Porchetta in Rome

[kyeblue]

I don't think that this topic was brought up before on this board. For all those rome locals and frequent visitors, I would like to know your opinion on
1. where in central Rome that one can get the best freshly roasted porchetta. Are there trucks on street? and what time is the best to get them fresh from deli shops.
2. what is the traditional way to eat it besides as panini.
3. which local or international wines go well with it?

[mbfant]

International wines? Please! You are talking about slicing a huge roast hog from a truck. The white wines of the Castelli Romani are what go best. The traditional way to eat it is between two slices of pane casereccio, but you wouldn’t be arrested if you took your porchetta home and put it on a plate with the bread on the side. What other way of eating it could you possibly want? A guy with a truck slices it and you eat it right away. You aren't supposed to DO anything with it!

[jen kalb]

LOL! I agree its the local way and the castelli wines are great locally, but there are plenty of fresh fruity reds that go great with good greasy pork. Leaving other factors aside, do you really think the white goes better??

[steve h.]

beer is best.

[kyeblue]

I sense that porchetta does not get much respect these days, at least within Rome city limits. I thought that it was an ancient etruscan and rome tradition, Nero's favorite meal, and is eaten in banquets and festivals before became street food sold in trucks. Anyway, I will make a stop at Er Buchetto and Aristocampo. And thanks to Jen, I will hunt for porchetta in Monte San Savino too. If I am unfortunately stranded in Rome by another volcano eruption, will hit viterbo and/or Alban hills. But are Alban hills volcanos themselves?

[ItalyTravelista]

You can also try Enoteca Provinciale by the Trajan's Markets. We were there today and beside the stunning location the winebar offers typical produce and traditional recipes from Rome and the province of Rome including IGP porchetta from Ariccia. We had crostini and trippa alla Romana...good and cheap.
http://www.provincia.roma.it/news/eno...
Enjoy your Roman holidays:-
)Nancy Aiello

[elizabeth2929]

I wasn't going to obsess about this, but here I go. What is the earliest time one can get porchetta on Saturday from ER Buchetto? The above post gave me an idea that we can go to the Baths of Diocletian (change our voucher for monument pass) and pass by ER Buchetto, and onto the Borghese by for a picnic and our booking. That is, if we haven't eaten every last porchetta morsel by the time we arrive at the park.

What I was thinking about doing was passing by the Pantheon, where we had the most delicious porchetta in 2008 on a nearby side street . That hole in the wall said they only have the pig on Saturday. We just happen to hit it right. Yum. Does anyone have the name of that place so we aren't wandering in vain. If not, then maybe will make a destination of ER Buchetto.

[jen kalb]

kyeblue, since you are coming down through Tuscany and Umbria, I think, you are likely to find good porchetta there as well, there are vendors at the markets that set up weekly in the towns as well as at butcher shops. We had some good porchetta at a butcher in Monte San Savino when we stayed in the region years ago. They styles may vary but they are all delicious.

[kyeblue]

thanks for everyone who replies above. I am very interested in comparing the regional differences of porchetta, and suggestions on finding good porchetta in Tuscany, Umbria and Le Marche are very welcome. Given that Lazio claims to be the home of porchetta, it would be unfair not seeking it out in Rome. Unfortunately, it seems that their availability in Rome is not that great.

[Ruth Lafler]

As people have mentioned, it's street food. The porchetta I had in Rome was bought from a stall at a festival in a park.

[mbfant]

Aristocampo is/was aimed at young people and foreigners who load their food up with too many ingredients. The place on via Viminale is the most authentic I can think of. I discovered it when I was giving myself a Baths of Diocletian walk and stopped to take its picture it seemed such a relic. There used to be a stand near San Giovanni but one day I looked for it and it was there no longer. Volpetti has a delicious uptown porchetta (very refined), called tronchetto, and there is a joint called Paninando on via Torre Argentina that has porchetta. But to get the full effect you have to go to Ariccia or Frascati or someplace like that and buy it from a street stand. Or wait for some kind of fair in Rome.

[steve h.]

Porchetta at Aristocampo is straight-up (nothing added). The bread is pretty good. They go through a large volume throughout the day so the product stands a good chance of being crisp and moist.

Does Aristocampo cater to a young crowd? I'd like to think so. :-)

[helenaphonehome]

Speaking of Ariccia, any recommendations for a holiday lunch (25th is approaching)? Or is the best thing to do as above: go and grab some porchetta on the street and make a picnic.

[steve h.]

I'm not Maureen but one of my favorite spots in Rome is the sunken park at the Villa Borghese. Lots of dogs running off the leash, lots of happy picnickers.

Maybe you can fill a picnic basket, including beer and wine, and give it a shot.
It's a Roman thing to do.

[helenaphonehome]

Sorry if I wan't clear! I'm loo9king for recommendations for a holiday lunch in the town of Ariccia. :)

[steve h.]

I was responding to "picnics."
I like them.
I need to borrow my landlord's dog next time out.

[helenaphonehome]

Replying to myself in case anyone's looking for future reference. Ariccia on a holiday Sunday is definitely open for business and full of daytripping Romans. We ended up in a fraschetta called Osteria de mi zia (http://www.osteriademizia.it) which was great value and friendly. The porchetta was definitely sliced differently from that which I usually get in Rome, and all the better for it. A good but not excessive amount of fat, tasty crackling. Sliced long ways. Pane casereccio as promised - HUGE sandwich! Had also an antipasto misto which had the usual suspects (buffalo mozzerella, pecorino romano, prosciutto crudo) but also porchetta of course, a few different salame, fresh fava beans and this tasty stuff called coppietta which was chewy spicy cured stips of porkmeat. Very good with a nice bit of heat and I'd never had it before. We had lunch for two for €15 and enough porchetta left to take a second sandwich for the road on the way home. I disappointingly did not see a single roadside porchetta truck though! Maybe they were all off enjoying the holiday.

[ItalyTravelista]

This article refers to Er Buchetto, the only place in Rome where you can still savor the real porchetta, a tiny hostaria located on via del viminale 2F. Since 1890 Er Buchetto serves the original porchetta from Ariccia by the weight or with ciriola bread (chewy roman panino), a limited choice of cheese and cold cuts, and white/red wines by the glass from Frascati. Love this place!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/trav...
Buon appetito
Nancy

[kyeblue]

Nancy, thanks for the info. it is very surprise to me that there is ONLY one place in rome that serves the real thing from Ariccia.

[jen kalb]

I dont think that is true - in fact the article does not exactly say so. Hopefully somebody else will pop up with additional information about places where it can be purchased or enjoyed.

BTW production of this stuff for distribution around the region, even the country seems to be a fairly sizeable business in Ariccia We had vtwo very nice dinners from Ariccia Porchetta puchased in a gastronomia in Naples last fall.

[ItalyTravelista]

Hi,
Of course there's more than 1 place in Rome, actually you'll find porchetta from Ariccia in most deli shops and all outdoor markets but IMHO Er Buchetto is the closest thing in central Rome to a traditional old style Roman hosteria A.K.A. fraschetta in the Castelli Romani. The one in the pictures is Poldo's truck on via Ardeatina.
Cheers,
Nancy

[zerlina]

Frankly, who cares whether the porchetta comes from Ariccia or not? Any place in Rome that does porchetta does porchetta all'Ariccia. In fact, I wonder whether even the hole in the wall on Via Viminale brings in porchetta di Ariccia, an I.G.P. product that can only be made in Ariccia itself.

There's porchetta at the Testaccio market.

[steve h.]

porchetta is street food. aristocampo (campo de' fiori) makes a pretty good one. sometimes I grab an outdoor seat just so I can order a mammoth beer to go with the eponymous sandwich. there's a walk-up window if you want to stroll the market while nibbling on the seasoned, moist pork surrounded by crispy goodness. festivities start at 12:30 p.m..

[Hungry Celeste]

As of late February, Aristocampo is closed. Sign removed from the building, shuttered up tight. The adjoining bar (the part that didn't face the campo) is open, but IIRC, it has a different name.

[steve h.]

I was there several times in March. The place was jumping.

edited to add: I did notice the "Aristocamo" sign was missing but nothing else was changed. The "Aristocampo" menu is the same old (including the name on the cover). I like the place.