Side dishes

Ada Boni wrote that “Roman cuisine is a simple, nutritious and tasty cuisine … everything that represents the complication of international cuisine is inexorably banned … and moreover, this preference for good food is logical because its land offers as much as the finer you can wish for in food.” In Rome, in fact, there are wonderful vegetables and the local markets are full of colors and variety in every season.

Love for vegetables is an ancient love. The ancient Romans were greedy for beans and salad, which they planted in every military camp. Even in the city, they consumed and cultivated asparagus, chicory, and cabbage everywhere and exalted them with dishes and dishes handed down to us by Apicius.

The magnificent urban gardens were made first by Romans! In the nineteenth century, they were part of the urban landscape as can be seen well in the paintings of Roesler Franz in the Museum of Rome in Trastevere.

How can you do without the field chicory or the bitter rock, crispy chicory or broccoli? There is even a special name for the mixed salad of the field: misticanza!

Pellegrino Artusi wrote: “Get used to eating everything if you do not want to become unfortunate to the family. Those who make exclusions are offended by others and the head of the house, forced to follow him so as not to double the dishes.” Too bad that as a child I categorically refused the vegetable outlines so that my grandmothers had to invent colorful soups to get me a bit of vitamins. With age, I gradually changed my taste. There are still vegetables that I do not eat and others that I enjoy in moderate quantities to respect the food pyramid.

The list of recipes includes the most delicious side dishes that we make in the family with vegetables, legumes, and tubers.