The Best £2.10 Pizza Slice in London
Roman pizzeria to London: “Datte Foco”
These days it’s easy to pick out the Italian expats on Stoke Newington Church St. They’re the ones picking their jaws up from the pavement after having spotted the words DATTE FOCO – slang for “light yourself on fire” – spelled out in white letters on the shop window beside the Three Crowns pub. Datte Foco could be interpreted here in the baking or eating sense. But many Italians recognise it as a Roman way of telling a friend, good-naturedly, to go burn in hell. [Read more...]
World’s thickest, moussiest espresso crema
The technique used by Rome’s renowned Caffè Sant’Eustachio to produce an astoundingly thick, foamy head of crema atop its signature Gran Caffè is a closely guarded secret. Screens on each side of the Astoria espresso machines block the view of nosey cafenatics seeking a peek at any covert manoeuvres performed by the baristas. Author/blogger David Lebovitz suspects that a small amount of sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is added to the water to agitate the foaming action as espressos are pulled. My contacts at illy in Trieste and the incomparable Caffè Terzi in Bologna agree that some form of foaming agent is used. If so, the powder is likely added out of view and the screens are merely props in a theatrical illusion.
Roman gladiator wakes from the dead
first espresso of the morning, Caffè Sant’Eustachio, Rome
Pizza bianca romana conquers Londinium
The City of London was founded around 50 AD, when Emperor Claudius and his Roman army built a fortified settlement on the River Thames. Nearly 2000 years later, the scent of a quieter Roman invasion is wafting through the Londinium air, rousing knowing noses from their morning misery and lunchtime lethargy and pointing the way to the nearest of 5 bakeries emitting the heady fumes of pizza bianca romana. [Read more...]
