What should we eat? Have you got any food recommendations?

Guides are asked this type of question all the time. I’m sure you know what you’d like to recommend but what style of answer is good for this all important question? You want to use language that encourages enthusiasm, and if possible, you want to make the visitor hungry by just listening to you. Here are a few practical suggestions:

You gotta have some fried starters. They’re irresistible and very Roman.

Suppli is a deep fried riceball with a little mozzarella at the heart of it. Have it as a starter before pizza or pasta in a restaurant or just have one ‘on the go’ as a snack.

Then, there’s Fiori di Zucca, a zucchini flower with mozzarella and a little anchovy all deep fried in batter. Ahhh it’s my favourite! I can’t get enough of Fiori di Zucca!

And then of course there’s Baccala. You can’t leave Rome without trying baccala, beautiful fried salted cod in batter. It just melts in your mouth and is totally to die for! Lots of Romans eat fish on Friday, especially baccala.

Now you’re wondering what pasta to try, let me tell you about a few typically Roman pasta dishes. If you like a cheesey pasta then you gotta try Cacio e Pepe. It’s creamy and cheesey and absolutely delicious.

Then there’s Amatriciana, which is tomato and pancetta, a type of bacon. A week never passed by in my childhood without eating pasta all’amatriciana. Mamma mia… è buonissima!!!

Spaghetti alla Carbonara is another really popular Roman pasta, which is pancetta, egg and pecorino Romano cheese which is a cheese similar to parmesan. Perhaps you’ve had Carbonara in the local Italian restaurant where you live but trust me it’s not like it is here!

PS: You gotta is a very casual and natural way of pronouncing you’ve got to.