Gricia

As the only Englishman in Rome who is reviewing all the Gricia, it’s difficult to stay anonymous in restaurants. A few months ago, my identity was compromised.

Only a few steps from where John Keats died (author of ‘Ode on a Gricia Urn’), Pastificio has a queue outside that is permanently full with about an 8:2 ratio of tourists to Romans. The two choices – red or white sauce – change every day so I kept going back time after time hoping they would be doing a Gricia. It took me 20 visits. 

In July I travelled around Italy a bit, riding from North to South on the trains while making jokes about Mussolini and punctuality. This meant I was often at Rome’s Termini station looking for a pre-journey meal at the huge food market there. Mostly, I chose ‘Trapizzino’, the “new” food which Romans are obsessed with.

Bologna is so renowned for its culinary credentials that it is nicknamed ‘la grassa’ (‘the fat one’). It’s the home of ‘ragu bolognese’, the dish that the British violate so badly that it causes Gino D’Acampo to have regular pre-planned meltdowns on GMTV for viral purposes. The region also lays claim to mortadella, tortellini, parma ham, parmesan, and lasagne. So what did I go in search for? Obviously a Gricia.

Recently I received a message from a friend about my Gricia obsession. It’s nice to know my blog has found a curious but ultimately confused audience. I replied, asking him where he was going. Venice, he said, and I regrettably informed him that he was unlikely to find a Gricia in Venice. Or anywhere outside of Rome, for that matter.

Gricia is the complete opposite of Brexit. With Brexit, no one knows what they want. With Gricia, everyone knows what they want. They want a Gricia. In Britain, people keep asking ‘shall we have a second referendum?’. In Rome, people keep asking ‘shall we have a second gricia?’ And the answer is always yes.

With the exception of long term romantic partners, if you love something you want to share it. So I often encourage people to eat my culinary love Gricia. This can horrifically backfire. Some wounds need time to heal.