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Lazio

Lazio, Italy's third most populous, region includes Rome and a good deal more, although Rome hogs most of the attention.

In spite of the capital's wealth and fame, la cucina romana is fairly simple: artichokes in various forms, hearty pasta dishes (fettuccini and pappardelle, and pasta all'amatriciana) and secondi that include offal dishes such as pajata and trippa alla romana as well as saltimbocca alla romana. It's especially good for snack foods, from supplì to porchetta to Roman-style pizza al taglio.

The name comes from Latium, the land of the ancient Latin tribe who soon came to dominate the region—and the entire Mediterranean world.

abbacchio

milk-fed lamb

acquacotta

poor man's soup

amatriciana

classic pasta sauce from Lazio

anguilla

eel

arrabbiata

spicy hot pasta sauce

arzilla

common skate

bazzoffia

spring vegetable soup

bomboloni

filled doughnuts

bombolotti

squat fat ridged tubes of pasta

broccoletti

'little broccolis'

brodettato

kid or lamb in egg lemon sauce

bucatini

Fat spaghetti with a hole in the middle

cacio e pepe

classic Roman pasta dish

cacio

semi-soft cheese

Caciofiore

fresh sheep's cheese made with vegetable rennet

carbonara

sauce made with eggs, pancetta and parmigiano

carciofo

artichoke

cardoncelli

king oyster mushrooms

carrettiera

spicy tomato sauce, or tuna and mushroom sauce

castagna

chestnut

castagnole

Carnival fritters

ceciliani

'Sicilian' gnocchi

ciambella

ring-shaped cake, or doughnut

cicerchia

grass pea

ciliegie

cherries

cinghiale

wild boar

ciriole

thick square homemade spaghetti

coda

tail (bovine, most likely)

coppa

a spicy salame—or a cup

coppiette

'little couples'—Roman jerky

corallina

one of Rome's favourite salame

coratella

offal

coregone

whitefish

erba

herb or green

fagioli

beans, beans, beans and more beans

fallone

savoury bun filled with greens, garlic and pepperoncino

fegatelli

pigs liver

fettuccine

pasta ribbons

fieno

'straw' pasta

fiori

flowers

fregnacce

wide, flat pasta

friarielli

turnip tops, or green peppers

frittata

omelette, Italian style

fritto misto

mixed fry

giubba e calzoni

chunky lamb soup

Giuncata

a soft cheese from the south

gnoccacci

ugly gnoccacci

gnocchi

dumplings

gricia

classic Roman pasta sauce

guanciale

cured pork cheek or jowl

jacculi

long fat noodles

lavarello

Lavaret whitefish

lenticchie

lentils

lepre

hare

lesso

boiled meat

maccheroni

macaroni, and more

maritozzo

Roman sugar bun

Marzolino

a Tuscan sheep cheese

mazzi

dried pork intestines

milza

spleen

misticanza

Roman mixed salad

mistrà

anise liqueur

mozzarella

mozzarella

nocciola

hazelnut

oliva

olive

padellaccia

herby fried pork parts

pajata

milk-fed calf's intestines

pampepato

fruit and nut cake

pan

bread or cake or something else

Panarda

an enormous communal feast

pane casareccio di Genzano

traditional home-style bread

pane di Lariano

Lazio country bread

pangiallo

Rome's Christmas cake

panzanella

Tuscan bread salad or flat bread

papalina

papal pasta with eggs and prosciutto

pappardelle

wide pasta ribbons

paranza

small fry

pecorino

sheep's milk cheese

penne all'arrabbiata

angry quills!

peperoncino

chili peppers

pesche

soft cream-filled brioches

pignattaccia

beef stew, baked in the oven

pinsa

oval Roman style pizza

pinzimonio

crudité salad

pizza di pasqua

Roman Easter cake

porchetta

herby slow roast pork

Provatura

mini-mozzarella

Provola

cheese from Campania and Sicily

puntarelle

chicory sprouts

pupazza

three breasted cookie from Frascati

quinto quarto

offal

ramiccia

thin handmade tagliatelle from Lazio

ratafià

rustic liqueur

ricotta

soft whey cheese

sagne

flat pasta

salame del re

jelly roll

salsiccia

sausage

saltimbocca

'jump-in-the-mouth' veal

sciuscelle

carob, sweet or soup

spianata

pitta bread...or a salame

stoccafisso

stockfish, or wind-dried cod

straccetti

thin slices

stracci

very thin omelettes

stracciatella

egg drop soup or ice cream or cheese

strigoli

bladder campion leaves or homemade pasta worms

subiachini

almond cookies

supplì

breaded and fried rice rissoles

susianella di Viterbo

pork salame

susumelle

Calabrian cookies

tartufo

truffle

telline

a species of baby clam

tiella

a word of many meanings

timballo alla Bonifacio VIII

The Pope's pie

tonnarelli

fat home-made spaghetti

tozzetti

anise-flavoured almond and hazelnut biscotti

Trapizzino

a pizza corner with various fillings

uccelli

little birds, or shaped like them

vignarola

the soup of spring

vipere

blind viper pasta

visciole

sour cherries/cherry wine

vitabla

traveller’s joy or old man’s beard

zeppole

'St Joseph's pastries'

zozzona

'dirty' pasta sauce

zucchini

courgettes, zucchini

Text © Dana Facaros & Michael Pauls