Gelati Festival

(Gelati spoons as art. The ad I stumbled across a few days before it the festival began.)(CINQUE gelatis at once. That's a solid effort.)

I forgot to mention (I've no idea how!) that I was in Firenze for the gelati festival. Of course, given the obsession some of my friends have for ice-cream I bought my 5 tastes ticket. (It is not, happily, a personal foible. Chocolate I'm there everytime. Gelati, hmm, take it or leave it. So this is for you guys- you know who you are!)

Your ticket entitles you to go around ALL the boths across Florence (there are 5 main piazzas all set up for it. So picture 5 Fed Squares in Melbourne with a few marquees, each with about 5 different stalls, each stall with at least 8 different flavours.) Then you hand over one of your vouchers each time. The 'tastes' were generous- Ma and I shared them all.

(Choices four and five, naughty secret aniseed and yummy biscotinni.)

We tried dark chocolate, raspberry sorbet on a stick, biscottini, rosewater pistachio (a rogue choice, obscurely labelled as that brand's 'speciality'. So of course we tried it but Ma was AGHAST to taste the rose.) and then it was MY turn to be disgusted by the aniseed flavour hiding among the chocolate chips in our final choice.

(Sorbet on a stick. They looked gorgeous as a collection, such bright colours.)

Amazing Italian food moments

Millefoglie ciccolato. Even the words look delicious.

My mother is an avid reader of foodie magazines, eg. Gourmet Traveller, Vogue Entertainment, Cuisine, Delicious....

For years (decades is probably more accurate) she has been tearing, ripping and cutting out places to eat, recipes to try and styling to emmulate. The styling and the cooking she can do at her leisure in Melbourne, and has done for as long as anyone remembers. Getting the chance to actually test out some of the amazing foreign locations, however, is a relative novelty.

Finally, she is in Italy, the land of her foodie dreams, and for Florence she has come armed with a 2 page spread from two Sydney gentlemen who run a restaurant together, and frequently return to Florence. The article is EXCLUSIVELY about food and is very specific in what to eat at each place.

There are probably about a dozen places mentioned, and we have so far tried at least 8 of them. Their hit rate is eight for eight. Do you know how rare this is?? I want to travel the WORLD with these dudes, they,ve got some serious flair. The bombolini, chocolate millfoglie, panino bollitos with salsa verde, hole-in-the-wall paninoteca, pasta-free trattorias, gelati and chocolates have all been out-of-this-world delicious. And we are a VERY discerning pair of eaters.

Eggplant Parmagiana. Rich but not too rich, cheesey, hot and fresh. So tasty all propriety went out the window and I ate it fast a golden retreiver. VOMPFF! Gone. I was lucky it was a civilised portion size, cos I would have cleared the plate no matter how big it was.

At the Market Centrale, the Florence food markets rather like Queen Vic or Camberwell Markets. Fresh produced and preserved meats strung high, it looked like Christmas in there. Nerponte (? dont have my notes on my to check atm, sorry) was recommended for their bollito rolls. Ma and I were prepared to order a bollito roll based exactly as we were told, even asking for the recommended swipe of salsa verde not know what "bollito" meant. Boiled, it turns out, is what it means. Boiled beef and they pour the cooking juices into your roll, stack in some boiled beef and if you know what you're doing you ask for some salsa (it's like pesto, but better. This we already knew.) While hanging out at the counter Ma saw a large, steaming tray come out filled with a stew-like meal that smelt and looked amazing. On a whim, she added that to the order with the karafe of vino casa and we looked like locals. Although a little early (11am, haha. How to beat the lunch crowds: eat before lunch!) Anyway, turns out that meal in the bowl, that looks a little like pasta is in fact tripe. Sheep's stomach lining. Which, when uncooked looks like a bizarre kind of fleece.

I was OK with the fact I LOVED boiled beef roll. I was DISTURBED by what a celestial experience the tripe was. From Aus I had promised Mum I'd sample tripe because it was the regional speciality, but it was a WORLD away from what I expected. Do it.

Mixed Crostini. These are actually in Venice. The half-eaten one was the best, just incredible. radicchio, some kind of mayonaise, herbs, white anchovies (I normally detest anchovies). Num num num num. There are very few Italians in Venice, so it can be hard to judge where might be good to eat, but I noticed when paying that some of the gondola crewmen were hanging out there. Good sign. Their macchiato was also the best I've had to date in Italy (good cappucinos are much easier to find.)

This is the home of the chocolate millfoglie, custard bombolini, mini fruit tart, torta della nonna, delicious cappucino/macchiato.....

Given that I've only had 4 days in Florence, the fact that I've returned 4 times should tell you all you need to know.

Things you never want to hear your mother say

"Some friends of mine said that David was disappointingly small, but he looks big to me."

Nicola's Starling memory

I feel it’s a strange string of coincidence, or a bizarre strain of irony, that the novel I’m reading is set among the famous monuments in Florence, and features characters eating strange things they’ve never tried before. On the face of it, this may not be so, but if I explain….

I picked up a novel at Melbourne airport, wanting to have some disposable English reading with me. I wasn’t sure if I’d read the book before, (I read voraciously, but forget frequently, making this a chronic problem of mine) so I opened it at random to sample a few pages. Nope, that sounds unfamiliar.

I settle in for some reading, and most UNFORTUNATELY, the bells of my memory start chiming. Hmmm…it is after all a sequel, perhaps that explains the familiarity? A few more pages and nope, I have DEFINITELY read it already. But, in that happy chain of coincidences, my sieve-like memory has retained only the starch of the story. The details once again appall and shock me.

And I ‘discover’ what I’d forgotten: the book is in part a caper about Florence and the protagonist eats the finer things in life such as sweetbreads, truffles, and has a particular penchant for liver.



But I really do need to work on my memory- I mean, who forgets that they’ve read Hannibal? And forgets enough of the plotline to enjoy reading it again???

*And for the record, tripe is delicious
** Clarice Starling is the lead female character