Before moving to Rome I had never heard of, much less seen, puntarelle. Given the local, seasonal nature of produce in Italy, this isn’t really surprising. Most Venetians, Sicilians, and Neapolitans don’t know about them either. Puntarelle are a type of chicory with jagged leaves surrounding a fiberous, internal stalk. This stalk is sliced into thin shreds lengthwise and the pieces are soaked in water (big plastic vats at my local market) so they curl up. The crisp, fresh, waterlogged product is drained and topped with an anchovy dressing, a mixture of pulverized fish, lemon juice, oil and garlic. We are reaching the end of puntarelle season so be sure to order them as a contorno (vegetable side dish) while you can still find them. I had a huge bowl of them this weekend at Augustarello in Testaccio, knowing that in a matter of weeks they will disappear from Roman menus together.
Categories: Gastronomic Traditions
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Puntarelle are something else. You’re described them very well – not an easy task.
They are cruel too, given they are seasonal and limited to Rome, it seems. Oh, how I miss them.
Be aware of soggy versions from the day before. That is a crime!
April 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pmThe only good thing about puntarelle going out of season is that artichokes, fave and peas are coming in.
April 27th, 2009 at 2:32 pmif you love puntarelle please please go to tutti frutti on via luca della robbia (testaccio). i adore puntarelle and have had them all over rome and havent been able to find anything as good as michele’s creation. wish i had tried augustarello. shall make a trip there, next time i am in rome in the spring. thank you.
April 28th, 2009 at 8:47 pm@exromana Thanks for the tip on Tutti Frutti. Ive gotta make it there. When you go to Augustarello we will compare notes!
April 28th, 2009 at 10:40 pmi love new vegetables. looks amazing
July 30th, 2009 at 8:25 pmhave you ever seen it in NYC?
August 4th, 2009 at 9:20 pmpuntarelle is the best thing in the world… tried it in Rome and drool for it!
September 13th, 2009 at 7:59 pmif your in London you can get it in the borough markets.
September 13th, 2009 at 8:00 pmgood to know, but what are the borough markets? sorry i am completely clueless about things that go on north of rome.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:57 amthey are some food markets in London… very cool for foodies.
February 8th, 2010 at 5:52 pmi’ve been there and am now no longer out of the loop. i even posted this recently.
February 9th, 2010 at 3:45 pmI asked if the restaurant had them when I was in Roma at Christmastime. They were not on the menu. They did, I ordered them and swooned they were so delicious.
What can we have here in the NYC/NJ area that could approximate puntarelle?
March 20th, 2010 at 4:55 pmHmm not sure what you can find in NYC/NJ. They werent available when I lived there but that was a long time ago…
March 22nd, 2010 at 2:09 pm