Cooking and Preserving Blackcurrants - and a whinge!

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Cooking with and preserving Fruit – Blackcurrants

I really do recommend rooting out old and unproductive blackcurrant bushes. I have a row of five that I inherited when I took over my plot. I have pruned them carefully over the last few years, manured them, cut out the branches infected with ‘big-bud’ – (and burnt them – big-bud is caused by a mite which gets into the small growing buds. The growth then fails in these buds and is apparent by an over-fat bud which fails to develop.) I was told it was endemic on our plots but, none of my modern varieties has been infected – albeit 10 metres away. These pampered bushes have not rewarded me. They do produce fruit but, it is small, fiddly to pick and gives that nasty hard fruit I so remember from my childhood which put me off the dreadful crunchy, seedy blackcurrant jam we always had. Let’s face it strawberries were so much easier to grow, faster to pick and the jam was yummy.

However, apart from jam, strawberries do not preserve well – they are best enjoyed when fresh and anticipated with excitement each summer.

Blackcurrants, on the other hand have lots of uses when fresh and preserve easily through a variety of methods. They have strong flavour which works well with other red wine and herbs in both sweet and savoury dishes.

Try:

Blackcurrant pie

Blackcurrant crumble

Blackcurrant muffins

Frozen blackcurrants

Blackcurrant jus to serve with savoury dishes(can be made from frozen berries)
Blackcurrant jam

                                                     Blackcurrant jelly

                                                     Blackcurrant sorbet

                                                     Mixed with cereals - muesli or oats for breakfast

                                                     Why not just eat them straight from the bush?

Blackcurrants are definitely one of the ‘superfoods’ and are cheap and easy to grow. If you buy just one bush, it is easy to take and establish cuttings to create new bushes for future years ( expect to wait a couple of years for results – more later). I was tempted to list all the vitamins and minerals they contain but, resisted. Really there is not a lot missing. Do remember that, although an excellent source of Vitamin C, this will be destroyed on cooking.

Blackcurrants are easily frozen - remove any leaves, stalks or pieces of twig. Wash and store into shallow lidded freezer containers - freeze quickly. They will taste great all winter - unless you eat them first of course!

Preserves:-

Blackcurrant Jam

2 kilos(4lb) blackcurrants

1 litre ( 2 pts) water (or enough to barely cover the fruit)

3 kilos sugar

Method

·         Remove all leaf bits, twigs and stalks and wash the fruit.

·         Put the fruit into a preserving pan with the water and cook very gently until all the fruit is soft and well broken down. The skins need to be soft. Stir frequently to ensure the fruit is not sticking to the pan.

·         Add the sugar and over a very gentle heat, stir continuously until all of the sugar has dissolved.

·         Boil briskly until the setting point is reached ( use a sugar thermometer or place a spoonful on a saucer in a cool place, until it wrinkles when pushed gently with your finger tip.)

·         In the meantime – place sterilised pots into a warm oven to heat ( cold pots will break if hot jam is added to them).

·         Place the pots on a wooden surface or board then pot the jam ( a jam funnel is useful). Cover and label.

 Blackcurrant jelly

2 kilos (4lbs) blackcurrants

Enough water to barely cover the fruit

Sugar – see below

Method

·         Wash the fruit and remove any pieces of leaves or small twigs – stalks can stay in.

·         Put the fruit into a preserving pan with the water and cook very gently until all the fruit is soft and well broken down. The skins need to be soft. Stir frequently to ensure the fruit is not sticking to the pan.

·         Pour the pulp into a scalded jelly bag and strain overnight – don’t be tempted to squeeze the jelly bag – it will make your jelly clouded for little extra juice.

·         Measure the liquid and add ½ kilo (1 lb) sugar for every 1 litres ( 2 pts) liquid.

·         Put the liquid and the sugar into a preserving pan and heat gently – stirring regularly until the sugar has all dissolved.

·         Boil the jelly briskly until setting point has been reached.

·         Pot up into hot sterilised jars and label.

Do try the brilliant recipe below for blackcurrant sorbet:-

Black Currant Sorbet – converted from  Food.com

500 - 600 g black currants

1 lemon, juice of

14.79 ml egg white ( approx 1 Tblsp or the white of 1 medium egg)

 sprig of mint(to garnish)

Method

Prep Time: 1 hr

Total Time: 4 hrs

In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring the sugar and 1/2 cup of water to a boil, stir until the sugar dissolves. Boil the syrup for 2 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and set aside to cool.

1.      Remove the black currants from the stalks by pulling them through the tines of a fork.

2.      In a blender, process the black currants and lemon juice until smooth. Alternatively, chop the black currants coarsely, then add the lemon juice. Mix in the sugar syrup.

3.      Press the puree through a sieve to remove the seeds.

4.      Pour the puree into a non-metallic, freezer proof dish. Cover the dish with plastic wrap or a lid, and freeze until the sorbet is almost firm, but still a little slushy.

5.      Cut the sorbet into pieces and put into the blender. Process until smooth, then with the machine running, add the egg white and process until well blended. Transfer the sorbet back into the dish, and freeze until almost firm. Chop the sorbet again and process until smooth. ( I know this seems like a lot of processing, but it makes the sorbet very smooth, and is really necessary).

6.      7 Serve immediately or freeze, tightly covered, for up to 1 week. Allow to soften 5-10 minutes at room temperature before serving, garnish with mint leaves.

I really do need to have a whinge about a very well known and well awarded seed company in the UK (Thompson&Morgan). They provide products and services ideas that have been missed by other companies. They have received awards for the on-line service they provide yet, it seems to me that, since they have started receiving all these awards, the quality of their products and service has seriously deteriorated. In the last 12 months I think I have phoned or emailed them to complain about the quality of some product or other in every order I’ve received. I’m sure their computer has it on record that I am ‘Complain Central’, yet I have never ever had reason to complain to any of the other companies I regularly buy seeds or plants from.

Today I received an order I had requested to replace plants I had put in the compost bin as they had grown too long and thin to be viable, because of the long very dry spring making the ground untillable and therefore unplantable (in this case it was brassicas). The plant plugs I received were every bit as bad, or worse. I had also bought leek plants as my own were not good. They have arrived very yellowed and they look, like the brassicas, as though they have been in transit for a week or more – yet the records show that they have been in transit for less than 48 hours – not time enough for them to have got into this condition through being stuck in a parcel for a long time. In fairness to T&M, they had also sent me cauliflower plugs, several weeks ago which are brilliant and pepper plants a week ago which are good but really, 50% good is not good enough!

I have potted up the brassicas in any case, in the vain hope they might grow into something worth the money I paid for them! Do tell me what you think.

Harvesting and Preserving Fruit - redcurrants and gooseberries

Picking and using  - gooseberries and redcurrants

 

Well, we have now had the rain needed to wet the ground  enough to be able to till it and plant again and most of the vegetables that had been planted earlier are beginning to grow away.  So, of course, are the weeds. This year, so far, the weeds have not been too much of a problem, nor have the edges needed trimming too often but now they seem to be a bit out of control.

No worries, I won’t have to spend several hours each day carrying water – except to my polytunnel, I should have plenty of time to keep the weeds under control. But, I now have a lot of fruit to pick each time I go there. Already I have lots of tubs in the freezer of raspberries and blackcurrants. So far I have found other homes for my strawberries. I’m not a great jam eater and although I do make jams and jellies each year, I give most of it away. It seems to be quite a good year for strawberries. I have two quite large beds. The older one, which is now three years old and due to be replaced this autumn, is being particularly productive with very large fruits. I’m wondering if it is worth keeping it for another year.

The raspberries are still fruiting on last year’s canes, as soon as they have finished I will cut them out and start on the crop from the new canes. I have one row which, although the plants look lush and healthy produces very poor fruit. I inherited the canes when I took over the plot and this winter I will remove it. With modern varieties of fruit there is no need to keep underperforming stock. When I took over the plot I bought some new canes – a summer fruiting variety and an autumn fruiting variety. For the life of me I can’t remember what I bought, which is a shame as they have been excellent.

I will do the same with a row of blackcurrant bushes which, although I have pruned, fertilised and mulched them well, they continue to produce small, fiddly to pick fruits which, this year, I have just left for the birds. I notice they don’t seem to want them either – aren’t they becoming choosy?

While strawberries and raspberries will continue to fruit for some time, you only have one chance with some of the fruit. Gooseberries, redcurrants and blackcurrants really need to be picked when they are ready and there is no second or third crop to go back to if you don’t catch the first round though, to be fair blackcurrants don’t all ripen at once.

You will probably have a couple of weeks in which to ‘catch’ them but, once picked you have to be prepared to do something with them. Yesterday I picked all my redcurrants and about half of my gooseberries. The quantity of redcurrants is a little disappointing. Although I only have one bush, it is enormous and for the last few years has provided me with a bucket of the fruit. I do think that the pigeons and blackbirds have managed to find their way into my fruit cage and have had more than their share. I always leave a few small gaps just in case they do get in and can’t escape in an emergency – fox or cat. This year I’d say I have a large bowlful. I love redcurrant jelly to serve with all sorts of roast meat and while I know it is a bit unimaginative, that is what I will do again this year. If I had picked enough of them I would have frozen several tubs for winter use. It won’t be too bad though, I still have a few pots left from my bumper harvest last year.

Check on the website link on the top right-hand corner for recipes for jams and jellies – see the preserving pages.

While I may not have had an enormous crop of redcurrants, I certainly have a lot of gooseberries. While they are delicious, they are also quite fiddly to prepare. If you are going to make jam or jelly with them or, make pies or crumble they can be slightly under-ripe. For eating fresh or for gooseberry fool they are probably better really ripe.

They are quite a versatile fruit and are excellent for preserving to keep for winter use.

Gooseberries make a wonderful jelly – similar to crab-apple jelly but, a bit more flavoursome. It is also delicious served with roast meat dishes with finely chopped mint or rosemary added.

If you are going to make jelly you can skip all the tedious process of topping and tailing them (removing the stalks and the remains of the flowers at the other end). However, for jam, desserts and for freezing these must be removed.

Wash the fruit (always with gooseberries), top and tail them and pack loosely into a shallow lidded freezer container or, try dry-freezing them. Spread them out on kitchen-paper on a tray and freeze as individual fruits. When frozen, they can be packed into freezer bags. Easy!

Do keep some of them to make a gooseberry pie or a crumble. I know it is summertime but these traditional hot puddings are always delicious. Serve with vanilla ice-cream, crème fraîche or single cream – what a treat.

Rome 4 - Arrivederci Roma - the Vatican City, Sistine chapel, Trevi Fountain

Rome 4 – Finale  - Arrivederci Roma!

Well, of course, all holidays must come to an end and most quickly those we enjoy the most. My daughter, with whom I had enjoyed this holiday asked me  - ‘What if we don’t go home? What would you most want to see if we just stayed here?’ We decided that, for this trip, if it could be arranged, we had a couple of things to see in Rome then we would hire a car and head out into the hills surrounding the city and explore – perhaps stay forever and never return to real-life. Well, I would have to contact my cat carer!

We started our morning with our last forlorn farewell to the Trevi Fountain then caught a bus the The Vatican City – well really, you can’t go to Rome without a visit to it. And I know it is a separate State but......

Although we knew the City opened for business at 7.00am, we had thought that getting there about 10.00am would be okay. Well, take it from me, it isn’t. Plan to be there for 7.00am.

The queues for tickets are stressful which was possibly why this was the only place in Rome where we found people to be aggressive, unfriendly, rude and unhelpful. That included our fellow tourists and the people who worked there. Dare I say it – the most entertaining incident which happened while we were queuing was a group of young clerics who were being ushered through a ‘fast-track’ into the Vatican City. When the group was half way through a ‘gatekeeper’ very vociferously stopped the process and entered  into a lengthy and acrimonious, high-decibel discussion on whether or not these young priests could be allowed to queue-jump. I don’t think they won and I’m sure that, although they must have been seriously looking forward to this visit, this very public row must have affected their enjoyment of their trip. We might never know but, perhaps the future Pope at some time in the future, might have been in that group and have been affected by his reception to the Holy City!

After our long queue for tickets we went into the queue for St Peter’s Basilica. We decided to go up to the top of the Cupola. There is an elevator which will take you up part of the way and at that level the photographic opportunities are probably better that at the top. You can come out at a level at the top of the Basilica, allowing you a bird’s-eye view of the central area of the church. And this for me was definitely the most unimaginablely wonderful site I’ve ever seen. I could have stayed there for hours drinking in this sight.

The top of the cupola is accessed by a staircase – 320 steps beyond the elevator, there are many warnings about attempting this feat – Really! Don’t even attempt it if you are unfit or are claustrophobic. The camber of the climb into the shape of the dome and the very narrow passage could defeat the strongest will or physique.

We unwound with a coke after our climb, feeling that the sugar as much as the water was necessary to revive us. It was a pity that the surly service was somewhat deflating. We then visited the Basilica of St Peter. not quiet as amazig as it was from just below the dome but, nonetheless, that hideous bronze Baldachin over the High Alter to St Peter and of course the Michangelo Pieta was remarkable. I'm sorry about the poor reproduction.

Wanting to see the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel – or even Sixteen Chapel, we very much wanted to see the ceiling painted by Michelangelo. By now it was mid-morning and we looked with some dismay at the crowds heading in the direction of the chapel. As it was hot we decided to stop for a coffee in a nearby caffetteria. They did eventually serve us with some very mediocre coffee but really – they were rude, intrusive upon our space, dismissive and over-eager to take our money. If you would like a coffee in the middle of all of this melée – go somewhere else.

We joined the queue for the Sistine Chapel. My daughter scouted the queue and reckoned it was then about 500metres long. During the hour we were there, it had probably moved about 10 metres – in very hot sunshine. At all times, you will be bombarded by sellers of water, umbrellas and sellers of tickets to skip the queues. We were tempted except for the fact that we had already visited St Peter’s and, we had a plane to catch.

Having talked to people since my return from Rome their description of the Sistine Chapel is reminiscent of my visit top Versailles’s Hall of Mirrors – nose to tail with little opportunity to see anything.

We returned to our hotel by the Fountain of the Four Rivers - Piazza Navona, another of Bernini's creations. The Fountain depicts the four major rivers at that time - The origins of the fountain are somewhat ambigious but the statuary is interesting nonetheless.

The next time I return to Rome – and there will be a next time, Good Grief I’ve paid my three coins to the Trevi Fountain – I will be in the queue fir the Sistine Chapel at 7.00am when it opens to the public.

Our hotel booked us a taxi back to the airport – expensive at 50euros but, oh so nice and well worth it – it was a long journey home, with dreams of the wonderful city, exquisite food, delectable wine and future explorations.

Rome 3 - The Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, shopping in Rome, Eating in Rome

Rome 3 – Too much to do, Too much to see, Too little Time

We started early again, aware that we were running out of time and that there was still so much to see but, constantly looking at those famous sites and sights and art, can be very exhausting. We had also promised ourselves we would spend a morning shopping. Thinking of my daughter’s fast approaching wedding I had thought I would look for a suitable outfit in that home of fashion – Italy! and surely, where better than Rome?

Before we sharpened our credit cards, we started with the Pantheon, as it was closest to our hotel. Francesco da Mosto, in his BBC programme on Rome has made it look irresistibly interesting, though I had barely heard of it before. I had visited the Pantheon in Paris several times over the years and understood it’s design had been based on its namesake in Rome. In any case, we decided it was definitely on our list of things to see and - what an amazing building.

Built somewhere around the 1^st century AD it is, apart from its portico, circular in shape. The huge dome, is semi-circular – the height from the floor to the centre of the oculus being the same as the diameter at 142 feet or 43.3 metres. The oculus itself – an opening to the sky, is the only source of light within the building. Francesco da Mosto claimed that when it rained or snowed through the oculus, it was magical. (perhaps he didn’t use exactly those words!) While we didn’t get the rain the almost tangible sunbeams through the roof were awe inspiring, igniting the colours of the floor below. The Pantheon was built originally for the worship of the ancient Roman Gods but, in the 7^th Century AD was consecrated as a Christian church and has been in constant use ever since.

Over the centuries various parts of the building have been removed including much of the external marble and the bronze from the roof of the portico, some of which, it has been suggested, went to make the absolutely ghastly Baldachin or canopy created by Bernini over the high alter of St Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican City – what was he thinking?

Although the outside of the building looks crumbling and ancient, the interior is still, after 2,000 years, looking pretty impressive. Worryingly, some cracks are appearing on the dome. They look small from the floor but I guess, up close, they must be of some concern.

We stopped off for a cafe latte at a nearby caffetteria and enjoyed the warm sunshine and a bit of people watching, then caught a bus to the Via del Corso (yes, I know this is where our hotel was situated but, it is a very long street and we were looking for the opposite end for our shopping). We tried a few shops then moved onto the Via di Ripetta and its side-streets where all the expensive shops are.

I was amazed (though I shouldn’t have been) to find on Via Tomacelli, a very large shop for Ferrari products which was packed with Ferrari fans looking for the iconic products to sport. I was particularly impressed by a giant sized control-car in the show window.

Still pursuing my wedding outfit, we explored a few of the likely looking shops. At one stage I even had a few outfits in my hand to try on. One of the shop assistants approached me and asked ‘For you Signora?’ She looked me up and down with a frown and said ‘No’ emphatically! Well I might have been a little ambitious in what may have fitted me but, really, if you are anything above a UK size 10, think twice about buying something to wear there. While I may not have the bird-like frames of young Italian women, neither am I as fat as many mature women in Italy and, surely, they must shop somewhere. We didn’t find anything and, a little put out by the response, we gave up.

We made our way to the nearby Spanish steps, enjoyed the atmosphere and happiness around us then at the top of the steps found a small cafeteria for a glass of wine and some lunch.

Opposite to where we sat was a house dedicated to the English poets, John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Apparently, Keats died there in 1821, at the age of 25 from consumption(TB). The house is now a museum dedicated to them and several other English poets of note, including Lord Byron. Somewhere else in Rome, we passed in a bus, fleetingly, a house with the names of Keats and Shelley but, I have not been able to track it down.

We returned to our hotel for a couple of hours, gathering our strength for the next foray – there’s nothing like shopping to sap one’s energy – it’s not my favourite occupation. We then went to the Fontana di Trevi, (Trevi Fountain). It was really only one or two minutes’ walk from our hotel and you really, really have to visit the Trevi Fountain. It was packed but, there was no pushing or shoving, no-one was impatient to have their turn to do anything. Everyone seemed happy to be there and share the space with others, not least a wedding couple having their photographs taken in this traditional romantic setting. We threw our three coins into the Fountain. According to Francesco da Mosto, the first coin is to return to Rome, the second is to marry a beautiful Roman woman and the third is to marry a beautiful Roman woman in Rome. Well! Clearly, I’m not interested in the last two so, all my three coins are wishes to return to Rome. It's amazing that these carvings sem to have been carved into the rocks that were there when the work was done - how else could these enormous stones have been brought to this place. ( perhaps if someone knows differently they could enlighten me)

And so to dinner!

My daughter had booked us a special ristorante while in London, through an organisation she is a member of – ‘Top Table’. We arrived at the appointed hour to ‘Ad Hoc’ on Via di Repetta.

( Via di Ripetta, 43 – Roma. –  info@ristoranteadhoc.it)

To our dismay, they didn’t have our reservation, made through ‘Top Table’. For a few minutes of anxiety we thought we wouldn’t be able to experience this much anticipated dinner. After checking their bookings, it was clear that the restaurant had not received the booking yet, they gave us a very central table and the most heartening reception. We started with a welcoming glass of Prosecco – a gift from the management and were presented with two extensive Italian wine menus – red and white wines. The restaurant itself is walled with shelves of fine wines giving the ambience of a wine cellar, though all the wines on show appeared to be red. One must assume that all the Rosés and White wines were stored somewhere more suitable.

Although marvellous, this is an expensive experience but, perhaps, one worth planning for.

Our first course was

·         Fritlurina di Calamaretti (well, that is what I wrote down) – Fried baby squid, asparagus, parmesan and potatoes milfoil.

·         3 fried pumpkin flowers with honey mushrooms, asparagus and black truffle

Our main course:

·         Roasted tender piglet with roasted chicory and sautéed zucchini.

·         Sliced  Sirloin of beef with thyme, white pepper olive oil and aubergine flan

After much debate on whether or not we needed a pudding – really we didn’t and shouldn’t have, we thought we would share a Degustazione dei Nostri Dolci – a tasting of all their desserts – it was exquisite! As was the whole meal.

Four hours after arriving at the restaurant we wandered home – satiated, on all levels.

Rome 3

Rome 2 - Another Day, Another Dinner

Rome 2 – Another Day, Another Dinner.

Our first day was very busy. Of course it was. We wanted to fit everything into the same day but, we were sensible. We mixed sightseeing with relaxing, people watching, enjoying the sunshine and of course, eating and drinking – not that we are alcoholics or anything!

The next day, we breakfasted early and took a bus to the Campo di Fiori. We had thought it was a flower market but, apparently the name goes back to the Middle Ages when it was a meadow. We were disappointed to find only two stalls selling flowers. It is certainly a market with an interesting selection of merchandise which ranges from clothes, food items, sweets and various bee products. As we had, thinking it a market in the English style, got there well before it had really started, we selected a caffetteria with a fine view of all the activities and relaxed over an excellent cafe latte.

We went across the Tevere (Tiber) by Ponte Palatino and past the ‘broken bridge’ the Ponte Rotto which was built originally in stone in 2^nd century BC. It was apparently damaged beyond repair in 16^th Century and now only one span is left standing but, remarkable nonetheless as it is the oldest stone bridge in Italy. We took photographs of the River Tiber then entered the Trastevere area where we wandered around the ancient streets and alleyways until lunchtime enjoying the small colourful piazzas we chanced upon. This is an area well worth exploring further – next time! We found a small cafe in Piazzo de Drago and although fine, it was unremarkable.

Dinner, on the other hand was amazing but, I’ll get to that later. First of all we had some important sightseeing to do. We went to Villa Borghese. Well! Visiting the Colosseum may be an exercise in ticking boxes but, visiting Villa Borghese most certainly is not. Built for Scipione Borghese in the 17^th century, not as a home but as a place to entertain friends and house his art collection. You really can’t imagine snuggling up in front of the fire on a cool evening with a glass of wine but, the collection of Bernini’s sculptures is beyond stunning. For me, the most wondrous statue is that of the Rape of Proserpina – Pluto, the God of the Underworld carrying her off to his kingdom.

Unfortunately, it is forbidden to take anything with you into the Villa. Go prepared. All bags, purses, mobiles, cameras must be checked into their repository though, do take a bottle of water with you – that is allowed. But, no photos to share.

The Villa was built on the Pincian Hill and is surrounded by an extensive, lush, scented parkland. There is an excellent range of amusing, rentable transports for exploring the area, from bicycles, horse drawn carriages, trains and, what we dubbed ‘pedalos’ – really four wheeled bicycles, some pedal powered and some motor powered. They looked like a lot of fun but, we never did discover where we could hire them. We eventually settled for a trip around the park in one of the trains. The driver was a little surly but it didn’t really spoil our enjoyment of the vast estate.

We had some difficulty finding our way off the hill and met others who were having difficulty finding their way to it. In our explorations we discovered a walled park where the citizens of Rome were enjoying their leisure time. Always an interest of mine, some small, quick, tree-creeping birds I never quite captured an image of and green parakeets. Lots of them.

                                             

We went to a pre-booked restaurant - Babette – interesting setting at the end of a somewhat higher-end shopping street, Via Margutta, which meets with Via Del Corso in Piazza del Popolo. The people’s Piazza, a spacious area has at its centre one of the many Egyptian Obelisks in Rome which acts as a focus for the interesting mix of families, tourists, musicians and shoppers.

Via Margutta, this pricey, artistic, well-up-itself street is the home of this most wonderful restaurant. It is situated about 200 metres from the Spanish Steps.

Do book in advance. (e-mail: babette@babetteristorante.it

Information on   www.babetteristorante.it)

The restaurant occupies two distinct areas – their indoor rooms and the outdoor piazza which, although outdoors, managed to convey a cosy, intimate ambiance.

Our menu included :

A present from the chef – vichyssoise soup with fried leeks. – I’m not a big fan of cold soups but, this one was delectable

We had for 1^st course:

·         Salt cod with tempura courgette flower

And

·         Layered soufflé with leek on a parmesan sauce

Main course was

·         Osso Buco

And

·         Vitello Milanese (recommended by the waiter which very much, lived up to its recommendation).

The wine was excellent though, I don’t remember its name.

Service was attentive, humorous, excellent and the facilities were immaculate.

After coffee we wandered in the direction of the Spanish steps.

It was at that time, close to 11.00pm but, there was definitely a fiesta atmosphere among the crowds. The Steps were stilled packed with happy, contented revellers. We vowed we would return then wended our replete and contented way back to our hotel.

Rome - A Feast for all the Senses

Rome – A Feast for ALL the Senses

The Eternal City – now why is it called that? But, this beautiful, fragrant, exciting city is the cradle of western civilisation and isn’t it so obvious.

We arrived very late into Rome airport after our flight, which was late anyway, had been delayed for over an hour. We were met by the most charming woman limousine driver with her very classy, sparklingly clean car (she must have been waiting for quite some time) who carried us into the centre of Rome to our hotel.

We had been advised beforehand of the dangers of picking up a taxi at the airport so, had booked this service from London before we left. It is expensive but, if all the warnings are to be heeded then it was well worth it. The cost for us was £50 but it is quite a distance and we felt welcomed, informed by our delightful driver of all the interesting sites we passed and we felt safe.

Our hotel (Hotel Regno on Via Corso) did what was expected of it. It was unremarkable, clean, served an adequate breakfast and was right in the middle of all the main tourist areas, The staff were pleasant, helpful and polite.

Although we had arrived very late, we were keen to start our exploration of this amazing city. The Vittorio Emanuele II monument (the king of Italy who first unified all the different states within this peninsula into one Italian State), was at the end of our street and beckoned to us each morning. This startlingly white edifice is also the site of the memorial to the Italian unknown warrior so is, of course, constantly guarded.

Can I say now that Rome is paved with cobble stones, on the roads – where it makes the vehicles sound as though they are ripping up the road to the pavements and most of the pedestrian areas. I really can’t emphasise enough how important it is to have comfortable footwear. You will walk miles over very uneven - though charming – alleyways and byways in search of the next jewel. I really, really recommend that you don’t wear high heels. I think, in any case, that I’ve lost two inches from  the length of my legs!

Not so far away is the Colosseum. Well, it had just started to rain as we got there – the only rain we saw during our stay. While it was a little dampening it didn’t really affect our decision to not go into this iconic building. I know it’s impressive and you really have to see it but, as a fellow tourist from Sweden we chatted to on our trip said – ‘You have to tick the boxes’. Well, we ticked the box.

Much more interesting is the Basilica di San Clemente – walk up the Via Labrica from  the Colosseum and about 150 - 200mt up on the left look for Via dei Querceti. On the left hand side, find the building. (www.basilicasanclemente.com)

Much of this church is underground and was discovered by an Irish priest, Joseph Mullooly in the 19^th century, when it was excavated. This church covers three levels and reflects the different religions going back to pre- Christian times. One of the sites of the ancient Mithras cult. It is the burial place of St Cyrille (the inventor of the Cyrillic script and supporter of the Slavic Christians) and St Clement – Pope Clement 1. And, the church isn’t overwhelmed with tourists – a rare bonus in Rome.

Of course, Rome is not just about the ancient sites. For me, when asked where my favourite food is from, it is a toss-up between India and Italy – I think Italy just wins. Although I have never visited Rome before, I have never, in Italy had poor food nor wine. Well, it has to be said that, although all of the food we ate in Rome was at least tasty, some of the wine was poor. My daughter who was with me and is something of a wine expert described the odd glass as ‘flabby’ – yup! That just about nailed it! But only some and that was usually when we stopped for a break in a street-side caffetteria and bought our wine by the glass.

Although many of the travel guides will warn of the dangers of travelling by bus around Rome, especially the No 64, we found the buses absolutely wonderful. Do get a good bus map, all the bus-stops are clearly marked and the cute little buses which travel around the backstreets will stop for you if you stick your hand out. They hold about 12 people, go everywhere and are brilliant. I really recommend you go to one of the tourist information offices (all over the city) and buy a Roma Pass. The package will give you free entry to 2 sites, plus reduced entry to others and importantly, free travel around Rome for 3 days(not taxis). For about 25euros this is a gift, even if you don’t use all its facilities – it makes travel so easy.

Our first really noteworthy meal was in Casa Coppelle Ristorante set in the delightful Piazza Delle Coppelle ( http://www.casacoppelle.it/)

We started with Gazpacho – fresh and delicious.

Followed by Rigatoni with tomato, bacon and mushrooms

and

Ravioli with sage, veal and parmesan

All accompanied by a very respectable glass of Frascati

Over coffee we were treated to a gift from the chef of a plate of delicious petit-fours.