this week was a particularly good week, why? 2 pizzas...
we went a scamperin for pizza on saturday and went to one place where the lady there won the 2008 best pizza in the world competition, pretty good accolade, but alas the wait was an hour and a half, so that one'll have to wait... we ended up at one i've been to before, still lovely, but this time i was a little sacreligious, as i had chips, not on it as the guy asked with a smirk, no, on the side i said, my italian flowing like a fountain, to drink, water, says i, he said something else, without gas i says, all smug with how good my italian is, then graham leans over and says, he asked me what size i wanted...
but it is improving..
then on tuesday we went to cafe italiano, which is reportedly the best pizza in florence, its a tiny pizzeria, with space for about 10 people, with a fairly sombre looking italian pizzaiolo, well he's sombre until he talks to a female, then he becomes as light as moonshine.. anyway, he made amazing pizza, theres only 3 choices, i had neapolitan, with anchovies and capers, which were a little too salty for me, so i ate them all first then ate the pizza, which was beautiful... then we had the most amazing tiramisu, it was like rice pudding tiramisu, it was the daddy..
we're all off to london next week, which will be fun, this does mean i have to fly..
i had been planning onputting some pics up, but i bust my digital camera the other day, so for now, words it is...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
tuscan proper like
Yet again the last week has blurred by in a week of food and books, i've read dorian gray, the life and times of the thunderbolt kid, and half of superfreakenomics... and i've eaten quite a bit too...
I went out on saturday with graham and had my first proper italian pizza, its not the best in town but it sure beats dominoes... i had a lovely one with a bit of spicy sausage on top. I was sat to two italians, one had a pizza, t'othwer had a pasta, that funnily enough came in a foil bag alight... then for dessert one had an almond cake, and the other guy? another pizza... only in italy...
So my not using supermarkets is going well, its pretty easy here really, there are three bars/bakeries/patisseries closer than the supermarket anyway... Three flavours of ice cream to report, biscotti and forest fruits, nice but way too sweet, i'll try it in another one to be sure though.. strawberry and lemon, that was classically lovely... and today was blackcurrant and bitter chocolate, which was special, but then again today was a particularly special day... it had been decided today that i was ready to go to the best butcher in italy. his name is dario, one of his friends is henry winkler. this place was special. an hour from florence into the tuscan hills, we wound our way up, when we arrived in panzano in chianti, it was as lovely hill top town as any around, but the town wasn't why we had come, we sat outside the restaurant, which did have an american party there, in the sun and we ordered, or rather it was ordered for me, a burger and chips, and a collienza. The burger and chips, rosemary sizzled potatoes wedges and a very pink/red mass of minced meat, which was pretty hoopnanny tasty... The collienza, was a collection of things, first, bread, and a salad of crudely chopped crudites, carrot, fennel, celery and red onion. they brought a little bowl, and made you a little dressing of red wine vinegar, olive oil and their special own recipe salt (i bought some). Then they brought four dishes, one was basically steak tartar, which was amazing, another was chianti tuna, i have no idea how they did it, but it looked a little darker than canned tuna, but to coin a phrase, it literally melted in your mouth.. next was meatloaf with a red pepper and chilli jam, never had meatloafbefore, it was a good first go! and lastly was porchetta, they take half a pig,minus its legs and head, remove the ribs, season it, stuff it with herbs, roll it up, and you have porchetta... words dont really do this justice, it was piggle tastic.
it was a meat feast feat to say the least!
we waddled up the hill for a looksie over the hills and mountains, its phenomenally beautiful countryside, i wanted to see old italian men driving their ferraris (which on the way down i did!).
I then just squeezed in the aforementioned ice cream and we toddled on. We arrived at a tiny hill top village called volpaia, and saw the same american tourists (!), the church there is where rahams brother got married, the restaurant with italy's best butcher was the wedding feast, and the cafe there was their aperitivo...
we had a drink and a little biscotti (!) - somehow! and the owners came out and treated graham like a long lost son- i got a nod! :)
we were about to leave, and they came out with panneforte cake and vin santo,the cake was almond and candied peel cake, first bite was a bit odd, but all in all a good experience, i didn't try the vin santo.. (i dont drink - anymore!)
it was a day to be remembered, and funnily enough, my digital camera broke last night, so its all only in my head...
I went out on saturday with graham and had my first proper italian pizza, its not the best in town but it sure beats dominoes... i had a lovely one with a bit of spicy sausage on top. I was sat to two italians, one had a pizza, t'othwer had a pasta, that funnily enough came in a foil bag alight... then for dessert one had an almond cake, and the other guy? another pizza... only in italy...
So my not using supermarkets is going well, its pretty easy here really, there are three bars/bakeries/patisseries closer than the supermarket anyway... Three flavours of ice cream to report, biscotti and forest fruits, nice but way too sweet, i'll try it in another one to be sure though.. strawberry and lemon, that was classically lovely... and today was blackcurrant and bitter chocolate, which was special, but then again today was a particularly special day... it had been decided today that i was ready to go to the best butcher in italy. his name is dario, one of his friends is henry winkler. this place was special. an hour from florence into the tuscan hills, we wound our way up, when we arrived in panzano in chianti, it was as lovely hill top town as any around, but the town wasn't why we had come, we sat outside the restaurant, which did have an american party there, in the sun and we ordered, or rather it was ordered for me, a burger and chips, and a collienza. The burger and chips, rosemary sizzled potatoes wedges and a very pink/red mass of minced meat, which was pretty hoopnanny tasty... The collienza, was a collection of things, first, bread, and a salad of crudely chopped crudites, carrot, fennel, celery and red onion. they brought a little bowl, and made you a little dressing of red wine vinegar, olive oil and their special own recipe salt (i bought some). Then they brought four dishes, one was basically steak tartar, which was amazing, another was chianti tuna, i have no idea how they did it, but it looked a little darker than canned tuna, but to coin a phrase, it literally melted in your mouth.. next was meatloaf with a red pepper and chilli jam, never had meatloafbefore, it was a good first go! and lastly was porchetta, they take half a pig,minus its legs and head, remove the ribs, season it, stuff it with herbs, roll it up, and you have porchetta... words dont really do this justice, it was piggle tastic.
it was a meat feast feat to say the least!
we waddled up the hill for a looksie over the hills and mountains, its phenomenally beautiful countryside, i wanted to see old italian men driving their ferraris (which on the way down i did!).
I then just squeezed in the aforementioned ice cream and we toddled on. We arrived at a tiny hill top village called volpaia, and saw the same american tourists (!), the church there is where rahams brother got married, the restaurant with italy's best butcher was the wedding feast, and the cafe there was their aperitivo...
we had a drink and a little biscotti (!) - somehow! and the owners came out and treated graham like a long lost son- i got a nod! :)
we were about to leave, and they came out with panneforte cake and vin santo,the cake was almond and candied peel cake, first bite was a bit odd, but all in all a good experience, i didn't try the vin santo.. (i dont drink - anymore!)
it was a day to be remembered, and funnily enough, my digital camera broke last night, so its all only in my head...
Friday, September 17, 2010
short but sweet
so it seems my time on the internet is permanently cut short, until i get myself a computer, so in short, i am a week into my sojourn in florence, and it remains rather food orientated...
savoury wise i had one of the best meals i've every had yesterday, fresh green tagliatelle, fresh rainbow trout, cooked in a bag with onions and tomatoes, its was melt in your mouth, curl up your toes, arch ya back fantastic...
apart from that the fruit here is immense, the peaches are the size of watermelons, and the bananas, well this is a family blog..
the biggest differentiation between each day is what dolci i get in a morning, pastries, danish, croissants, brioches etc etc, i've had a few blackcurrants filled croissants, and a raisin pastry, and an apple danish, all delicious...
but my favourite treat is ice cream... first day i had just strawberry, 'just strawberry' she asked, just strawberry i said, i know what i like, since then, i've gone mixing mad, i had fig and buontalenti (condensed milk i think) zabalione and forest fruits, both ok, but a bit odd, then i have bitter chocolate fondant and raspberry, now we're talking, and today, i went for a straccianoci (coffee chocolate nut combo) and summer fruits, wowsers...
i'll keep tryin them each day, and find the perfect flavour....
so today was my first full day off, so i went for a little potter about town, although i didn't potter, i marched, straight through town, past the duomo, with a queue the size of which even early morning argos would be proud of, past the fake david (not all that) past all the bloody tourists, to the other side of the city, then back again, although i did find an antiques market, and another food market, an english cemetary, and a hotel the size of the liverpool one..
I have made a pledge, it includes me and disscludes supermarkets, while in my time in Florence, i am not going to go to a supermarket, gotta dash
ciao xxxxxxxxx
savoury wise i had one of the best meals i've every had yesterday, fresh green tagliatelle, fresh rainbow trout, cooked in a bag with onions and tomatoes, its was melt in your mouth, curl up your toes, arch ya back fantastic...
apart from that the fruit here is immense, the peaches are the size of watermelons, and the bananas, well this is a family blog..
the biggest differentiation between each day is what dolci i get in a morning, pastries, danish, croissants, brioches etc etc, i've had a few blackcurrants filled croissants, and a raisin pastry, and an apple danish, all delicious...
but my favourite treat is ice cream... first day i had just strawberry, 'just strawberry' she asked, just strawberry i said, i know what i like, since then, i've gone mixing mad, i had fig and buontalenti (condensed milk i think) zabalione and forest fruits, both ok, but a bit odd, then i have bitter chocolate fondant and raspberry, now we're talking, and today, i went for a straccianoci (coffee chocolate nut combo) and summer fruits, wowsers...
i'll keep tryin them each day, and find the perfect flavour....
so today was my first full day off, so i went for a little potter about town, although i didn't potter, i marched, straight through town, past the duomo, with a queue the size of which even early morning argos would be proud of, past the fake david (not all that) past all the bloody tourists, to the other side of the city, then back again, although i did find an antiques market, and another food market, an english cemetary, and a hotel the size of the liverpool one..
I have made a pledge, it includes me and disscludes supermarkets, while in my time in Florence, i am not going to go to a supermarket, gotta dash
ciao xxxxxxxxx
Monday, September 13, 2010
A few firsts...
So I arrived at my new home, its on the ground floor, really spacious, ceilings about 12 foot high, and a bed i can almost lie widthways in, i'm in heaven...
There's also a little courtyard, surrounded by the balconies of other flats, so there is constantly the noise of crockery being washed, food being eaten, kids playing with a game that sings baa baa black sheep in english.. and a constant background singing of italian, wafting over me, mostly lulling me to sleep... i've been sleeping about 10 hours a night, with a good two hour nap in the day time. My room, when the shutters go down, is like a cell. Its very conducive to sleep...
So Day 1 i went to a little fruit market over the way, i realise pretty sharpish how bad my italian is, but manage to buy myself an apple and a plant.. (i was pretty tired)
Later on we took a walk to central makret, about 15 minutes walk away, every possible fruit, vegetable, meat, cheese, fish on offer. It was too much, i was literally overwhelmed, and i couldn't even buy anything, there was too much choice, i was like a kid in a candy store, but too much. I realised that my decisive powers are the first to go when i am tired, so i trudged home, and took a nap for three hours :)
Day 2, early trip to market, the second biggest after central market, and i am determined to try some florentine stuff, being a local and all that..
On the way to the market we pass a florentine delicacy, panino di lambredotto, cow stomach sandwich... i was tempted, but i wasn't sure i wanted it to be the first thing in my stomach... So we wandered the market, i bought honey, bee pollen, porcini mushrooms, fresh pasta, biscotti, loads of fruit and some little sweet things. So with a slightly full stomach we amble past the stomach sandwich man, and i jump in and grab one, crusty batch, with boiled cow's stomach, loads of salt pepper and a chilli sauce, and the top of the bread dipped in the water.... You know? surprisingly nice, a little hard to stomach (!) the whole thing, but i would definitely have it again. Home for another nap (obviously) and then wake up to make some dinner, fresh pasta, fried porcini mushrooms, and pecorino on top. Fresh porcini literally melt when cooked, even though the stalks took longer to cook, it was still amazing, i felt proud...
Day 3 lazy day reading lots of asterix in italian, trying to learn enough to have an intelligent conversation at a bbq next saturday, Graham, the guy i work with, keeps laughing at my notorious napping ability. I went for a ride around Florence and had my first ice cream, i had fragola (strawberry) pretty phenomenal.
I also pottered down to see my first view of the river, and its little grassy knoll, with lots of leathery italians sunbathing in speedos. Only in Italy...
Graham doesn't go to bed till about 11:30 so i have usually fallen asleep when i have to help him to bed with the nurse/carer szofie from hungary. So every time they call me i am usually fairly bleary eyed...but at least he gets to chuckle at me before bed..
So i am yet to have my first pizza, and i have been told of a florentine steak that is the best thing i will ever eat apparently, i had been thinking when i was in france, that i might go veggie, i still might, but not jsut yet....
There's also a little courtyard, surrounded by the balconies of other flats, so there is constantly the noise of crockery being washed, food being eaten, kids playing with a game that sings baa baa black sheep in english.. and a constant background singing of italian, wafting over me, mostly lulling me to sleep... i've been sleeping about 10 hours a night, with a good two hour nap in the day time. My room, when the shutters go down, is like a cell. Its very conducive to sleep...
So Day 1 i went to a little fruit market over the way, i realise pretty sharpish how bad my italian is, but manage to buy myself an apple and a plant.. (i was pretty tired)
Later on we took a walk to central makret, about 15 minutes walk away, every possible fruit, vegetable, meat, cheese, fish on offer. It was too much, i was literally overwhelmed, and i couldn't even buy anything, there was too much choice, i was like a kid in a candy store, but too much. I realised that my decisive powers are the first to go when i am tired, so i trudged home, and took a nap for three hours :)
Day 2, early trip to market, the second biggest after central market, and i am determined to try some florentine stuff, being a local and all that..
On the way to the market we pass a florentine delicacy, panino di lambredotto, cow stomach sandwich... i was tempted, but i wasn't sure i wanted it to be the first thing in my stomach... So we wandered the market, i bought honey, bee pollen, porcini mushrooms, fresh pasta, biscotti, loads of fruit and some little sweet things. So with a slightly full stomach we amble past the stomach sandwich man, and i jump in and grab one, crusty batch, with boiled cow's stomach, loads of salt pepper and a chilli sauce, and the top of the bread dipped in the water.... You know? surprisingly nice, a little hard to stomach (!) the whole thing, but i would definitely have it again. Home for another nap (obviously) and then wake up to make some dinner, fresh pasta, fried porcini mushrooms, and pecorino on top. Fresh porcini literally melt when cooked, even though the stalks took longer to cook, it was still amazing, i felt proud...
Day 3 lazy day reading lots of asterix in italian, trying to learn enough to have an intelligent conversation at a bbq next saturday, Graham, the guy i work with, keeps laughing at my notorious napping ability. I went for a ride around Florence and had my first ice cream, i had fragola (strawberry) pretty phenomenal.
I also pottered down to see my first view of the river, and its little grassy knoll, with lots of leathery italians sunbathing in speedos. Only in Italy...
Graham doesn't go to bed till about 11:30 so i have usually fallen asleep when i have to help him to bed with the nurse/carer szofie from hungary. So every time they call me i am usually fairly bleary eyed...but at least he gets to chuckle at me before bed..
So i am yet to have my first pizza, and i have been told of a florentine steak that is the best thing i will ever eat apparently, i had been thinking when i was in france, that i might go veggie, i still might, but not jsut yet....
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Not really a blog, for not a real blogger.
Well, here's my address,
Via Pippo Spano, 19
Firenze, 50129
Italia
the house phone, 0039055587182
and mymobile 00393929043817
I got here safe and sound, after an interesting train journey, with 2 pilgrims going to Roma, and a black guy who read porn all the way...i lost my ticket after 10 mins, found in my jumper after 10 mins frantic searching....slept in the middlebunk because one of the pilgrims claimed claustrophobia, i'm still unsure whether i believe him, it was horrible with 1 foot of space above you..
On arriving at the station, i asked in mybest italian for a taxi,
"round the cornermate" was the reply...
i wasn't happy, this wasn't how it wasmeant to be...
lo and behold, i found a taxi, she called me over..
"Ciao bello"
i was so happy! my heart literally filled with glee!
so i arrived at the house....
Via Pippo Spano, 19
Firenze, 50129
Italia
the house phone, 0039055587182
and mymobile 00393929043817
I got here safe and sound, after an interesting train journey, with 2 pilgrims going to Roma, and a black guy who read porn all the way...i lost my ticket after 10 mins, found in my jumper after 10 mins frantic searching....slept in the middlebunk because one of the pilgrims claimed claustrophobia, i'm still unsure whether i believe him, it was horrible with 1 foot of space above you..
On arriving at the station, i asked in mybest italian for a taxi,
"round the cornermate" was the reply...
i wasn't happy, this wasn't how it wasmeant to be...
lo and behold, i found a taxi, she called me over..
"Ciao bello"
i was so happy! my heart literally filled with glee!
so i arrived at the house....
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