Europe, Destination 6: Rome, Italy AND my recreation of oxtail stew

Rome was one of the places I was extremely excited to visit - I've been intrigued by antiquity for many years. With that said, I expected the trip to be more hectic, with food on the go instead of sit down restaurants. Boy, was I wrong. Rome was the place where I drank the most cappuccinos and marrochinos, the place where I had my favorite pasta dish in Italy - rigatoni with oxtail stew in tomato sauce, the place where I cherished my last bite of gelato, and the place where I had my all time favorite tiramisu. I stayed in Trastavere, which made it extremely easy to find amazing and comparatively cheap restaurants that served amazing food. So, when all said and done, I think I did Rome proud - I ate lavishly (while still on a budget, of course), I pondered the meaning of life as I immersed myself in ancient architecture, and looked at the city with a childlike wonder.

One of my cappuccinos, after I added 1/2 a packet of sugar and mixed it.

I was a bit curious as to how art was made with froth, so I used the butt of my spoon to make a fat bear... here's to hoping attempt 2 gets better.

Marrochino. My addiction.

The Oxtail Stew Rigatoni dish... not so pretty, sorry, I ate about 3/4 of the plate before I realized I would regret it for a long time if I didn't take a picture.

Fortunately, the full dish (oxtail stew rigatoni) is pictured and hung on the left. OM NOM.

My last gelato in Italy. Pistachio and Mint. It was a great way to end my last night in Rome.

You knew M and I couldn't go more than a week or two without Asian food... M's Katsu Don.

In my crazed stage of wanting to eat coda alla vaccinara (oxtail stew), I knew I had to make it for myself. VOILA! Recipe I followed is here: http://foodloversodyssey.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/09/the-dish-from-rome-italy-braised-oxtail-coda-alla-vaccinara.html but instead of straining the vegetables out, I followed the restaurant's dish and kept the carrots and celery in. It was DELISH dipped with bread.

Sadly, I did not bring any Rigatoni iback with me. I did, however, bring back an assortment of other dried handmade pastas. The one used here is pappardelle cooked al dente with the oxtail stew sauce.