sit for a drink, but its side streets are just as, if not more, interesting.

 

The Roman Forum can keep you busy for hours, but don’t miss the Monti neighborhood just to the east, an upscale quarter filled with lovely shops and restaurants, with some streets so narrow you can hardly get through them in a taxi. A walk down Via Madonna Del Monte or Via Serpenti will provide you with lots of things to see and do.

The Pantheon may satisfy your interest in architecture, but the restaurants in the neighborhood up the small side streets will do much more for your appetite. You can no longer tell a tourist restaurant by the number of languages on the menu, so follow your nose and walk away from monuments and museums to find restaurants filled with locals. If the windows are frosted, it’s probably filled with locals who frown on being gawked at by tourists while they are dining.

We have all seen countless photos of the Trevi Fountain, but definitely go to see it so you have a sense of scale about it. Life is not in Cinemascope and neither is the fountain. The first time I saw it in person I found it difficult to believe I was in the same piazza where Three Coins in the Fountain had been filmed. I have never seen it as it was portrayed in that film. And each time I return, it seems smaller and the crowds larger.

Il Colosseo

I think it would be impossible for someone to think of Rome and not have it accompany a visualization of the Colosseum. Even though there still exist dozens of arenas like it, none are as big nor do they dominate the landscape the way this one does. It is a natural tourist magnet, but that’s the rub. It also attracts pick pockets, since tourists make easy targets and locals avoid the place. We make easy targets because most of us are not there long enough to press charges or go to trial. My husband was once surrounded by 4 or 5 Gypsy children who encircled him, swarming like bees to honey, and they got away with a bag of postcards.

If you go, remember to wear a money belt and don’t be careless with a purse or camera. Crawl around all you like, see the colonies of cats and have fun, just don’t loiter around or carry anything valuable in your pockets. Study your maps on the way there and don’t get distracted, be vigilant. My husband paid a very small price for his lesson in precaution, but others may not. Bus #64 to the Vatican is also notorious for pick pockets and has been for decades. On our visit to Malta, we noticed that locals all wore their backpacks in front. There’s a good lesson in that.

If you see any “Romans” wandering around, they are there to pose for photographs in order to earn a gratuity. Please respect their meager yet honest way of trying to earn some money.

Piazza Navona

The Piazza Navona is on many lists of must see sights in Rome and for good reason. It not only serves as a great framework for Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers, but it provides a broad open space for many activities. You will undoubtedly run into street artists and performers, but if you're either lucky or you plan well, you can find a market or festival in progress.

If you look at the background in this photo of Fontana Dei Quattro Diumi you'll see market stalls set up, perhaps for some of the painters. The Piazza is the home of a very popular Christmas market that I once attended. It was crowded with vendors selling ornaments and Nativity creches filled with a multitude of characters, including the expected Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, and Baby Jesus. In Italy you can always find the fruit peddler, cheese seller and oddballs you never could imagine on your own. We also found a variety of candy sellers specializing in black crystallized sugar that looked like lumps of coal, undoubtedly for "bad" children. I wondered what the briskly selling twigs were; did "good" children get shortchanged by having to be content with chewing on wood?

The Fountain of the Four Rivers represents the four corners of the earth by depicting the Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio De La Plata. If you look at the figure on the far left, with its defensive pose, that is said to be Bernini's reaction to the church across from the fountain, designed by his rival for papal commissions, Francesco Borromini. Fact or fiction, does it matter when it's a good story?

The Pantheon

You can certainly find out a lot about the Pantheon by Googling or reading history books and guidebooks, so I'm not going to gather that information and repeat it here. I'm hoping that a picture will be worth a thousand words or at least a few hundred. But I would like to pass on something that I heard while watching television. The reason the domed roof was able to cover that span and not come crashing down was because of very clever engineering. Each level of concrete in the dome was poured thinner than the previous level and in turn the concrete was adjusted to have more tuff (or tufa as it is called by Italians, a light weight volcanic rock) added to the mix, thus making it lighter. Even the textural element of the squares were included not only as a design element, but to allow for less material to be used.














The scale of the building is still impressive even though it has been encroached upon by other buildings over the centuries.It has an ancient almost mysterious air about it, perhaps prompted by its lack of windows. As you may already know, the interior is an active church. The series of chapels must be used individually, since the seating is divided amongst them. I do hope they clear out the tourists during mass as the crowds would be a serious distraction. I've had to fight my way into many churches to attend services, so I must still appear to be a tourist despite my efforts to blend in.

Three Coins in the Fountain

Anyone who has ever watched television must certainly have seen the 1950’s movie Three Coins in the Fountain, at least once. Personally, I’ve seen it at least a half dozen times and always get teary eyed when Dorothy McGuire’s character gets drunk before being able to tell Clifton Webb’s character that she’s been in love with him for decades. I might have needed a drink to get through that myself, but for different reasons…Rossano Brazzi  and Louis Jordan were far more appealing to the teenager in me. But more to the point, after seeing the movie, who could forget the 3 leading women going to this fountain on the morning of their departure for America, to toss in their coin, in hopes that it would guarantee them a return visit to Rome? Who could lose the image of the wide angled shot of the fountain and the piazza that were completely empty in the morning? It was that very image that inspired me to visit the fountain on my first visit to Rome.

 

What I found was a very crowded piazza with a large fountain set against the wall of a building, where other buildings encroached upon the space to make the fountain look over scaled and oddly small all at same time. Steps had been built to allow even more people at one time to crowd the piazza and the Trevi looked like it could not possibly be the same one filmed in the movie. Oh, the magic of Hollywood! Still, it was a bit of a thrill, and to this day I watch movies filmed in a country I have immediate plans to visit. I still return to the Trevi to see if it seems smaller or larger than the last time, and my perspective does change, but it has never once been empty.

Okay, grab your coin and go ahead, toss it backwards into the fountain, like millions of tourists for over half a century. However, if you save it instead of throwing it away, you may be able to afford your return airplane ticket just a little bit sooner. Since the fountain and large crowds will be there all day and night, you might as well go in the early evening around dusk when the lights go on. I don’t think I ever tossed a coin there, but perhaps just paying your respects is enough,because I’ve been back to Rome at least ten times since my first trip.

Gelateria Valentino

Within a block or so east of the Trevi Fountain is another refreshing place to go on a hot day or evening in Rome. Gelateria Valentino carries a decent selection of artisanal gelati and sorbetti that are especially strong in their fruit flavors. They also carry peanut butter, but it was not available on the night we strolled in. I was more than happy with my selection of watermelon and coconut and even though I ordered a cup, they saw to it that I didn’t leave without a cone too. They reserve the bench outside of the shop for patrons and it was nice to have a place to sit without having to “move along” as Giolitti patrons were forced to do, if they didn’t order more extravagant items from the table service menu. Here is a photo essay on what they carry.

San Crispino, another artisanal gelateria in the area gets much press and praise for it’s organic gelato, but , excuse the expression, it left me cold. As we walked into the shop, all we could see was a counter containing two rows of stainless steel containers with lids and a board with the names of the available gelati. They only lifted the lids to serve up each order. I had heard that the flavors were highly original, but some of the flavor combinations just seemed odd. Fig was the only uncommon flavor in and of itself, so I ordered it. The color had no eye appeal and had I seen it beforehand, I would not have ordered it. If my memory serves me well, I tossed half of it, rather than finish it. Something I rarely do. Don’t let someone else’s opinion deter you from trying whatever appeals to you. I’ve personally disliked gelaterie that have received accolades like Giolitti and San Crispino, and liked others that have been panned.

Via Del Lavatore 96, Rome 00187 Italy Phone:06 6783219 http://www.gelateriavalentino.it/ing/Html_ing/index.html

Gelateria San Crispino Via Della Panetteria 42 http://www.ilgelatodisancrispino.it/ilgelato

Piazza Barberini

Besides being the home of the Fontana del Tritone and the gateway to Via del Tritone, the road leading to the Trevi Fountain and other must see sights in Rome, such as the Pantheon and Piazza Navona, Piazza Barberini is gateway to the upscale Via Veneto. It also serves as an important transportation hub with its many buses and the B Metro Line. Gian Lorenzo Bernini produced the fountain as his last commission from Pope Urban VIII in 1642, however, he was not paid with any of the vast Vatican wealth, but with a right to water for the two houses he built in the area. Fontana Del Tritone is considered a masterpiece, but if you’d like to see an exquisite Bernini just walk up Via Veneto to the Borghese Gardens and into the Borghese Museum to see his Apollo and Daphne; that is truly a masterpiece. Bernini’s The Rape of Proserpina is also there. That statue makes the differences between flesh and marble blur to the point where you may believe there’s no difference at all.

The area is home to many restaurants and businesses including La Piccola Maison, a nicely designed B&B I discovered on www.LateRooms.com, my favorite hotel finding website. At the time, I negotiated a lower rate with the young owner by paying cash and opting out of breakfast, so the hotel, and its location on Via Cappuccini one block north of the piazza and just off of Via Veneto, became very affordable. They have been fully booked ever since, so I have not been back. Here are some photos of room #5 and Giorgio, the young owner, who was responsible for the design of the lovely 5 room property.

 

Just around the corner, directly on the north side of Piazza Barberini, SNACK BAR was happy to provide us with an inexpensive breakfast (see complete review on RestoReco) as well as a small break for drinks on our last trip. The diminutive TRATTORIA BARBERINI, with only eight tables, 4 on the ground floor and 4 in the small cellar is also just off the north side of the piazza on Via Di Purificazione ( RestoReco, linked on the top right, has the complete review). Directly on the pricy Via Veneto we discovered a moderately priced meal at IL PEPERONE (also reviewed on RestoReco). Then the famous CAFE De PARIS that I believe was featured in the Italian film La Dolce Vita, is also on Via Veneto and they have a lively bar scene and excellent gelato.

 

One place that I did not yet try looked very appealing, Pepy’s Bar on the south side of the piazza as it becomes Via Del Tritone. Take a look at these “patterned” tramezzini and tell me you’re not interested in trying them too.

 

A block further down is Via Del Boccaccio and my favorite carbonara restaurant in Rome, Hosteria Romana. Again the full review is on RestoReco, but here are a few photos to whet your appetite. They start you out with piazza bianca and rosetta rolls, then offer you a croquette or suppli (no charge), and off you go to the antipasti, primi and secondi. You are looking at spaghetti carbonara and roasted baby goat.