Rachel Roddy’s Cauliflower and Potato Recipe | Italian food and drink

In 1961, 10 porters worked at the Testaccio market. Known as facini, these men and boys were the moving muscles of the market, transporting both the stall structures, which were not yet fixed, and the fruit and vegetables from the warehouses near Monte Testaccio to the market square. Once the market and the stalls were set up, it was the work of I fash transport the products from the market to the dozens of trattoria, osteria, pizzeria and tavole calde in Testaccio and beyond.

In 1961 Silvio started working alongside his brother. He was 11 years old. Their parents were long-time salespeople; first they had a fruit and vegetable stall, then, after the war, a grocery store. The boys were born into the world of the market; everyone knew them and they knew everyone, every lock and corner, every trattoria kitchen door. It will be necessary to wait a few years before Silvio is considered as a facchino, though from day one he worked as hard as anyone else, proud of his memory, his strength, and his ability to maneuver a cart.

Silvio was still working as fachino when I moved to Rome 17 years ago. I saw him almost every day, stacking boxes in the market or rolling his cart down the middle of the road, always in blue pants, a canvas jacket with a chest pocket and a flat cap. I took it as a sign of belonging when he started shouting “Buongiorno!” volume. The first time we spoke he was delivering chicory, fluorescent broccoli and the whitest cauliflower to the side door of a trattoria called Felice. I remember it because I took a picture of him holding cauliflower. I also remember an occasion when my son was small and we met Silvio with what seemed an impossible leaning tower of crates full of artichokes en route to another trattoria, Perilli.

He retired two years ago, but still walks the streets as he always has. We meet almost every day and chat often. He holds the 70-year history of his merchant universe, all these interconnected pieces. He tells me how, over time, more and more stalls were repaired with storage, so that the work for the facchini was reduced, more so when the vendors began to deliver the goods themselves. same. Two generations of facchini are deceased, he told me; he was the last. When we meet, he’s often on his way to Perilli, which honors 59 years of well-timed deliveries by offering him lunch three times a week. He was never invited to eat at Felice’s, he notes. Six decades, all those boxes of endives, broccoli, artichokes, beans, peas, potatoes, cauliflower, and not a single lunch.

As Silvio crosses the square to go to Perilli, I return home to prepare lunch, a cross between cauliflower cheese and potato gratin. This sort of thing is known as formatted in Italy, which means “out of the dish”, and refers to a number of easy-going, comforting, vegetable and cheese dishes.

Sformato di cavolfiore and potato – cauliflower and potato gratin

Preperation 15 minutes
to cook 30 minutes
Serves 4

4 medium potatoes
Salt and black pepper
1 medium cauliflower or romanesco cauliflower
50g of butter
50g flour
600ml whole milkwarmed (with an onion studded with cloves, if you like)
50g of parmesangrated
Breadcrumbs

Boil whole, unpeeled potatoes in salted water until tender, then peel them. Cut and break the cauliflower into florets and boil until just tender (keep in mind they will cook again). Using your hands, break the potatoes and cauliflower into small, rough pieces.

Then prepare the béchamel. Heat the butter in a heavy bottomed skillet. As soon as it begins to foam, stir in the flour, continue whisking regularly for two minutes, then remove from the heat. Add a little hot milk and whisk until smooth. Return the saucepan to the heat, then add the rest of the milk, whisking continuously until almost boiling. Season, then lower the heat and simmer, stirring and whisking frequently, for about 10 minutes, until the sauce is thick. Add three quarters of the grated parmesan.

Mix the potatoes and cauliflower with the béchamel, then pour into a baking dish. Top with breadcrumbs mixed with the rest of the cheese, then bake in the oven at 180C (160C fan)/350F/Gas 4 until the edges are bubbly and the top is golden brown.