Perhaps I am eating unwisely…

Via Damaso Cerquetti, April 9, 2017—

YESTERDAY WAS A LOVELY day, not that all these days haven't given us the best of weather. Like all last week, the day got off very late indeed; we weren't able to get to lunch until almost 2:30. When we did it was delicious but, given my somewhat compromised state, overwhelming. There was a carciofo alla romana to begin with, one doesn't want to pass that up; there was a cannolini stuffed with brandade, you never pass up brandade. Hamza ordered a burrata for the table and I must say it was extraordinary: smooth, supple, rich rich rich. I partook of too much of that.

My main purpose, though, was a fettuccini with asparagus, those thin rather bitter almost wild asparagus you get this time of year. Very nice pasta, dense and well cooked; and for the first time so far I was unable to finish my plate. What a wimp.

     White wine in carafe
•Trattoria da Teo, Piazza dei Ponziani 7A, Rome; +39 06 5818355

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TODAY, SUNDAY, we traipsed around the flea market at Porta Portese, no longer as interesting but then what is, and then repaired to a place new to me, stylish, spacious, inviting. I tried to eat more wisely and ordered nothing but vegetables: agretti and puntarelli. Agretti (Salsola soda), whose common English name, acc. Wikipedia, is "opposite-leaved saltwort," is a curious plant indeed; it tastes, to me, like spinach with a bit of seaweed mixed in, and is quite pleasant.

Particularly when paired off with puntarelle, that typically Roman salad of chicory stripped of its leaves, the stalks set to chill in ice water until they curl, then dressed with anchovy and olive oil.

But of course I couldn't resist ordering a pizza margherita, that's what we're here for, extending the world of margherita. I could only eat a couple of slices. Very good: not Neapolitan, but very good.

     Dolcetto d'Alba, Sandrone, 2014: quite good
•Emma, Via del Monte della Farina 28, Rome; +39 06 64760475

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