My dad, the hand trapizzino model.
It has appeared on menus in Testaccio, Prati, Nomentano, Madison Square Park and Brooklyn. But now, Stefano Callegari‘s Roman street food invention, the trapizzino, finally has a home of its own in Piazzale Ponte Milvio. Callegari and his business partners inaugurated Trapizzino in northern Rome on Friday December 13, brining this spongy, triangular pocket of pizza bianca (a flatbread) to an even wider Roman audience.
The name trapizzino is a play on words, combining tramezzino (a triangular sandwich served in cafes) and pizza. Unlike the calzone or calzoncino, the bread for a trapizzino is baked separately then stuffed with the requested filling to order. It had its debut at Mr. Callegari’s pizza-by-the-slice shop 00100* in Rome’s Testaccio district in 2008, quickly gaining popularity.
At Ponte Milvio, trapizzini are served with traditionally Roman fillings like trippa alla romana (stewed tripe), coda alla vaccinara (braised oxtail), seppie con piselli (cuttlefish with peas) and lingua con salsa verde (tongue with a garlicky parsley sauce).
While the fillings are deeply rooted in the Roman classics, the concept takes cues from other Italian cities where street food culture is strong. “Florence has its many tripe stalls, and Palermo is famous for spleen sandwiches,” Stefano explains. “I think this way of eating tripe and oxtail in Rome can eventually become a local custom like those.” With additional outlets in the works, the trapizzino aims to rival supplì and pizza al taglio as Rome’s leading street food.
*00100 is closed for refurbishment until February 2014. It will reopen with a new name: Trapizzino.
