Giada De Laurentiis Always Grabs This Italian Food First Thing After Arriving In Italy

For Giada De Laurentiis, touching down in Rome comes with a very specific ritual. Before she unpacks, before she even orders an espresso at a bar, she has to grab some quick Italian street food. And not just any street food — as she told the New York Times, her go-to is a warm pizza bianca stuffed with slices of mortadella, one of the more under-the-radar deli meats. It sounds about as basic as sandwiches get, but if you've ever tried it, you know that it's soft, salty, and indulgent in the most Italian of ways without ever feeling heavy, which makes it pretty perfect for a post-flight meal.

This kind of very simple pizza bianca sandwich can be found in bakeries and paninoteca's all over Rome, but De Laurentiis names one spot specifically –- Antico Forno Roscioli, one of the oldest of its kind, located near Campo de' Fiori in the city center. It's the perfect Roman snack in this way: quick, fresh, and designed to be eaten on the go as you walk around the cobbled streets. Alongside suppli and pizza taglio, this is the street food you need to try even if you have just 24 hours in Rome.

The beautiful thing about this simple pairing is that it is deeply tied to Rome's food culture. In fact, pizza bianca (or white pizza) con la mortadella is a true Roman classic, visible in bakery windows in tall stacks that are ready to grab and go. Which is exactly what Romans do. The soft pillowy pizza is thinner and not as oily or garlicky as focaccia, it's more like flatbread. And mortadella, despite originally being from Bologna, is sort of everywhere in Rome. Plus, of course, this is Italy, so everything is cooked with fresh ingredients and doesn't need much extra fanfare. Just the pairing of the delicate rich meat with the slightly warm bread is enough to fully satisfy, there's no need for any other additions like mustard or lettuce in the way you would find on a sandwich in America.

This is a snack with history. In Giada De Laurentiis' case, that history is tied to her family — first, because her mother picks it up for her post-flight, and second, because her family is from Rome and so she has all the familiarity of those flavors. In terms of its link to Rome, the bread was originally invented as a way for bakers to gauge the temperature of their oven, and it later became a mid-morning snack, complete with toppings, for locals. Italian food just has that kind of power, when you're standing on a bustling street in Rome, that first mouthful becomes more than just sustenance, it's a glimpse into history, invokes nostalgia, and shifts you into a different pace of life.