Florentine cuisine left the city borders in 1533, when Caterina de' Medici married the King of France, Enrico di Valois. Caterina was only 14 years old at the time, but she was already a great food lover and wanted to bring her own chefs and bakers to France with her. With the arrival of the new queen, France discovered the aromas and tastes of authentic Florentine cuisine, which was served in the local courts. The local recipes that were taken to France include the “salsa colla”, today known as bechame sauce, onion soup, and ‘tongue in sweet bread’
Caterina de' Medici : la cucina fiorentina alla corte di Enrico IV
Caterina de' Medici, andatò sposa ad Enrico d'Orleans ed insegnò ai cuochi della corte di Francia la cucina toscana. A lei è dedicato l'ambitissimo premio enogastronomico “Caterina de' Medici” che ogni due anni conferisce riconoscimenti per la creatività e la competenza a professionisti italiani e stranieri, quasi un Nobel della cultura gastronomica, già insignito della Medaglia della Presidenza della Repubblica Italiana.
La cucina meditterranea è stata dichiarata " patrimonio mondiale dell'Umanità "......la cucina fiorentina è ricca di ricette semplici e sane condite con un ottimo olio ed esaltate da un vino eccellente.
Florentine cuisine acquired a more than local dimension in 1533, when Caterina de’ Medici married Henry of Valois, King of France. Caterina was just 14 years old at the time, but was already fond of good food, and she took some cooks and pastry chefs with her to France. With the arrival of the new queen, France was introduced to the smells and aromas of Florentine court cuisine by way of recipes like salsa colla (now besciamella), onion soup and tongue in dolceforte (‘sweet and strong’).
The culinary fare of ordinary people was of course very different, and was based on simple, humble ingredients like bread, oil and fresh vegetables. And it was above all this “humble” cooking that was passed down from one family generation to the next, although some more elaborate recipes, like meats in dolceforte, have also survived.
Without a doubt the most celebrated Florentine dish in the world is the Florentine T-bone steak, which must be prepared using top-quality beef (never veal!) cut to a thickness of 5-6 cm and cooked on a charcoal grill, preferably using chestnut wood. It should be rare-done and dressed with salt, pepper and a drizzle of olive oil after cooking.The classic Tuscan first courses are the soup dishes: pappa al pomodoro and ribollita, hot bread-based soups that give way to panzanella in the summer months.
Apart from the steaks, other meats that feature in Tuscan cooking are game, pork (including arista, pork loin cooked in the oven with garlic and rosemary), stews and boiled meats. Florentines also have a passion for livers: pork livers are wrapped in a mesh and cooked on skewers, with abundant bay and slices of bread stuck between the bits of liver. Chicken liver, together with veal spleen, are the base ingredients for the very popular liver pâté canapés, an essential starter generally served with cold cuts like finocchiona, soppressata, sanguinacci, various kinds of ham, salami and sausage.
And if on your travels you happen to run across a trippaio, ask for tripe Florence-style with sauce, or lampredotto (the fourth part of the cow’s stomach, otherwise known in English as ‘reed tripe’) in a bread roll. These culinary delights are not only served in restaurants and trattorie but also from mobile stalls in streets and squares around the city. Genuine gourmands know that offal, when cooked properly, is a real delicacy!
Of all the various side dishes particular mention must be made of beans, simply boiled and dressed with, or rather drowned in, oil, or cooked all’uccelletto with sage and tomato. Other fine specialities include sweet and sour onions and beets or spinach, which are boiled and then tossed in a pan with oil, garlic and chilli. Desserts include traditional castagnaccio, made with sweet chestnut flour, schiacciata alla fiorentina and the very sweet schiacciata con l'uva (with grapes).
Queen of the autumn: the chestnut
From Marradi to San Godenzo, Firenzuola, Palazzuolo sul Senio and Vicchio… good things from the woods and surrounds
A wealth of taste-tickling Sunday events await tourists in the Mugello and Florentine mountains in the month of October, during which, apart from tasting local specialities like chestnut tortelli, puddings, chestnut flour cake and whole boiled chestnuts, visitors can admire the treasures of the small villages.
Chestnuts and truffles are the stars of the gastronomic autumn season in the Mugello, which produces exclusively the marrone del Mugello I.G.P. Various events are being devoted to this local product, being used in gnocchi, chestnut flour cake and in tortelli pasta filled with cream of chestnut.
Le crespelle, d'estate , sono un'ottima alternativa alla paste e risi freddi.
Riempite con verdure saltate e-o prosciutto cotto. Insomma viva la fantasia!
Florentine crêpes
Ingredients for 6Florentine crêpes
For the crepes:
3 eggs
1 ½ glasses of milk
1 knob of butter
a pinch of salt
For the filling:
600 gr. spinach300 gr. ricotta cheese
1 egg.grated parmigiano
3-4 tblsp tomato sauce
nutmeg
salt and pepper.
For the béchamel:
50 gr. plain flour50 gr. butter
½ litre milk
salt and pepper
Boil the spinach in lightly salted water, drain an chop finely. Add the ricotta, the egg and 3-4 tbsps grated parmigiano, a little nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Prepare the batter for the crêpes by mixing the eggs with the flour and the melted butter. Then prepare the béchamel by melting the butter in a saucepan, slowly sieving in the flour and then adding the warm milk stirring continuously to prevent lumps. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste and cook over a slow flame until the sauce is thick enough. Grease a shallow oven tin and bake the crêpes thin. Lay the spinach and ricotta filling on to the crepes and roll them up then place the rolled crepes into a greased oven dish, cover with béchamel garnish with a little tomato sauce and butter curls and gratin in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Buon appetito!
