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Fresh Summer Food Salads and Beyond
[Maddalena Delli]
Tuscan cuisine is renowned for its traditional ingredients such as meat, game and legumes; it is rich of Mediterranean influences and offers a variety of recipes which are especially fit for the summer. Seasonal produce and typical dressings are mixed in different ways to obtain fresh and tasty dishes which most local restaurants will serve in countless variants.Why not try some typical summer combinations like ham and melon (prosciutto e popone) or broad beans and sheepsmilk cheese (baccelli e pecorino)? Besides you should not miss the many varieties of salad, including bread salad (panzanella) or spelt (farro) salad, simple preparations which you will read in most menus. Harder to find - but certainly worth trying - are cold tripe salad and boiled beef salad, in which the beef is frayed and mixed with red onions, oil, vinegar and salt.
But local cooking comprises much more than just salads, and some cold preparations of international cuisine
originate from Tuscany. To name but a couple of them, let us mention veal with tuna sauce (vitello tonnato) and chicken galantine (boned chicken in jelly stuffed with minced veal,pork and herbs). The sauce for the former should be made with tuna, capers, white wine and veal broth - strictly without mayonnaise! - while in the latter the jelly should absolutely not be made with isinglass and come from the broth of the same chicken instead.
Wind up your glorious summer meal with a tasty fragrant peach of one of the local varieties - like Regina di Londa or Burrona di Rosano - renowned since Medici times and still available from any good vegetable stall in local markets. Later in the Summer you can also enjoy an ancient countryside tidbit, in many ways a forerunner of modern trends for hybrid matches: salami and September figs, best accompanied with a good bottle of Pitigliano white wine.
Here is a selection of fine restaurants we recommend for your delicious Tuscan meals:
Giannino in Borgo S. Lorenzo 37r (tel. 055.212206) was founded as a simple "rosticceria" in the early 20th C. by Giovanni Mazzi (whose nickname was in fact Giannino). Over the years the business grew into a proper restaurant, until it acquired international notoriety in the late Fifties when its manager was invited on a special occasion to provide the best traditional Tuscan dishes in London, as two badges on display in the restaurant still attest to. The present owner, Riccardo Bartoloni, has carried out a careful restoration of the premises to recover their original look and feel as a merchants' loggia with vaulted ceiling and valuable furniture. Carefully selected ingredients and a relentless passion for typical recipies make Giannino's cuisine truly unique. The restaurant also boasts a whole room appointed as a wine shop.
At Le Botteghe di Donatello on Piazza Duomo (Via dei Servi corner, tel. 055.216678) just behind the Cathedral a pleasant lunch or dinner awaits you in our comfortable and historic restaurant whose front patio boasts a unique view on Brunelleschi's dome. Botteghe di Donatello caters for quick lunches as well as complete and delicious meals: their menu includes Florentine steaks, pizzas baked in a wood-burning oven, as well as many Tuscan and fish specialities, all accompanied by an excellent selection of wines. Le Botteghe di Donatello also manages the nearby 'Sapori del Chianti' store on via dei Servi specializing in Tuscan food and wines including over five hundred labels of wines, sparkling wines, grappa, champagne, cognacs, extra virgin olive oil, aromatic vinegar, pasta, tuscan salami and pecorino cheese (you can also shop online at www.isaporidelchianti.it).
Another unsurpassed meal with a great unimpeded view can be enjoyed at the - suitably named! - Golden View Open Bar in via dei Bardi 58r (tel. 055.214502) on the left bank of the Arno, just a few steps away from the Ponte Vecchio just in front of the Uffizi and the Vasari Corridor, open daily from 11.30 in the morning till 2 at night. Golden view caters for all kinds of pockets and tastebuds: the menu ranges from delicious pizzas and light lunches, to refreshing salads and fish dishes, Tuscan specialities and Mediterranean recipes, . Golden View is also a wine bar and wine shop apen for both aperitif and after dinner drinks. Add the extra bonus of live jazz music with Antonio Figura and his trio on Mondays and Wednesdays and you will have ample good reasons to book a table near the large windows - or, if you are lucky enough, at one of the exclusive tables in the flower-laden terrace on the river - for one of the most unforgettable meals in town.
A little downriver in historic Borgo San Jacopo 37r (tel. 055.2396009) is one of Florence's best-loved typical trattorias: Mamma Gina. Housed in a 15th century palace with vaulted ceilings and furnished in an elegant yet rustic style, the restaurant was established in the early Fifties when Signora Gina started cooking meals for the workmen dredging sand from the Arno for use in the many building sites involved in repairing the damage caused by the bombings of World War II. Now run by Marino Cinali, Mamma Gina still offers traditional-style cooking based on genuine, simple, delicious dishes of times past. Many famous characters from the Italian and international political, cultural and theatrical scene are regular diners here. The huge wine cellar include classical Chianti, a wide selection of Tuscan wines as well as all the best Italian and international wines, while the friendly and helpful staff create an atmosphere which is a perfect emonstration of the finest hospitality Florence can offer.
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