What do we eat in Florence? Genuine food, cooked at the moment using natural fresh ingredients, cultivated in the nearby countryside around Florence.

The fresh undone meats come from the farms of Valdarno and from Mugello (two areas near Florence) and are cooked on grills. The flavour of Tuscan meat is very special.

The olive trees that adorn the Tuscany landscape produce an extra virgin olive oil, so good that you can enjoy it even on toasted bread. The Italians use it on all their dishes!

Dinner - one of the most beautiful moments of the day in Florence

The Tuscan cuisine and especially the Florentine cuisine is famous throughout the world. In addition to traditional recipes and dishes known everywhere even with their Italian name (e.g. "ribollita"), there are some specialties that many foreigners ignore.

After a day visiting museums and shopping, you can choose a “rustic trattoria” - perhaps sharing the table with other customers – tasting Tuscan specialties.

Tuscan starters- Liver “crostini” and sliced salamis

Typically, the Florentine people never start a meal from the main course but always have a starter first.
Whether eating in a restaurant or at home with friends you will always find the liver "crostini" (thin sliced toasted bread with liver patè) on the table.

What are they? A sauce made with chicken livers, butter, capers, anchovies, onion and broth, which is spread on warm bread and literally devoured.

Alongside the liver “crostini” the Tuscan antipasto also offers different types of sliced salamis and hams. Both "national" (ham, salami) which are the specialties of Florence: finocchiona. A salami sausage similar to salamis (but larger in diameter), which takes its name from the fennel and is served thickly cut.

The first course dishes - from the “pappardelle” to the “pappa al pomodoro”

Pasta lovers can try the pappardelle (similar to spaghetti, it is a thicker pasta made with egg) with boar sauce (a wild animal that is still in the woods of Tuscany) or hare.

It can be seasoned with other classic ingredients: porcini mushrooms, meat sauces, artichokes, sausages, etc.

Other famous Tuscan first course dishes are the soups: pappa al pomodoro, ribollita, carabaccia, black cabbage soup.

These are all variations of a single base (vegetables, bread or tomato) to which gradually added some ingredients to make it more tasty have been gradually added. It must be enjoyed warm with a little extra virgin olive oil and - if you wish - fresh ground black pepper.

The Florentine steak, is one of the most famous dishes all over the worlds

The most famous dish is surely the Florentine steak. Thick. cooked undone, this steak is a real institution.

There are butchers that love it so much to the extent that they have written poems, like the famous Dario Cecchini of Panzano in Chianti.

The thing that most surprises people that do not live in Florence, is this undone meat, nearly raw, which impresses many tourists. But a Florentine steak must be ate only slightly cooked. Accompanied by white beans, roasted potatoes or a tender salad.

Finish dinner with delicious regional cakes

Florence has not got many great traditions in cakes but “steals" dessert from nearby Prato: cantucci (small almond biscuits) to eat at end of a meal dipped in Vinsanto. Or in the colder seasons, the castagnaccio, takes its name from the nearby mountains , a thin cake, made of chestnut flour and pine nuts.

During Carnival (or after the Epiphany and before Lent) you can find the schiacciata alla fiorentina, a soft sweet like sponge cake which can be filled with cream, cream or chocolate and covered with icing sugar.

Do not forget the “tripe and lampredotto”!

Sometimes Florentine people like eating a sandwich in the street for lunch. In addition to steak, Florence offers other meat specialties such as tripe and lampredotto.
Foods that are eaten in kiosks on the street, even in winter.



They can be seasoned with green sauce and enriched with other vegetables (leeks for example).
They are made from parts of the cow’s stomach, they are tender and tasty and can impress very fussy people who are hard to please.