Outcasts can change the habits of an entire city. these picturesque ruins once contained the misery of rome s jewish ghetto. from the 1500s onwards, the city s entire jewish community was locked in this walled area. only allowed to leave to do menial jobs in the daytime before being locked in at night. italia is in her 80s and has lived here her whole life.
tucked in a curve of the river tiber is testaccio, once known as the belly of rome. home to the old slaughterhouses that supplied 19th and 20th century romans with meat. so tell me about this place. this is the retired slaughterhouse. and for about 100 years until the 1970s it s where most large roman animals were slaughtered. basically from lambs all the way up through steer. this four square mile site will be redeveloped into a cultural area, but for now signs of its former life are everywhere. and where is the oh, yeah, the tracks for the carcasses, yeah. katey parla is a renowned food writer who swapped new jersey for rome almost 20 years ago. you have the veal here oh. skinning happened there.
Are poured into southern italy are blasted by during world war ii, this area bore the brunt of allied bombings that aimed to disrupt the nearby rail hub. tragically over 1,000 people were killed. this is in essence like a monument. yeah. you can see the effects of the war. people dead, the family dead. and all the area, all this area, is bombed. this particular square was home to a hugely popular local trattoria before the war. the owner s wife and all but one of their children died when their building was hit during the bombing. after the war, the local community raised funds for the surviving father and son to reopen the restaurant again. the boy started work here aged just 8. and amazingly, he s still here today. it s the story of roman food.
si, yeah. grazie. nice to see you again. ciao. as we staggered off our breakfast and headed through triestevre, i noticed that the area was much busier and hipper than years ago. this was the poor quarters. you see the buildings as nice as they are, very small. right. and then, of course, as it happens, you know, the old quarters got very trendy and everybody wanted to live here. and they become more gentrified. yeah. yeah. the city may be changing, but one thing that s as constant as the ancient landmarks is how much people in rome love their pasta. four-star dishes in particular have become an emblem of the city. and claudia is taking me to find out more at a place she says the is pantheon of pasta. the restaurant is fully booked.