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Travel |
In 1981, just after my first law exams, I went to
As usual, before any travel, I would read up about the
destination. This was important if I wanted to make the most use of my time.
What I read about
Unfortunately, I only had one and a half free days in my
11 days away — one day in between the international rescue congresses and the
general assembly and half a day just before flying home. After some discussion
with Mr Lye, a fellow delegate from
Apart from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Colosseum in
According to the Lonely Planet Italy Guide, Piperno’s
is a top end restaurant that ‘has turned deep frying into an art form’ and
‘the house special is a mixed platter of deep fried fillets of baccala’,
stuffed courgette flowers, vegetables and mozzarella cheese.’ It also
mentioned that offal eaters would be well satisfied. William Black said
Piperno’s was a famous and venerable Jewish restaurant in the ghetto strongly
recommended to him and had a menu full of the megastars of Roman Jewish cooking.
Furthermore, G Franco Romagnoli in A Thousand Bells at Noon — A Roman Reveals
the Secrets and Pleasures of His Native City said that a Roman friend told him
that Jewish cooking was what made Piperno’s famous since 1856. Romagnoli, by
the way, is a culinary arts professor at
We left Viareggio by train the morning after the general
assembly ended and arrived in Rome at close to lunch-time and at just about the
right time to go to Piperno’s. After checking into our hotel on Via Calabria,
we took a taxi to Monte De’Cenci where Piperno’s was located.
As we approached Monte De’Cenci, there was a massive
traffic jam and the taxi driver told us that he could not turn into the street
because it was barricaded and we had to walk the rest of the way. So we paid our
fare and got down to walk.
Apart from the traffic jam, there was also a huge crowd
on the pedestrian walkways around Monte De’Cenci. In fact, all the walkways
and streets leading to the area around Piperno’s were blocked by metal
barricades manned either by Mafia type characters in black or polizia (Italian
policemen). Many locals were streaming out from the other side of the barricades
and others were prevented from going through them. It was a little like a scene
out of a Godfather movie. We tried to walk pass the barricades towards Monte
De’Cenci but were prevented at every point. So determined was I to eat at
Piperno’s that we tried numerous different paths to Monte De’Cenci but
without any success. I felt a bit bad because Mr and Mrs Lye were both in their
sixties and had to walk quite a lot on account of my persistence. However, to
their great credit, they did not complain at all and followed me all the way.
Eventually, I decided to ask a Mafia type character at
one of the barricades when we could pass through. He said ‘Tomollow, tomollow’
and I resigned myself to not eating at Piperno’s. I looked up my Lonely Planet
Italy Guide for another recommended eating place nearby and found one about a
half a kilometre away and the three of us started to make our way there.
After walking a short while, I noticed that one of the
barricades was not manned and people were walking pass it. I pointed this out to
Mr and Mrs Lye and we decided to try our luck. As we walked through, we noticed
that the crowd had become smaller and most of the other barricades were also no
longer manned. Either everyone had gone for lunch or the event was over but
whatever it was, we were happy that we could now proceed
to Piperno’s.
When we arrived at the square in front of Piperno’s, we
found that it was almost deserted. My heart sank as I thought it was closed
because of the Godfather-like event but I went towards the restaurant anyway and
peered through a dark glass panel. There were people inside. As I opened the
restaurant door, I could hear the sounds of a popular restaurant — cutlery,
plates, food trays, glasses, conversation and laughter. And smell the smells of
delicious food. Piperno’s was almost full but we were able to get a small
table at one corner deep inside the restaurant. It was really a table for two
with a chair added to accommodate all three of us but I would have sat on the
floor to eat there anyway (and I am not exaggerating here).
A Caucasian lady sitting at the next table (who looked
like she enjoyed good food) started to make conversation with us. She asked how
we found out about Piperno’s and I told her I read about it in some books. The
lady then said that it was a great restaurant and she had actually eaten at
Piperno’s when she was in
And then it was time for dessert. Our waiter asked what
we wanted for dessert after bringing the menu around a second time. When I said
‘Le Palle Di Nonno Fritte’ (‘fried grandpa’s balls’ according to the
English translation on the menu), he replied ‘Very Goot’. Actually, he need
not have bothered bringing the menu a second time because I had already read
about this dessert before arriving in
We ate the dessert of balls of ricotta cheese embedded
with chunky chocolate pieces deep-fried in batter and olive oil with smiles on
our faces. It tasted a little like a rich tiramisu deep-fried in batter but was
more wonderful. It was the highlight of a trip to a country with great food. For
someone who did not normally eat breakfast or drink coffee, I had eaten
breakfast everyday I was in
Richard Tan Ming Kirk
Shook Lin & Bok