Roast Parsnips and Carrots with Pancetta

I wanted to squeeze one more post before I left the amazing country of England. I'm snowed-in and our flight got cancelled yesterday so why not? I wanted something easy, flavorful and quite English. At Sainsbury, parsnips were on sale and I decided to go for them. I think that parsnips would scare most Americans away. I don't know why; these root vegetables are relatives of the carrot. They are white in colour, starchy and quite sweet. I rather like them and I reckon that they would make a great side to a very English, Sunday roast.

The Ingredients
5 carrots
5 parsnips
200 grams (7 oz.) cubed pancetta
1 tablespoon butter
salt


The Method

Preheat your oven to 220 C/ 425 F/ gas mark 7. Take your roots, peel and quarter them longways. This will allow even cooking and give you nice long spears. Par-cook your the vege in salted boiling water for about 5 minutes. Drain and set them on a rack to steam dry. Having them dry is important as it will allow them to get brown and crispy.
Meanwhile, take a pan and throw the pancetta in on medium heat for less than two minutes, just until the fat starts to turn translucent. This ensures that the pancetta will get crispy as well. Toss with the vege as well.
Align the vege on a lined baking sheet and place it in the oven.

Roast for about 25-30 until the vege starts to turn light brown. Because of their shape, the spears cook not completely at the same time. Honestly, I kinda like this; it gives you a variety of textures. The sweet vegetables go well with the crunchy, saltly pancetta. Try these for Christmas dinner or a Sunday roast.

Get your Sunday roast ready with roast potatos, gravy, brussels sprouts and my favourite, Yorkshire pudding. This will serve about 4-6.

Recipe by Spencer Huey

Athens, Greece: ancient history, tasty food, and helpful people

Rome, then England for two short days and then to Athens, Greece -another foodie friendly country to visit. We stayed in the capital of Athens for three days to see the major sites and get a taste of Greek culture. 

Parthenon on the Acropolis

We were especially excited for Greece because this term we were taking two Greek classes: gods, myths, and heroes (religion in Ancient Greece) and Greek art and architecture. After studying all these art pieces and buildings, we were finally going to get the chance to see them. Our hostel was right in the middle of all the sites. Located in Plaka, we were less than a 3 minute walk from the Acropolis, Roman and ancient Agoras on one side and the temple of Zeus Olympus on the other. Plaka is a safe and a fun area to stay in Athens, I highly recommend it.

Temple of Zeus Olympus

I also recommend eating as much Greek food as your stomach can handle. First start off with the € 2 gyros. The toasted pita is filled with spit-roasted meat, tomatoes, red onions, and tzatsiki sauce. We found good ones in Monastiraki square and near the Central Market.

Tasty Tasty Gyro

 Many of the restaurnants are touristy and try to lure you in with sweet Greek talk. Don't eat at them. Instead find our favorite taverna, Scholarhio, is located off the tourist path in Plaka on Tripodon 14.This is a MUST-EAT in Athens. It's a family style place where they bring you 18 traditional Greek dishes of the day you choose which ones you want. 

Talk about a decision.

Although it was a little expensive (€ 14, that's a lot for travelling students), you get to taste a huge variety of Greek dishes. 

Bekri Mezedes (Pork stewed in wine), Hortes (Wild greens with lemon, Tiropita (Cheese pies) and Keftedes (Meatballs)

For two of us, we got to choose 5 of the 18 with drinks, bread, and dessert. We were beyond stuffed. Great deal in my mind.

Moussaka

There is a great bakery located on Athnias 39, on the way to the central market. The name was impossible for me to say or write down. All the cookies were made with olive oil and were a perfect snack. I really like the chocolate chip made with olive oil and the cookie with cognac, raisins, and orange zest.

After the cookies, head to the Central Market. It's a large, chaotic place full of very fresh and inexpensive products.

They have stall after stall of meat, mostly lamb.

I had a blast in Athens, it was the perfect way to end our trips around Europe. After England, Greece was my favorite country overall. The people are ridiculously kind. The food is tasty and the city is clean. I can't wait to come back and do some island hopping. Be sure to check for strike days for public transportation, free days (mostly Sundays during the winter) and student discounts (There are a ton!).


We leave Canterbury in two days and were heading back to California. It's surreal that I'm finally leaving. I feel like it went by in the blink of an eye but at the same time the initial flight into London feels like years ago. It's been such a good trip and I'm going to miss my friends here so much. We started saying good bye to them, I hope to see them really really soon. Canterbury is such a great place, definitely my favorite place in Europe. It's full of great history, the best people, and good food. It's what you would imagine an English town to be. If you're ever in England, swing by Canterbury and explore my favourite city. 

Rome: the pope, piazzas and pizzas

I just returned from a five day trip to Rome, Orvieto and Tivoli. 

We had a reading week for one of my courses which means I go travelling instead of studying. To be honest with you, many of the restaurants in central Rome are touristy and serve average Italian food. I was disappointed at first, I mean, it's Italy right? To get the really great places to eat, I suggest some research is in order. Here are some of my favorite places to eat in Rome:


Trattoria de Valentino
Via Cavour, 293
(Near the Coliseum)
The pastas here are inexpensive and are quite tasty. I had the lasagna and it was one of the best I had ever had.


'Gusto
Piazza Augusto Imperatore, 9
(Near Piazza del Popolo)
They have a great pizzeria. I got the pizza Romana with mozarella, black olives, capers, anchovies and oregano. 'Gusto also has a lunch buffet where you pay by the weight of the food. It was also tempting.
website

Volpetti
Via Mormorata, 47
(Near Testaccio)
This was a deli with every kind of Italian cheese and meat. Right around the corner, they sell prepared food. I suggest the arancini (fried rice, ragu and cheese balls)
website


00100 Pizza
Via Giovanni Branca, 88
(Near Testaccio)
My favorite Pizza al taglio (by the slice/weight) in Rome. It's named after the kind of flour they use plus Rome's postcode. Try the potato and sausage pizza, it will leave you wanting a whole kilo of the pizza. Also try the trapezinni which is kinda like a hot sandwich but WAY better.

Biscottificio Innocenti
Via Della Luce, 21
(In Trastevere) 
Hole-in-the-wall cookie shop. The baker was so nice; she gave me a few for free even though I bought just over a euro's worth. I got nocciola(hazelnut) cookies, marzipan cookies, and jam cookies. They were the perfect snack after walking Rome all day.

Sant'Eustachio
Piazza Sant'Eustachio, 82
(Near the Pantheon)
This place is world famous for their espresso. I'm not a huge fan of coffee in general but I was quite surprised that I liked it so much. The New York Times said "When the need for a real espresso becomes overpowering, buy a ticket to Rome, tell the taxi driver to head straight for the Sant’Eustachio cafe. The espresso will be perfect. A little expensive, but surely worth the trouble."
There is so much precision with espresso with the grinding, pressure, and getting the frothy foam just right. It was a little pricey - about 1.40 euro for a few sips of a pick-me-up, but I think its worth a visit.
website

Gelato in Rome is legendary. Although its December, we ate gelato at least once a day. We did have some Italians give us weird looks but seriously, when else are we going to have the world's best gelato. There are two famous places for gelato in Rome. 


San Crispino
Via della Panetteri, 42 (Near the Trevi Fountain) OR
Piazza della Maddalena, 3 (Near Pantheon)
They offered flavours like pignoli (pine nut), basilico (basil) and a few kinds of meringue flavours along with the classics. Their gelato was packed flavour and had the perfect creaminess.

Giolitti's
Via Degli Uffici di Vicario, 40
(Near the Pantheon)
This is classic gelato from Italy. This is a MUST eat.

Rome was such a great city full of history, culture and amazing food in the right spots. Next trip, I would definitely encourage a day trip to Orvieto which is about an hour and half outside of Rome.

I hope that on your next trip to Rome, you include these tasty places in your itinerary and share more food friendly places with me.