2017 Rome Spring: FOURTH POSTING from ROME on 5 March 2017

FOURTH POSTING from ROME

It was drizzling the other morning
when I stopped in the Campo di Fiore
for a drink of water from a public spigot.
Since I am persnickety about
taking my camera out
in wet conditions and if there are thick crowds,
I've added a couple of general view photos
from prior years.

I snapped this shot on the last day of our 2012 trip.
The day was the 30th of November,
cold and with a pouring rain,
but I wanted to see these
lovely veggies once again before leaving.

Here is a general map. North is up.
The Campo itself is perhaps two blocks long,
but the crowds it draws have led to many
businesses opening in the immediate area.

For reference, the Pantheon and Colosseum are underlined in red.

The little colored dots represent bars, eateries, shops and sleeping accommodations
that have PAID to be on google's map. The blue circle is for the adjacent Piazza Farnese,
that I did not have time to write about on this posting.

I love these terracotta pots. Their slightly rough bottom doesn't work with my higher-tech
glass top cooking surface at home in Chicago,
but I still like to take a look at these.
They are wonderful for oven baking,
but a bit fragile,
susceptible to breaking when dropped on floors
or when subjected to rapid temperature changes.
The ancient Romans used pots something like this,
and literally small buried mountains of broken pots
(and plates, jugs and cups)
are found by the archeologists.

We are very fond of olive wood artifacts,
and although we have more than enough at home,
I still like to look at these.
HOWEVER, at 17 euros (about 19 USD)
for the smallest one,
which is not much longer than my hand,
I moved on, muttering to myself.

The Europeans survived for millennia
before the appearance of
"pomodori" (golden apples) from the New World,
but Italian cuisine (especially the
non-Northern varieties of cookery)
takes them to wondrous heights.

This vegetarian has no idea what is
the name of this curious veggie in the center.
It might be a variant of raddicchio.

Artichokes are one of heaven's gifts to humans.
Unlike the ones I can buy in the USA, these are
a. cheap (about 1 euro each) and
b. intensely flavored.

When I was a kid and admonished to
"eat yer veggies",
they were NEVER this colorful.

Tchotchke, anyone?

Dried mushrooms galore!
One does have to pay attention
to the weight of each package
more than the overall price.
Fancy looking whole slices
cost more than broken bits,
but at least you can better tell
WHAT is in the package.
It is useful to remember that 100 grams
is only about 3 1/2 US ounces.

The market stall holders used to close up
around 1:30 p.m., (they had to buy their fresh produce at the wholesale market around 5 a.m.).
They would perform almost choreographed routines of packing, lidding crates, folding stands and shade umbrellas and tucking them all,
with the precision of an orgami master,
all onto a wheeled conveyance
that usually was human-powered.

The market nowadays stays open most of the afternoon, since most of their customers are tourists, the locals having been priced out of the rental market (or driven out by the horrific noise level for most of the night from drunken revelers).

There are some vendors who have three wheeled truck-lets, called APIs,
because their engine makes a bee-like drone.

A nearby street. Since this is a main thoroughfare of the area, there are many, many shops and bars along it. The narrow side streets and alleys have a large number of small doors that lead to tiny areas the market stall holders rent to keep their wares and equipment.

TOMATOES!!
Along with an unknown to me veggie or herb called Agrottoi, then fennel, carrots, spinach. In the back rows are cauliflower, romaine lettuce, a pumpkin cousin (that one sold by the hunk), lemons, cabbages, zucchini with their blossoms still attached (how's that for FRESH?), turnips and other greens.
I wanted to say "Un kilo di tutto, per favore", but it was the wrong day to buy 2.2 pounds of everything, or even as small a quantity as an etto (100 grams).

Normally in the USA, strawberries this large are gorgeous but flavorless. Not so here. Their perfume would make anyone buy them, no matter the price. (Here it is 3 euros for a little basket -- cesto.)
The smaller ones are twice the price. There are even tinier strawberries, some of the "wild" ones are much smaller than a thumbnail but cost, as the Italian expression goes, an arm and a head (Un braccio ed una testa).

I have NO idea what these little beauties taste like, but it must be good to offer them at 22 euros a kilo, or about 25 USD for 2.2 pounds.

This one is goat's milk blue cheese, with a layer of crushed blueberries, honey and an unknown to me substance called RHOM. At 70 euros for 2.2 pounds, this may well be a delicacy, but, no thanks.

The white forms in the foreground are VERY fresh ricotta. These are NOTHING at all like what is sold in Chicago in packaged tubs.