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The Florentine
Food and wine in Florence and Tuscany, including food stories, restaurant reviews and wineries.
I took a foreign friend to a local trattoria on my side of the river, diladdarno, to sample a favourite local dish, fritto misto alla fiorentina. When he heard my order, he wondered why on earth anyone would want to deep-fry a beautiful fiorentina steak and, even more perplexing,
In English, we categorise game into two distinct categories: furred game and feathered game. In Italian, the feathered game is called volatili (fliers). Christmas Day calls for a flier. Or maybe two! My morning walks take me past the restaurant Fuori Porta and into the back of the areas
For those who don't take an interest in hunting, it is easy to forget that the transition from autumn to winter also marks the hunting season and the delicious promise of la caccia. Although not always readily available in supermarkets, most good Florentine butchers stock a variety of fresh
If you are a meat-lover and looking for a menu with a difference, La Coppiola in Pistoia is the place for you. Painted a vibrant orange, the colour of Pistoia's football team, and simply furnished, it may look like your run of the mill Circolo Arci (Associazione Ricreativa
A wonderfully memorable food-filled weekend with friends in the countryside near Siena has confirmed for me, once again, that Italians are the most food-passionate people in the world. Some of the guests brought their own wines and olive oils for me to taste, and we talked about the
For all those Americans in Florence this fall who are pining for a traditional Thanksgiving dinner, don't worry: from feasts in restaurants with all the trimmings, to complete takeaway thanksgiving meals to enjoy at home, to musical fundraisers, Florence is offering something for everyone this year. Full Thanksgiving
It is said that since the time of the Etruscans in the 8th century BCE, the bistecca fiorentina has been served blood-red rare with olive oil and copious amounts of black pepper. And, if Marco Polo's mid-thirteenth-century travel tales are to be believed, 4,500 kilos (
Our jeep bounced up the white track, wheels spinning on loose pebbles. Below, the Montalcino-Buonconvento road disappeared in the morning mist. ‘Can this be the right place? Where's the music?' wondered my partner, David. Then, up ahead, we caught a glimpse of Carlo Cignozzi, the wine producer
With autumn truly upon us and the colours in the fields and markets changing, so are the flavours of our table. Now that the wine harvest is done and while the olive groves await harvest, it's time to store some of our autumn harvest-as well as eat some. &
The tomato sauce passata is made for the year, a variety of tomatoes procured already sun-dried from Puglia, Calabria and Sicily, some in oil with garlic and herbs, others halved and dried ready to be reconstituted in boiling water, and chillies in the pantry that are sun-dried then
A favourite Italian holiday destination, the island of Elba, the largest in the Tuscan archipelago, is best known for its beaches and crystalline water than for its food. That may be because the traditional cuisine of this island is a humble one that stems from cucina povera and the rough
While some people eat four-horned snails to help keep arguments at bay and to avoid betrayals by loved ones for the forthcoming year, others send barefoot virgins up walnut ...
Pliny the Elder praised it and Lorenzo the Magnificent was fond of it: pecorino di Pienza is a cheese that for centuries has embodied the taste of the land and the traditions of one of Tuscany?s most beautiful valleys, the Val d?Orcia. Pecorino di Pienza is
Learning Italian can be tricky enough, especially when there are obstacles along the way, such as the Tuscan dialect, the Florentine accent and the frequent use of words with double ...
May and June are unofficial months for wine-lovers in Tuscany, so we suggest five local wine tasting opportunities for both connoisseurs and novice wine enthusiasts: GUSTARUFINA, from May 21 to 27, which celebrates Chianti Rufina wines, conveniently takes place in Florence. The grand finale is a concert at
There is nothing like a warm weather sagra, and the annual cherry festival in the town of Lari (Sagra delle ciliegie a Lari) is a great excuse to get out and celebrate the season's sweetest bounty: cherries. Located about 30 kilometres from Pisa, the hilltop town of Lari
Once spring gives way to summer, it will be time to go to the Tuscan coast. But in the meantime, I find myself longing to eat more seafood and fresh green vegetables. Seppie in zimino, cuttlefish with leafy greens, is the perfect dish. When I make seppie in
The saucepans were overturned-to paraphrase biographer Jean Orieux-in 1533 when Catherine de' Medici arrived in Paris as the 14-year-old Florentine bride of Henry II, the future king of France. What Orieux was referring to in his biography of Catherine de' Medici was the Tuscan cuisine that
There is a saying in Italian: Natale con i tuoi e Pasqua con chi vuoi (‘Christmas with your family and Easter with whomever you want'). And who you want to feast with is as important as what you eat: food is the centre of celebrations, and tradition has it
The Florentine gastronome Caterina de' Medici is well known to have inspired and influenced French cuisine. Some say her arrival in Paris was even the turning point. Her entourage of Florentine chefs and cooks that she insisted on bringing from home and her love of familiar food (still something that
Most seaside towns in Italy have their own antique version of zuppa di pesce, and the Tuscan port town of Livorno is no exception: here they call it cacciucco: the fish stew with five c's and 13 different types of seafood, all slow-cooked in red wine with lots
