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I'm usually a stickler for Britishness, but as I sit in my hotel room on a rainy day in Florence (Italy for those who really need reminding) I couldn't resist the urge to reagle in my gourmet experiences of this delightful city.
Florence suffers from that well known blight touristitis which seems to compel some restaurants to charge outrageous prices to foreign visitors. I must confess that we fell into this little trap on the first night here, having followed the recommendation from our (budget) hotel. This was, I'm glad to say, the only bad meal we had, so in the interest of international relations I will skip over this sorry episode and move on to a few highlights. As readers will know I have a bit of a thing for fresh produce. Strolling through the market at Santa Croce was pure delight. Outside the fruit and veg stalls were packed with brightly coloured, heavily scented produce he size of which I'd never seen before. Cabbages as big as your head. Thick stalks of asparagus. Fat juicy tomatoes. The smell transported you to the fields of the Italian countryside and, although a little nippy out, I could feel the warm sunshine ripening the mounds of luscious.... As we entered the covered market, the smell of raw meat hits you. The clean, fresh smell which makes a true carnivore salivate. Rows of butchers stalls displaying endless legs of cured ham hanging from the ceiling. The display cabinets thrust upon the customer meat in its purest form. “Nothing wasted” seems to be the philosophy here. Calves heads, tripe, pigs' ears and trotters, stuffed chickens head and neck. Other stalls were piled high with enourmous wedges of Parmesan, Peccorino and other cheeses. And the variety of truffle products was astounding: oils, glazes, honey, you name it. Needless to say we left hungry... One of the downsides to staying in a hotel is not having access to a kitchen. With such wonderful ingredients available it was pure torture not to be able to buy, create and consume. However, we found the next best thing: a cookery class. In Tavola (www.intavola.org ) is a little cookery school, tucked away in the back streets of the south bank of the Arno River between the Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti. Our chef instructor was a delightful man, Fabrizio, who welcomed us to his little atelier with a big smile. We were joined for our intimate class of three by a charming Australian woman who was on a year's journey of discovery round the world. With all the gesticulation, grimacing and good humour you would expect from an Italian chef Fabrizio guided us through a menu of authentic, scrumpcious dishes: (in order of creation) Tiramisu, Aubergine Caprese (Aubergine and tomato topped with melted mozzeralla), Handmade Gniocchi with an artichoke and tomato sauce and “Farmer's Chicken” (Chicken sautéed with roasted peppers and balsamic vinegar). Having each worked away to Fabrizio's instructions or shared toiling was rewarded by lunch and a glass of red wine (no points for guessing what the menu was!)
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