On an early Friday morning I woke up at the crack of dawn, had a cup of espresso and a ricotta and cherry pastry from the forno downstairs, and walked to the market I’d heard so much about, 20 metres away.
Campo de Fiori, literally meaning Field of Flowers (which it was, centuries ago), is a bustling square that houses one of the most glorious fresh food markets of Rome. It is positioned right in between River Tiber and Largo Argentina, the square where Caesar was assassinated.
During the day, Campo de Fiori hosts an open-air food market from Monday through Saturday, starting early in the morning and wrapping up by early afternoon. Here you can find seasonal fruits and vegetables, and up until a few years ago there were butchers and fishmongers too. The spice stalls here will leave you spoilt for choice: it literally looked like there was a concoction created for every Italian dish! At night, the square transforms into quite the nightspot, when the restaurants lining the square open up.
When I reached Campo de Fiori food market, the morning buzz was setting in with the vendors arranging their fresh produce and wares. The Italians were their cheery self greeting “Buongiorno!” when they noticed a tourisity me snapping away. One boisterous vendor even put forth an offer, typical of Italians: “One photo, One kiss!” Another was kind enough to let me record a video of just how they trim artichokes in Rome, a task that I find a wee bit daunting.
There was so much colour at the market: orange from the squashes, purple from the artichokes and treviso, red from the tomatoes and peppers, shades of green from the insalata mista, The lush produce at the market almost made me forget it was winter. And for an artichoke lover, there is no better time to visit.
If you do go there, don’t forget to bite into the pizza bianco at the Forno Campo de Fiori for me. I still dream of it at night.