Cucina Povera, or peasant cuisine, is back in style – not only in Italy, but also the rest of the world! Cucina Povera is not some radical diet, but a cuisine that actually makes a lot of sense. It consists of ingredients that are inexpensive and readily available – nothing is left to waste. Little to no meat is used in Cucina Povera. The result is a cuisine that is heavily based on grains, legumes and vegetables and a diet that is healthy and ecologically sound. Cucina Povera reminds me of the “Eat Local” campaigns you see popping up everywhere.
Even still, I was a little skeptical about Cucina Povera, but any doubts I had were laid to rest during my Cucina Povera meal at Armandoa al Pantheon. Our guide Gina from Context Travel, walked us through our simple, yet surprisingly tasty meal. One of my favorite dishes was the artichoke pictured above. Other typical Cucina Povera dishes include risotto with nettles or soup with chestnuts – ingredients that are readily available in the Italian countryside, or available for low cost at a Rome market. When cooking your own cucina povera just remember this advice from Gina “What grows together goes together.” You may already be eating Cucina Povera already but just didn’t know it - now you have a fancy sounding name for it to impress all your guests! Have you tried Cucina Povera?
Eating Cucina Povera completed my “Live Like a Local” experience provided by HouseTrip, where we also Traveled Like a Local, Shopped Like a Local and even Fought Like a Local at gladiator school (well an ancient local in this case). Of course we also slept like a local in one of HouseTrip’s many amazing apartments in Rome- ours had an amazing view of the Rome Coliseum! You can book your own Cucina Povera experience in Rome through Context Travel. Thank you to HouseTrip and Context Travel for introducing me to Cucina Povera!
