Have you ever heard the expression, “Teaneck wasn’t built in a day”? I didn’t think so. Does “when in Chicago, do as the Chicagoans do “sound familiar? Probably not. And contrary to popular opinion, all roads do not lead to New York. Yet there is a place where all these expressions resonate with truth and meaning and where, this past summer, I spent the bulk of a 10-day vacation with my family. I am, of course, talking about the eternal city, Rome, Italy.
This is not the first time that I’ve traveled across the Atlantic to the city along the Tiber River. In 2000, I toured Italy with my brother for a seven-day Odyssey that started in Milan and took us from Verona to Siena to Assisi to Spoleto to Florence and finally to Rome before returning to New York. Back then I found Italy to be a magical country and I was grateful for the opportunity to experience it firsthand. But it was the ability to reconnect with my brother that was the marinara sauce on my pasta party, so to speak.
This time the experience was enhanced because I was traveling in a group of 10 members of my family: my wife, my daughter and son-in-law and their four kids, and my son and daughter-in-law. Taking a family vacation is a wonderful idea for many reasons. Not only does it give hard working people a chance to relax; it also promotes family bonding, creating memories that can be kept in hearts and minds forever. Traveling with the ones you love allows you to see and taste more, giving you input from not only your senses but also your traveling companions. Psychologists have even found that spending time together exploring new spaces and locations stimulates the frontal lobe of the brain, enhancing IQ and ability to learn. Others have called these types of experience “happiness anchors”: they help build healthier perspectives for approaching problems when they arise.
Why Italy of all places? For one thing, Rome is home to no less than 12 UNESCO world heritage sites. Rome’s magnificent Coliseum stands as one of the finest examples of Roman architecture and engineering, while the Pantheon is considered one of the ancient builders’ greatest achievements. Rome holds some of the world’s most extraordinary artistic masterpieces ever realized, including Michelangelo’s ceiling in the Sistine Chapel and Raphael’s frescoes in the Vatican. On our trip, we saw all of these places first hand; and in Florence we were lucky enough to gain admission to the Uffizi Gallery. Inspired by reading The Sistine Secrets: Michelangelo’s Forbidden Messages in the Heart of the Vatican by Blech and Doliner – which I heartily recommend - I came away with a much greater appreciation of Renaissance art and the genius of Michelangelo. Who would have imagined that Michelangelo had a deep understanding of the Old Testament, Kabbalah, and classic Jewish sources; and he incorporated this knowledge into the Sistine Chapel along with embedded secret messages? And who can forget the evocative city of Pompeii which ranks as one of the greatest archeological discoveries of all time, giving us a unique view into the ancient Mediterranean world at the height of Rome’s power in the first century CE. A few have even said that the obliteration of Pompeii was divine retribution for the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem by the Romans. Amazingly this happened nine years earlier on almost the same day as Pompeii was wiped out by Vesuvius.
But while these historical sites held some interest for my grandchildren because they were finally seeing places that they’ve only seen in pictures, I think there was something else about Italy that will have a more lasting impression on them. For a family of food lovers, visiting Italy was sampling the sumptuous cuisine and style of eating of the next world while still on earth. Italians take time to enjoy their meals. Eating is not a race, and a bowl of cereal in front of late-night TV is not a dinner. It’s not uncommon for Italians to spend an hour preparing a meal and even more time savoring every bite. And when eating out, service is slow, courses are many, and it’s highly unlikely that a waiter will ever tell you they “need your table.”
But, you ask, what about keeping our dietary laws? Can you eat kosher and Italian at the same time? That was perhaps the greatest discovery of the whole trip. You see, Rome actually lays claim to the oldest Jewish population in Europe. The first Jews likely arrived as messengers sent by Judah Maccabee in the second century BCE. Jews have continued to live in Rome ever since – sometimes thriving, but more often enduring hardship. Pope Paul IV in 1555 created the Roman ghetto and required Jews to wear yellow badges. Today, the ghetto still exists but as a center of mass gentrification. Now its streets are lined with restaurants and art galleries, and apartments regularly sell for over €1 million!
In the Ghetto, all restaurants are located in close proximity to the Great Synagogue and to each other, with many along one street, the Via del Portico d’Ottavia. My personal favorite was Yotvata, a dairy restaurant offering a delicious selection of authentic Italian cuisine. Meat restaurants include Ba’Ghetto (which also has a dairy counterpart), La Taverna del Ghetto, Fonzie’s, Bellacarne, and La Reginalla. Each restaurant offers a wide menu of Roman specialties, and we all fell in love with the local signature dish – Artichokes alla Judea. Today, the ghetto is one of the chicest places to eat lunch, and even non-Jewish groups regularly visit to partake of the neighborhood’s famous pastries and authentic Jewish Roman cuisine.
Kosher or non-Kosher, Italian food is unbelievably good and so worthy of investing quality time; sitting at a table is so much nicer that running around town with a sandwich in your hand. Relax! Enjoy! Mangia! As for beverages, forget about sodas, juices, or lemonades; The table is usually set with a bottle of sparkling or still water, and a bottle of wine. Cocktails and liquors are reserved for: aperitive (before-dinner drinks) and digestivi (after dinner drinks). Italians take enjoying the flavor of food very seriously; and wouldn’t you agree, drinking peach ice tea with gourmet meals has to mess with your taste buds. People in Italy like to enjoy the exceptional flavor of what they’re eating (which is usually handmade, or picked that day), and not mask it with other toppings. If they’re eating chicken, they want to taste chicken, not barbecue sauce. Olive oil is the only real Italian condiment, and it is used to enhance flavors, never to cover them up.
Italians stagger their meals – eating appetizers first…. and then pasta… and then an entrée. Keeping pasta a manageable size lets Italians eat multiple courses without feeling stuffed. The upside? You’ll have plenty of room for tiramisù come dessert!
The highlight of the whole vacation for many of us was the day our entire family group left Rome by van to explore an olive oil, cheese, jams, and winemaking farmstead called Cantina Giuliano. Meals were prepared by a young Orthodox couple, Eli and Lara, with a native passion for Tuscany's wine and gastronomic tradition. We had a delicious lunch, and then we were escorted to a kitchen area where we had a lesson in pasta making. We all prepared our own dough, rolled the dough through a machine and made homemade noodles which we took back to my daughter’s B&B apartment and cooked the next evening. It was delicious.
Sadly, the United States ranks high on the list of countries with the worst diets. We eat too much processed and greasy foods that are high in salt, sugar, and fat; and we gorge ourselves with sugary drinks and desserts. Even Jewish receptions are displays of conspicuous consumption, with people gobbling down rich, fatty food as if they have never eaten before.
But aren’t things better in Israel which is a country with Kosher food and a Mediterranean diet? Don’t Israelis eat plenty of vegetables, grains, nuts, legumes and fruits and use olive oil as the predominant fat? True, but the Israeli diet is also Western in its use of eggs, dairy and meat, a consequence of Israel’s early agricultural policies. It is also a place where the pace of eating is not slow like in Italy and where people tend to overeat. So while Israelis tend to be healthier eaters than the average American, about half of Israeli adults are overweight, according to health ministry statistics.
There is a striking absence of overweight and obese people in the streets of Italian cities, so we observed. This is undoubtedly due to healthier living and eating patterns in that region of the world which relies on a slowly savored Mediterranean diet. No one in our family had a bad meal in Italy.
In our modern world we have accelerated the pace of life to an unhealthy extreme according to many researchers. The Italian experience reminds us that slower is better. The savoring style of eating also reminds us to digest our experiences in a leisurely, patient way.
In conclusion, I recommend that even when you are not in Rome, do as the Romans do when it comes to mindful, slow, healthy eating. Even if you cannot eat every meal in this deliberate fashion, try to do so at least once a day. I hope our family vacation has convinced my children and grandchildren that this is a resolution to keep into the upcoming Jewish New Year and beyond.
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