A ‘rosticceria’ is possibly the Italian equivalent of fast food, only this does not mean hamburgers or pizza and the like, but ‘real’ food.
Rosticceria’s are quite common here, some are average, and some are excellent. They are basically shops which prepare and cook a variety of dishes, both cold and hot, ranging from roasted meats and pasta to vegetables, all of which are kept good and hot. You simply choose what you appeals and it is all nicely packaged for you. Then you just go home and tuck in. Just the thing when you can’t be bothered to cook, or even, possibly, when you have unexpected guests.
These really useful places are open throughout the week until the early evening, and often open on Sunday mornings. You can often book beforehand, if your Italian is up to scratch, but watch out at weekends, because all the best stuff goes pretty early.
Yesterday, my other half paid a visit to our local rosticceria which is about 10 minutes on foot from our house in Milan. On our menu yesterday was: Lasagne, ‘Capriolo’ – or Roe dear/venison, cooked in a red wine sauce, polenta, and lentils. It was all extremely yummy, and the venison was wonderful, as usual.
Now, this particular rosticceria does not do venison every day, but that is part of the fun, the ‘menu’ is quite varied. During the cooler months, read, more or less from now on, venison – Roe, Fallow or Red deer, and wild boar dishes become more common. But even if there is no game, there are often roast chicken (and you can only purchase half a chicken if you are not ravenous), ‘lo stinco di maiale’ – pork shin(very good), and veal dishes. All is very well cooked and ready to eat.
All this good food comes at a price, of course, but for around 30 Euros, three people can eat very well, and seeing as this is only about 10 Euros more than good old MacDonalds, well, the choice between the two places is pretty easy. Try finding similar quality food in a restaurant for around 3o Euros in Milan, and you will be hunting around for rather a long time.
Ah, the rosticceria, yet another great reason for living in Italy. And before anyone says anything, I put my diet on hold yesterday – I mean, I don’t get to eat venison that often, and I love it.
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