Rome in Your Plate

After a day of wandering through Rome’s amazing urban squares, ruins, churches, museums and streets, you can partake in the Roman countryside through its products. You can taste the terroir of the Lazio region and the unique combination of soil, climate, elevation and topography that gives Roman vegetables their flavors.

Today in Rome, you never feel much removed from Lazio’s agricultural roots. Wild arugula, chamomile, Roman mint and fennel are underfoot in city parks. Shepherds still graze their sheep just outside the city. Capers burst forth from the Aurelian walls.

Travels with Insider’s Italy bring together the seemingly disparate worlds of education and eating, culture and agriculture.  We celebrate both worlds in our new Farm to Fork programs.

Today our favorite restaurants are serving these vegetables, all grown a few kilometers from Rome :

Artichokes (at their peak)

Wild asparagus

Beet greens, chard and chicory

Puntarelle (tops of Roman chicory)

Radicchio, several varieties

Wild and cultivated arugula

Baby carrots and new potatoes

Fennel

Cardoons

Many kinds of salads