Pussy's in the Well!

If that’s not a title to grab your attention, nooooo it’s nothing vulgar , it’s a line from an old nursery rhyme! Ding, dong dell, pussy's in the well and what does this have to do with a sketch of Rigatoni Carbonara and a church? 

Well, it’s really cold here and I was flipping through the pages of my wee sketchbook that I take on my travels and this popped up! Memories of a fabulous meal in Trastevere with friends. 

I love sticking business cards from restaurants, flight tickets or entrance tickets in my sketchbooks to remind myself of where I've been and the pink washi tape is a perfect match to the lovely little church San Callisto on the Piazza San Callisto next to the restaurant and that is where the well comes in! 

St Callistus, a former slave with a very colourful background, was made pope, unfortunately he had also made a very powerful enemy; Hippolytus a Roman noble, theologian and rival for the papacy. Where Callistus was a fan of forgiveness, Hippolytus was a stickler for rules (he is also the written source for the life of St Callistus) and so the rivalry and squabbling continued till Callistus was martyred by being shoved head first into a well, which was situated beside this church, or so the legend goes. 

Regardless of the rather wet and gruesome death of Callistus, the food was excellent. Carbonara is a speciality of Rome and this was the first time I had tried it in the original version (no cream, no onion.....) just guanciale, egg, black pepper and Pecorino/Parmesan. Yummy! My tummy’s rumbling just at the thought! I also tried the Roman version of pizza called Pinsa. The dough for Pinsa is traditionally made of four or five different flours including soja and rice, left to rise for at least 72 hours and is supposed to be more easily digested, the dough is like a mixture between pizza and focaccia and is pre-baked before the topping goes on.

The evening in Trastevere was very warm but that didn’t put me off having dessert (I did struggle with the pasta though) for me, dessert even if it’s tiny is just the icing on the cake to every meal so I tried the specialty of  Cajo and Gajo, Tiramisu, nothing unusual for an Italian restaurant but it was very different to those I have both eaten/cooked before, instead of using ladyfingers they had soaked the caramel biscuits served with Espresso in coffee and Amaretto. It was delicious, just to get you in the mood for an evening in Rome, here is the starter (a grazing platter for two)! 

Looking at the photo is free of calories, a good thing because the meal itself wasn't.