Our day begins at 10 00 am with a market tour, which will visit all of Rachel’s favourite stalls including a carciofi (artichoke) taming session, and an aperitivo with Roman fried artichokes. We will then have a guided walk around the Ex-Mattaoio (former slaughter house) ending with a private visit with special access to the Monte Testaccio, usually closed to the public. The hill is Rome’s extraordinary ancient landfill site built entirely of cocci, the broken fragments of ancient terra-cotta 'pots'.

We shall then repair to a quintessential Roman trattoria for lunch, where we will enjoy a specially organised lunch including braised artichokes, some classic Roman pasta, the offal for which Testaccio is so famous (alternatives available), seasonal side dishes and sandro's chocolate tart, along with plenty of wine and ending in amaro or grappa and coffee. We aim to roll home at 3 30. The price of the event is 115 euros all inclusive and places are limited to 12.

Rachel Roddy was born in Southhampton in 1972 but grew up in London. Trained as an actress she moved to Rome in 2005 where she began writing, mostly about food, on her blog Racheleats. Her first book, Five Quarters was published in 2015 and won both the André Simon Food Book Award and The Guild of Foodwriters First Book Award. Her second book Two Kitchens was published in 2017. She has written for The Financial Times, The Telegraph, Conde Nast Travel, Delicious Magazine and has an award winning weekly column in The Guardian called A Kitchen in Rome. She lives in Rome with her Sicilian partner and son.

Agnes Crawford was born in London in 1977 and was schooled a stone’s throw from the city’s Roman walls. She strayed beyond Hadrian’s Wall to study at Edinburgh University, and graduated with an MA in Architectural History in 1999. Agnes has lived in Rome since 2000, and is licensed as a professional guide by the Metropolitan City of Rome. Having worked as a guide since 2001, in 2009 she began Understanding Rome, specializing in tailor-made private tours. As well as sporadic updating of her blog which focuses on less visited sites in and around Rome, Agnes has also written for numerous Rome guidebooks including Time Out, the Rough Guide, National Geographic, Frommer’s. She lives in Pigneto with her Roman husband.