The first time I visited Rome it was 1991, we were on a serious budget, and it was during my vegetarian phase. If you’ve looked at any other posts here, it’s pretty clear that I’m no longer a vegetarian, but even then I was focused on food. When I started thinking about creating this blog, I went searching in the cupboards and found my journal from that trip in 1991. At the back of the journal are “recipes” of sorts from Papa Germano.
Let’s start with, who is Papa Germano? At the time, Papa Germano ran Papa Germano’s Pensione. Alas, my entry for Rome does not include the price per night at his pensione in 1991, but “expensive” on that trip was about $25/night. (At some point we’ll get to the story of the $5/night room in Orvieto, but that is for another day).
It rained A LOT during that time in Rome. The day we visited the forum, the rain was so bad our guide book disintegrated in our hands. We took refuge in a bookstore, where I spent my time in the cookbook section despite having only a few words of Italian. The friend with whom I was traveling found me there “reading” a cookbook and said, “but you don’t understand Italian.” The obvious response, “I speak food.” She bought me that cookbook, and we brought it back to Papa Germano’s.
When Papa Germano saw these two young American women who were traveling with backpacks carrying that cookbook (unnecessary extra weight in what were already stuffed backpacks), he started recounting his Roman recipes. My notes include his Carbonara and Amatriciana, pastas that are mentioned in the Roman pasta post and that will be covered separately. The pictures are examples of those are from a much more recent trip.
I also have recipes, or more accurately loose instructions, for rabbit and oxtail, from “Papa.” His dishes weren’t exactly vegetarian friendly, and as you’ll see, they all require a certain amount of interpretation.
Oxtail – Papa Germano’s Recipes
Course: UncategorizedIngredients
Oxtail cut in pieces
Chopped celery – “lots”
Peeled, chopped carrots – “lots”
Chopped onions – “lots”
Parsley – “a little bit”
Salt and pepper
Tomatoes – optional
1/2 bottle dry white wine
Directions
- Boil pieces of oxtail for 15-20 minutes. Drain and discard cooking liquid.
- Put oxtail, vegetables, parsley, salt and pepper in large pot with water. Boil about 3 hours.
- About 1/2 way through cooking time, add 1/2 liter dry white wine. Continue to cook.
Another recipe from Papa Germano – Rabbit
1 rabbit, cut in pieces
200 grams guanciale, chopped and sautéed until fat has rendered.
Black olives, capers, onions (chopped). Mushrooms (optional).
“Glass” of red wine.
Freshly ground black pepper.
Add olives, capers, onions, and mushrooms (if using) to the guanciale in a large sauté pan. Cook until onions are translucent. Add rabbit. Cook until about 1/2 done. Add glass of wine and black pepper. Cook until done. Should be moist at end.
I have had the great good fortune to be back in Rome since, but it is unlikely that anything will ever compare to sitting in that inexpensive pensione with Papa Germano telling me his recipes. I leave you with sunset in Rome.
