The Art and Mystery of Food

Some Views on Florence

Above: Pork Fillet with red peppercorns, sausages and wurstel. Funny enough wurstel never really gets a mention in the many descriptions of Tuscan food, although it is ubiquitous enough.

Above: Most people are aware of the British connection to one of Florence's most famous dishes, "Bistecca" ("Beef Steak"). Less well known is the local version of British "Roast Beef".

Above: A great deal of the Butchers goods are actually prepared foods in one form or another. Not exactly Slow Food, but that doesn't make it bad or unpleasant.

Above: a local verison of one of the Mediterraneans oldest documented sausages. Luganega is mentioned by Apicius and Varro.

Above: Stuffed chicken necks. Tasty enough, but the stuffing coming out of the chickens beak tends to give it a look of vomiting.

Above: More Tuscan fast food that you will not see mentioned in any regional cookery books.

Above: Stuffed pork loins. Because of the time of the year, these tend to have a lot of fruit.

Above: skewers of bread, fatty pork and sausage. A direct desendent of spit cookery.

Above: Grapes specifically for making "schiacciata con uva" (flatbread with grapes). This is a special seasonal treat, made with very sweet red wine grapes. Worth noting that these are not a local product, although the bread it a regional dish.

Above: Schiacciata con uva, delicious.

 

Above: Porchini mushrooms. The green herb is Nepitella (Lesser Calamint; Calamintha nepeta) which is commonly used in mushroom dishes, and has a very strong mint flavour, similar to penny royal.

 

Above: Boiled udder.

Above: Beef Diaphragm

Above: A Peruvian stall at the Florence central market.

 

Above: English salted herrings, the last remains of a trade going back to the medieval period.

 

Above: one of Florence's many tripe and lampredotto stalls

 

Above: another of Florence's many tripe and lampredotto stalls

 

Above: Florence's most famous tripe stall Nerbone's in the central market

Above: Lampredotto with porchini

Above: Menu at the tripe stall.

Above: The heart of the Italian kitchen - the Nonna.

Above: A legacy of the British "Roast Beef", although the local fashion is to serve the beef with copious amounts of local olive oil.

 

Above: Amanita caesarea (Caesar's Mushroom) known locally as "ovolo" (plural "ovoli).

 

Above: The Forno in action.

 

Above: an outdoor lunch.

 

Above: battered carddons, porchetta, spinich and zucchini.

 

Above: a menu at a local bar, with some interesting local and regional dishes.

 

Above: Delicious head cheese.

 

Above: Pici with wild boar sauce, one of Tuscany's few native pasta.

"To Make A Snake" - An Early English Syringed Fritter

In a previous post, I discussed the origin of syringed fritters in English 18th century cookery books. These were almost certainly derived from French sources. However, in Robert May's 17th century "The Accomplisht Cook" the presence of a recipe titled "To fry Paste out of a Syringe or Butter-squirt" indicates that there may have been a tradition of making these fritters in England independently of fritters derived from the french sources. May's recipe is quite basic, but does include the important detail that these fritters, like the modern Churro, are not only squirted out of a syringe or butter squirt, but they use a hot water paste.

"To fry Paste out of a Syringe or Butter-squirt.

Take a quart of fine flower, & a litle leven, dissolve it in warm water, & put to it the flour, with some white wine, salt, saffron, a quarter of butter, and two ounces of sugar; boil the aforesaid things in a skillet as thick as a hasty pudding, and in the boiling stir it continually, being cold beat it in a mortar, fry it in clarified butter, and run it into the butter through a butter-squirt."

Recently I came across a much more detailed 17th century English recipe for a syringed fritter in the manuscript recipe collection of Elizabeth Jacob (MS.3009; Wellcome Trust Library).

"To Make A Snake

Take a pint of new milke, sett it on the fire till it boile, then put in fine wheaten flower, and stire it well together, till it be very stiffe, and it must boile soe long till it comes round like A ball, then take it out of the skillet, and put it into A mortar, then take 6 Egges, and break in one of them, and beate that Eggs with that round ball very well, then break another in, and beat that as before, thus break your 6 Egges; one After another, till they be all beaten in, then beat all well together you must beat Every Egge single soe long till you see it, and the Egge hanging on the pestle when you put him up, then season him with a little salt, Nutmegg, and rosewater and then beate it all together A little, then take your frying pan, and some Beasts lard that is fryed up with 2 or 3 cloves, and take neare about half A pound, and put in your Stuffe into your Spout, and when it is full, Spout it round About the frying pan, it must be done quick, and with great Strength, and it is in the frying pan; hold it on the fire and let it bake, then turn it with your knife, and let it bake on the Other side, Let it not be to browne, but look of a pale yellow, it will quickly be baked, and it will quickly burne, if you looke not to it, then take it up, and lay round, one another, in the dish you Intend to Serve it in then take A little Sweet butter and rosewater melted together, and with A feather, wash it all over, as it Lyes in the dish, then Scrape A pretty quantity of Sugar on it, and some round the dish sides, an soe serve it to the table, it must be done quick, or Else it will be cold before it comes to the table."

 

So it does seem that although it is not a common recipe, there is evidence of these fritters being made in english households from at least the 17th century.