Campo dei Fiori

 

The Roman forum, Vatican, Catacombs, Trevi Fountain and everything else in Rome can wait.  Instead, I spent half the day in the market at the Campo dei Fiori.  Campo dei Fiori used to be a field of flowers, the literal translation of its name, but now it's the food market in Rome's historic city center.  They had sun-dried tomatoes, purple Roman artichokes, zucchini flowers, tomatoes, flavored pastas, herbs, meat, poultry, salumi, and about anything a cook could want.  They also have stalls selling flowers and some clothes, and you can pick up a jersey of your favorite Italian soccer team there.

 

I fell in love with the zucchini flowers.  Mainly because I don't see them at any Farmer's Markets in the San Francisco bay area.  (If anyone knows where to find them in CA, please let me know.) 

I asked the vendor how he would cook the zucchini flowers.  Batter and fry them was one way he suggested.  The other was to stuff them with tomatoes, mozzarella, and anchovies and bake them in a hot oven until the cheese melts.  Both ways I will try once I'm done being "little Miss Tour Guide," as my brother's been calling me and am in an apartment and able to cook.....oh, I'm so looking forward to that day. (June 8th is when I'll be at my apartment in Venice---with dependable wifi and a kitchen).

 

Besides the zucchini flowers, the sun-dried tomatoes were in abundance.  They had three kinds with the most expensive being the sun-dried pachino tomatoes (small and sweet tomatoes that come from the pachino region of Sicily).  I bought some of those for future use.

 

Campo dei Fiori is a definite stop in Rome.  Even if you don't have a kitchen while you're there. You can pack the goods up and ship them or bring them back home with you.  I met an American couple while I was there, who said they had a suitcase full of food goods they were bringing back with them.

Comments

[Jozee]

Great photos of Campo dei Fiori. I hope that the Venice apartment has a nice kitchen. Let us know how the veggie recipes turn out.

Jozee

[Hannah Doughri]

Wow, those dried tomatoes are a thing of beauty!!! I have seen zucchini flowers at the Sunday farmers market at the Frank Lloyd Wright civic center courtouse in San Rafael. I've only ever seen them at the market towards the height of spring.

Hannah D.