Our very first issue!
Welcome to CiboChat, the food blog of the APICIUS Food Communications Department! Students and faculty will be contributing their views and insights on everything related to food, travel, gastronomy, and culinary culture in Florence, Italy, and beyond.
To check out our program and APICIUS visit www.apicius.it
Got Tripe? Photo by Nathan Scott
Lampredotto: The Other, Other White Meat
By Nathan Scott
One does not have to live in Florence for very long to realize that Italians eat much less meat and poultry than the average American. Take for example a panino con prosciutto. If a person were to order such a panino he or she would get a slice of prosciutto between two halves of a wonderfully fresh roll – a great sandwich, but when compared to a foot-long Italian B.M.T. from Subway, the panino seems lacking in the meat department. Next look at breakfast. Though the cornetti are fabulous, there are still some mornings I could really go for some bacon and eggs? And don’t even get me started on the size of their meatballs.
Luckily, I have found a delicious and affordable solution for all you protein-starved students. It’s called lampredotto. And if you haven’t already heard about this food you should really try it. (In fact, I would recommend that you run out and get some right now before you read the rest of this article, because let’s face it, after I tell you what lampredotto is, about half of you are going to immediately lose your appetite.)
I first tried lampredotto a few days ago. It was served on a warm, crusty roll with a smear of green parsley sauce, and a drizzle of a piquant red pepper sauce. It was flavorful… hearty… and best of all, loaded with meat. In fact, I ran out of roll and ended up eating just meat; lampredotto has a good meat to roll ratio, if you will.
Another great advantage of eating lampredotto is that it is not only cheap, but easy to come by. It is frequently sold at stands in such places as San Lorenzo or Piazza del Procellino. To find a lampredotto stand, simply look for a place that the locals seem to flock to, but the tourists seem to scuttle from in disgust and you are pretty much guaranteed to find this Florentine treat.
Alright, so I told you I would explain what lampredotto really is. Brace yourselves because here I go. Lampredotto is made from abomasum, the fourth stomach compartment of a calf. This traditional Florentine dish is made by braising the abomasums in a mixture of tomato, onion, parsley, and celery. It is then sliced and used to make panini, crostini, or spezzatini. Still hungry?
Try Tripperia da Sergio e Pier Paolo, a historic stand in Piazza Sant’Ambrogio
Located just to the right of the Chiesa di Sant’Ambrogio, look for a Piaggio truck improvised as a sandwich stand.
The gelato counter at Grom. Photo courtesy of Apicius Food Communications
Gelato: Worth the hype?
By Lisa Adams
There is one subject, however, that makes former visitors to Tuscany light up like golden doubloons on Mardi Gras Day. “The first thing you must do when you arrive in Florence (or Siena or Lucca, you get the idea) is have <sigh> gelato <sigh>!” Yes, ice cream. Boring old ice cream that usually requires fudge sauce to make it truly exciting. In Tuscany, in all of Italy for that matter, gelato is an institution. It’s an art form. It’s a cult. It’s a revelation.
When I first got to Florence, the gelato seduction began almost immediately. I was walking in the Via dei Martelli, leaving the Florence train station, when I spied out of the corner of my little, little eye rows and rows of multi-colored cream overflowing in silver containers. The gelato was piled so high, the whole resembled a sugar-coated mountain range. It was intoxicating, but it almost seemed too good to be true. Too much flash, too little substance.
As I wandered around the Duomo, watching other tourists consume gelato en masse, I saw a number of people coming from one little place in particular. It was on a side street, away from the fray, and I was immediately curious. The cups were simple, the little spoons were white instead of neon-colored. I followed the pack into Grom, a gelateria famous for making everything from scratch and mixing traditional flavors with more avant-garde confections.
The place is small; there are only four little stools. The counter is noticeably missing the heaping piles of gelato on display to tempt the weak-willed dieter. At Grom, the gelato is in covered silver containers that you don’t even notice until the staff goes to put together your ice cream creation. I ordered lemon and fior di late with mint. It sounded like a refreshing combination. The lemon was real Sicilian lemon. It was fresh and natural. The creamy mint was especially soothing to my overheated tourist’s body. It was indescribably sweet, yet savory in the sense that you can bite into it. It was substantial. It filled you up without making your head spin in a sugar tornado.
In one moment of ice cream bliss, I joined the cult of gelato, ready to jump on the next would-be tourist to Florence with my tale of ice cream and love. Sometimes it’s best to follow the crowd instead of the flash.
Via del Campanile
at the corner of via delle Oche
Tel 055.216158
Un cappuccino per favore! Photo by Nathan Scott
You Want to Get a Cup of Coffee Sometime?
By Nathan Scott
The other day I was asked out for a cup of coffee. Completely oblivious to the potential sexual implications of going out for coffee, I responded with a very polite “No thanks, caffeine makes me jittery.” (And people wonder why I’m still single.) Despite my apparent lack of flirting know-how, I became curious about Italian coffee.
In the hopes of satisfying my curiosity about caffé I decided to sample a few of the more common types. First, I tried caffé stretto. I had never heard of it before; so I ordered it and was soon handed a small cup of thick, black liquid. That was right about the time that I confirmed caffeine makes me jittery. Turns out, caffé stretto is essentially identical to espresso.
A few days later (after my heart stopped racing from the caffé stretto), I decided to try again. This time I ordered a caffé latte – a coffee that is mixed with steamed milk. (Not to be confused with a latte, which is only milk.) After that I tried a caffé macchiato – an espresso “stained” with a few drops of steamed milk. And I ended my coffee tasting week with a caffé marocchino, which is similar to the caffé macchiato, but is served with a sprinkling of cocoa powder.
It was an interesting week. I’m still single, but I did learn a lot about coffee, and I found a way to avoid the jitters. Turns out, the grappa in a caffé corretto is just the thing I needed to balance out the caffeine… who knew?
If you are interested in having your own coffee tasting week check out Caffé Italiano at Via della Condotta 56r or Nannini Coffee Shop at Via Borgo San Lorenzo 7r.