Black Gaeta are black olives made in Italy that can be either dry-cured or brine-cured.The dry-cured ones are wrinkly, shrivelled and chewy with a mildly sour and salty taste. They are packed in oil with herbs such as rosemary. The brine-cured ones are dark purple and plump. Either way, Black Gaeta Olives are popular in…
Lazio Food
Canino Olives
Canino Olives are small round olives. Their oil content is in the lower range, 14 to 15%, but the oil is considered a good quality oil so the olives are grown primarily for oil. The olives mature in December. The tree needs another type of olive tree to cross-pollinate with. History Notes Native to Latium…
Carboncella Olives
Carboncella Olives are a small olive (between 1.5 and 2 grams) that is grown for oil owing to its high oil yield of 21 to 25%. The olives are harvested when they mature to a purplish-black. The tree is a good, constant producer that provides a good supply of fair-quality oil. It requires another type…
Guanciale
Guanciale is an unsmoked bacon made from the meat from the jowls (cheeks) of a pig. Some cuts and pieces of Guanciale are very lean, taking in a good deal of the muscle strips in the cheek and jaw. Others will be fattier than streaky bacon or American-style bacon, and seem like a strip of…
Itrana Olives
The Itrana Olive tree is an olive tree cultivar grown in the Lazio (Latium) area of Italy.The tree needs another olive tree to pollinate with. It produces round, medium-sized olives that are used in making both table olives and oil. The olives have a good oil yield of 20 to 22%. The oil has a…
Mortadella di Accumoli
Mortadella di Accumoli is a cylinder-shaped mortadella. Inside, the meat is red with white fat spots in it. It is made in Accumoli and Antrodoco in Lazio. Traditionally, it was only made November through to March when pigs were slaughtered; now, it is made year round. The pigs it is made from are fed only…
Mortadella di Amatrice
Mortadella di Amatrice is a plump shaped mortadella, made in Amatrice, near the Monti della Laga, in the south of Lazio, near the border with Abruzzo. It is purplish-red inside, with a lightly-smoked, spicy taste. It is made using a very similar technique to Mortadella di Campotosto. It use uses lean meat from the shoulder,…
Mortadella di Cavallo
Mortadella di Cavallo is a version of mortadella made around Rome using horsemeat. It is made in a cylinder form, weighing 12 oz (350g.) Inside, it is red coloured and has a mild flavour. It is made from young horses between 1 and 3 years old, sourced from either Lazio or Tuscany. Meat from a…
Mortadella Viterbese
Mortadella Viterbese is a version of mortadella made in the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, Italy. The sausage is made in a cylinder shape, 1 1/2 to 2 inches (4 to 5 cm) wide. Inside, the sausage is bright red with white splodges from the lard in it, and black dots from the pepper. It…
Mozzarella Cheese
Mozzarella is a fresh, stringy Italian cheese made from buffalo milk. Its full name is buffalo milk mozzarella, or “Mozzarella di Bufalo” in Italian. The cheese is pure white. It has a creamy texture and a slight fresh tang to it, but otherwise little other taste. If it has a sour taste, it is getting…
Pecorino Romano Cheese
Pecorino Romano is a creamy-white cheese made from sheep’s milk in the vicinity of Rome. The curd is drained, then pierced to make fine holes, then salted. It’s often just called “Romano Cheese.” The cheese seems a bit like Parmesan, but grates more finely and has a sharper, saltier taste. North American Romano is usually…
Rosciola di Rotello Olives
Rosciola di Rotello Olives are small olives that are harvested for oil when they are a greenish golden-yellow, just before they start darkening to brown. If left longer, the olives would ripen to a purplish-black. The olives, with a 20% oil yield, are mid-range in terms of their oil content, but the tree is a…