You first heard Katie Parla on our show a couple years ago when we recorded a live episode at Omnivore Books (hi Celia!) in San Francisco to discuss her then-newest cookbook, Food of the Italian Islands. [Listen to that chat here.]

Now, Katie’s back with her 11th cookbook and it’s a deep-dive into Roman history and cuisine. Born in New Jersey, Katie has called Rome home for more than two decades and she’s been obsessed with uncovering the city’s culinary—and non-culinary—history the whole time. She’s written culinary guides, hosted TV shows and podcasts, showed folks like Stanley Tucci and Andrew Zimmern where to eat in Rome, and built a tour company.

This new book distills much of what she’s researched—and ate—into a 350+ page opus titled Rome: A Culinary History, Cookbook, and Field Guide to Flavors that Built a City. Part guide book, part history book, part cookbook—this is a love letter to the city that’s been feeding people for over 2,700 years.

Late last year, I met up with Katie for an evening tour of Trastevere. What struck my most about our conversation is how Katie approaches Roman food as not a static collection of recipes, but very much a living and evolving story that reflects everything the city has been through: ancient empire, Renaissance opulence, cucina povera, Jewish ghetto traditions, modern immigration, and more.

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Additional Music Credits:

Beat Mekanik - Stylin' (FreeMusicArchive)