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Katie Parla: Rome Wasn't Built in a Day
Episode 269
Episode Overview
In this rich, sensory journey through the Eternal City, I sit down with food historian, author, and Rome expert Katie Parla, a woman whose love affair with Rome began at sixteen thanks to her mother’s quiet act of generosity. What started as a high school Latin club trip became a lifelong devotion to understanding the flavors, history, and soul of a city that was never meant to exist. Rome began as a malarial, snake-infested swamp, yet somehow became the beating heart of Western civilization.
Katie has written, edited, or contributed to more than twenty books and countless articles in publications like The New York Times, Vogue, and The Guardian. Her newest work, Rome: A Culinary History Cookbook and Field Guide to the Flavors That Built a City, is not just another recipe collection. It’s a layered love letter, part history book, part field guide, and part emotional map to the spirit of a city that has endured famine, fire, empire, and rebirth. Together, we explore what Rome can teach us about leadership, gratitude, and the art of being human in an age of acceleration.
We begin where all gratitude stories begin, at the table. Katie gives thanks to her mother, “Jojo,” who worked multiple jobs to make that first trip to Rome possible. Through her mother’s sacrifice, Katie learned the essence of perseverance, the same relentless spirit that built the city she now calls home. From there, we wander through the neighborhoods of Rome, from the ancient core to the medieval center, and finally to Testaccio, her favorite district, where modern graffiti meets ancient terracotta ruins. It’s there that Katie goes to meditate on impermanence and the balance between chaos and beauty.
As our conversation unfolds, history becomes a mirror for modern leadership. We talk about Rome’s “bread and circuses,” how the government once used food and entertainment to keep citizens loyal, and we draw parallels to today’s corporate perks and engagement programs. We explore the emperors of old and the executives of now, and what it means to “be a Caesar, not an Augustus,” a leader who serves with benevolence and dignity rather than domination and fear. We even touch on the city’s engineering genius, from the 2,700 nasoni fountains that keep Romans hydrated to the grain ships that once fed an empire. Every system, every aqueduct, every loaf of bread carried a lesson about sustaining people, not just power.
But Rome’s real brilliance lies in its contradictions, what I call the “and” mindset. It’s a city of war and peace, tragedy and triumph, speed and stillness. It forces us to hold two opposing truths at once: to hate what was violent and love what was beautiful, to accept the brokenness and still celebrate the feast. In our current age of AI and instant answers, Rome reminds us of the value of friction, imperfection, and effort.
We wander next into the Roman Forum, where citizens once gathered to argue, trade, eat, and bear witness. It was the original “third place” between home and work, the birthplace of civic belonging, a space for conversation and connection. Katie draws a line from the Forum to today’s trattorias and pizza-by-the-slice counters, where people stand shoulder to shoulder, talking to strangers, sipping espresso, or sharing a quick lunch of supplì or cacio e pepe. These are the modern temples of togetherness.
Then comes the food. Not just the postcard dishes of carbonara and amatriciana, but the soulful, often forgotten recipes of Rome’s working class: chicken gizzards with fettuccine, veal intestines simmered in tomato sauce, and involtini, rolled beef stuffed with prosciutto, carrots, and celery, cooked slowly until tender. Katie calls it “one pot, two dishes,” a metaphor for efficiency and abundance at once. Her approach to cooking, and to life, can be summed up in t
Published on 3 hours ago