Everyone knows how important food is to an Italian. This is even more true in Florence. If you’ve ever had dinner with a Florentine, you know that at the dinner table people like to eat and talk about food at the same time. There is always a good excuse to converse around food.
Food and the renaissance artists
Already in the Renaissance, there was a Florentine food culture. Two friends and artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Botticelli even opened a restaurant near the Ponte Vecchio.
Michelangelo, who cared less for food, often complained about the wine served outside the borders of Tuscany.
It’s yet quite interesting to observe one of the remaining sketches of the artist, kept in the Casa Buonarroti Museum in Florence, since it’s a shopping list which Michelangelo made to one of his collaborators who was sent to buy some food. Michelangelo both wrote and drew which food and quantity to be purchased as the young man was probably illiterate.
Flavours at the Medici court
The Medici family was not only one of Europe’s most prominent dynasties from the 15th century onwards. The family also put its stamp on the cuisine. When Caterina de’ Medici married the future King Henry II of France in 1533, she had to adapt to new customs and traditions and it wasn’t always easy. She longed for Florentine food such as the delicious sorbet. Fortunately, the Florentine chefs in France fulfilled her dream of eating it again.
What we today normally consider to be a typical French onion soup was already a common soup in Florence and you can still find it under the name “carabaccia” in many traditional Florentine trattorias. Caterina even introduced a new table etiquette in her new home country. Thanks to her, the French began to use the fork.
But back to modern-day Florence. There are probably few cities that have so many restaurants and cafés as Florence. This is of course linked to the number of tourists who visit the capital of Tuscany every year. Most of these dining places are typical trattorias and osterias which proudly uphold the local cuisine and the tradition of opening for lunch and for dinner. The restaurants that stay open all day are often considered tourist spots by locals.
Which are the most typical dishes in Florence?
Usually, Florentine food is simple and without any major frills. For starters, Florentines love their pecorino cheeses and cold cuts such as salami, finocchiona and ham, preferably with “crostini toscani”, which is bread with chicken liver paté.
As a first course you often find pasta with game sauce. It can be “cinghiale”, wild boar, or “lepre”, hare. “Porcini mushrooms” are also yummy. Simple bean soups or a “ribollita”, which is a bread and vegetable soup cooked for several hours, are great on cold winter days. “Pappa al pomodoro” is another classic. Often described as a soup, it’s actually more like a kind of porridge.
In the summer you might prefer a bread and vegetable salad called “panzanella”. What for sure is never missing is loads of extra virgin olive oil.
Meat, of course, is high on the list thanks to the famous “bistecca fiorentina’, a T-bone steak grilled quickly on both sides and eaten rare. It is sold by the gram and is rarely under 1 kg. Do not make the “foolish” mistake asking to get the bistecca well-done. If you’re lucky you just get a sarcastic comment in response. The rule in Tuscany is that the meat is never served well-done. If you like medium-rare you better choose a “tagliata”, which is sliced beef from the same part as the “bistecca” but without bone. Especially in winter, a stew can be a good choice. The most typical is the “peposo dell’Impruneta”. It is a beef stew with a lot of pepper that cooks for several hours. Tradition has it that this stew which comes from Impruneta, outside Florence, was cooked in the same ovens as the terracotta goods.
A good thing to remember is that you have to order potatoes, vegetables and salads as a side-dish in most places. This is called “contorno”. Keep in mind that an “insalata mista” is often just lettuce leaves and some tomatoes.
If you dare, you might want to try beef entrails. “Trippa” and “lampredotto” are very common in Florence.
On the contrary it is not that easy to find fish, vegetarian or vegan restaurants. They do exist, but in Florence they hold on to their traditions. What is easy to find, however, are Neapolitan pizzerias, which are currently very popular.
Something visitors often notice is that the bread in Florence is unsalted. It might taste strange but it’s an old tradition which dates back to the time when salt was expensive and difficult to retrieve, in particular in war times. Still the local bread is perfect when you eat salty Tuscan cold-cuts. If you want a salted alternative try the “schiacciata” which elsewhere in Italy is called “focaccia” or “pizza bianca”.
Drinks
So what do you drink with a meal in Florence? The answer is easy: red wine. In Tuscany there is a long tradition of wine-making and obviously there are plenty of great red wines such as Chianti, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello or “Supertuscan”. These wines go hand in hand with the local food.
For an aperitif you can instead try the drink Negroni which was invented in Florence, a spritz, a prosecco or a glass of the white Vernaccia wine.
Desserts and gelato
There are a number of desserts to end a meal in Italy. The most typical one in Florence is “cantuccini and vinsanto”. Cantuccini are almond cookies which you dip in a sweet wine.
What is never wrong is a nice walk and a gelato after dinner. The Florentine gelato is world-famous and the flavours are usually seasonal.
Food Markets
If you want to see what locals eat and drink you should visit the two food markets in Florence. The Mercato Centrale is located in the area of San Lorenzo while the other market is to be found in the Sant’Ambrogio area. Both open at 7am and most of the stands close around 2pm. At the Mercato Centrale there is now a refurbished top floor with restaurants which are open from 11am to midnight. A fun way to hang out in an international atmosphere.