KEY POINTS:
The neighbourhood delicatessens of Rome, whose roots go back 2000 years to the Roman Empire, are on their last legs.
Until two decades ago, in the traditional pockets of Rome there was a droghiere on practically every corner, its windows crammed with prosciutto hams, its display cabinets full
of wheels of parmigiano and tubs of ricotta and mozzarella cheese.
There was pancetta and salami and Norcia sausages, trays of pickled baby artichokes and anchovies and grilled aubergines, with ceci e bacala, chickpeas and dried cod, on Fridays only.
They were called droghiere because droga means spice as well as drug and spices were their early standby, but they had evolved into all-round grocers, providing bitter black olives from Gaeta, cheap, decent table wine and locally baked bread, as well as milk, beer, soap powder and corn flakes. Then the supermarkets arrived, and one by one they began to disappear.
"Until 1980 or 1985, there were lots of us, more than 20 in this neighbourhood," said Sergio D'Amico, one of the last survivors in his area. "There were no supermarkets here till 1980; after that they exploded. And many of us closed down. Now there's only a handful of us left."
And the annihilation of many of the rest cannot be far away. Research on retail trends shows that more than 7 per cent of the capital's remaining family-run food shops closed between 2005 and 2008. The present recession is likely to finish off yet more, as shoppers concentrate on the bottom line.
D'Amico's story is typical of many. In his shop in the working-class neighbourhood of Garbatella, a couple of kilometres south of Rome's city walls, time, one feels, has stood still.
The bold sign outside reads "Superalimentari ", "super foods", and is unchanged since the shop was opened by his father in 1953.
"I started working with him when I left school at 16 and I have kept going ever since," he said.
"Superalimentari" is likely to go the way of all the others.
"The future is grey," D'Amico admits. "I'm 55 now and I'm waiting to collect my pension, then that's it. Buona notte."
ROMAN SPECIALITIES
* Spaghetti alla carbonara: pasta with "guanciale" or "pig's cheek" bacon, pecorino cheese and egg.
* Fiori di zucca: fried courgette flowers stuffed with ricotta and anchovies.
* Coda alla Vaccinara: oxtail stewed in a rich and savoury tomato sauce.
* Pasta cacio e pepe: spaghetti dish with cacio cheese, pepper, olive oil.by Peter Pophamin Rome
- INDEPENDENT