Rome is filled with beautiful towns that take away your worldly sorrows with their beauty; consider Frascati. While Frascati is famous for its natural and architectural wonders, the food here is much more than anything else. This tiny town is a food haven representing rather different kinds of cuisine from a region’s rich cultural heritage. Since Rome will see an abundance of tourists for Jubilee 2025 this article will go through the culinary journey of Frascati so that you and your family can discover traditional dishes, their process, and the best place to eat and make your trip not only spiritual but delicious.
Antipasti
These are generally the appetizers that start a meal in Frascati. An ‘Antipasto Frascatano’ is basically a main component of cold cuts, cheese, and marinated vegetables. Curing of meat—like the flavorful ‘Coppa di Testa’—is done through seasoning with a mix of herbs and spices, then left to dry-cure in order to create the rich and savory flavor.
Pasta
At the heart of Frascati’s cuisine lie pasta dishes, with ‘Pasta alla Gricia’ being the locals’ favorite. This dish is actually an homage to the simplicity of Italian cooking: only a few quality ingredients are needed, such as pasta, guanciale or cured pork cheek, Pecorino Romano cheese, and black pepper. Timing and precision are all there in making ‘Pasta alla Gricia’. One has to cook the pasta al dente, crisp up the guanciale to perfection so that textures and flavors are in complete harmony.
Indulging in the Main Course with Secondi
The secondi course offers Frascati with a variety of meat and fish. Specialties include ‘Abbacchio alla Cacciatora,’ which is a delicate lamb dish. The marinade includes wine, vinegar, herbs; the latter is then stewed until tender. This type of cooking does not only tenderise the meat but also imparts into it the fragrance of the herbs.
The Sweet Finale
No meal is ever finished in Frascati without the ‘dolci’: the sweet treats at the end of lunch. One of the most famous and most loved desserts is the ‘Crostata di Ricotta e Visciole’, a tart made with ricotta cheese and sour cherries. First, a buttery pastry crust is laid on the counter, then the filling of delicious ricotta mixed with cherries is put on top of it and finally, it is baked until golden. That will bring out the nice contrast of creamy ricotta against sour cherries making this treat a delectable one.
Wine is Frascati’s Liquid Gold
Frascati has also lent its name to its wine, particularly the white. Winemaking in Frascati is a very ancient tradition that sees the local vineyards give way to wines that are crisp, aromatic, and slightly mineral. A visit to Frascati is incomplete without a wine-tasting session wherein one samples the local wines and gets to know the painstaking process involved in viticulture and winemaking.
Where to Eat in Frascati
The number of restaurants and trattorias listed really amounts to a good taste of the town. ‘Osteria San Rocco Piacente’ is a little gastronomic gem offering the best of traditional Italian cuisine in a warm, convivial hospitality.’La Cucina Con Vista’ will offer a more formal dining experience with a full menu of Italian, seafood and international food. This place, unlike ‘Tinello 28’, will be interactive, whereby a course on how to make pasta will be offered to the clients to teach them how to make this food from scratch.
Frascati is a town that prides itself on its food traditions. Each dish, from antipasti to dolci, narrates an episode of the town’s history and processes refined over generations. You could be a foodie or a tourist who has a taste for adventure—the gastronomic landscape of Frascati is going to overwhelm you, soaking you in an unforgettable and pleasing experience. And so, do eat like a Frascatano while you are in Frascati and relish every single bite of paradise.
