Oh yes....

Elizabeth Minchilli in Rome: caffe shakerato: "There are so many ways to order coffee in Rome. I think someone told me that there are over forty ways Romans ask for their coffee in a bar...."

From Elizabeth:
My go-to treat is of course a granita di cafe. But it is a treat, more of a dessert than a post meal pick me up.

Domenico comes home most days for lunch, and after we eat we walk Pico towards Via dei Serpenti or Via Boschetto for a coffee. That would be an espresso. We alternate between The Pope’s Coffee and Er Baretto. Both make perfect espressos, served in pre-heated cups. Hot hot hot.

But they also serve the summertime alternative: caffe shakerato. Don’t you love it when English words are used to create completely new Italian words by adding on an ‘ino’ or ‘ato’? In this case you’ve probably already guessed what this drink is. It’s a caffe that’s been shaken. Shakerato. Literally.

I’m not sure when this drink started turning up in Italian bars. I suspect it migrated from Greece, where Nescafe is added to ice and water and then shaken to create a luscious and sweet version of ice coffee.

The Italian Shakerato is a much more minimal and intense affair. A freshly pulled espresso, poured in a cocktail shaker with a bit of sugar. Abundant ice, a thirty second hard shake. And then poured ever so elegantly into a stemmed glass.

Perfect.

But remember I said the temperature has climbed into oven territory? The other day we couldn’t even face the block long walk under the midday sun to go get a cold coffee. So I decided to make us each one at home. As per instructions I added just a bit of sugar, which would insure I got a nice foamy head. Then I pulled out the martini glasses about six hours ahead of cocktail time.

All very elegant. And very cool. And enough caffeine to get us both through the few hours left to a sultry Roman work day.




Yes, we leave in >3 days...

Need pics????

Gladly ---

How about this??? Amatriciana please....

More from Elizabeth:

Perilli.

This old fashioned Testaccio trattoria has been going strong since 1911. And even if they recently spruced up the place, the important things remain the same. Certainly the food, and - I suspect - even some of the waiters, haven’t changed in decades.

I guess some people are a bit put off by the fact that it feels like an insider’s only-Roman place to go. And in fact, you’ll find few tourists there (especially at Sunday lunch). It always has been, and remains, a place frequented by regulars.

While I love the waiters, and the slightly frumpy over-lit, mural-covered dining room, of course what keeps me coming back is the food. My favorite dish: hands down the carbonara. This is (and you heard it here) the best carbonara in Rome. Al dente rigatoni bathed in a wet gooey coating of egg and cheese, studded with huge chewy chunks of guanciale. I could eat it three times a day, every day.

My daughter Sophie prefers (although prefers is putting it lightly - rather ‘would kill for’) the Amatriciana. This is her obsession and if she could stop by on the airport on her way back to London and fill up her suitcase with Perilli’s Amatriciana she would do so.

One word (not sure it's a word?) --- YUM!

And check out this little gem near where we're staying:

http://www.elizabethminchilliinrome.com/2011/07/neighborhood-bar-lotti.html