History and Culture of Florentine Food
The legendary culinary excesses with which medieval barons and, later, the Medici and their pals have established their table habits have not passed down through the ages. While the most of the population could rarely afford meat, and in times of bad harvests cooked dishes made of anything that came to hand (including tree bark), Florence`s riches could eat up of delicacies such as beef, pheasant, peacock, pike and eel. All of these dishes were dressed in all sorts of weird and wonderful sauces - sometimes to disguise a rancidity hard to avoid in the days without refrigerators, ranging from such red sauces as savore sanguino (containing wine, raisins, meat, cinnamon, sandal and sumac) to spicy concoctions of ground almonds, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It was very common to cook pies very big made of all but the kitchen utensils thrown into what today might appear a strange mix: pork, dates, fruit, cured meats, eggs - you name it, they chucked it in. Still today, even without such medieval extravagance, the modern tourist in Florence can appreciate a rich variety of cookings: from simple local dishes through to Tuscan and Italian regional specialities. In Tuscan cooking, tradition holds a place of big importance. If the chefs do change and vary their recipes, generally they remain faithful to the old ways. Someone solemnly state exactly what sauce will go with which kind of pasta considering any deviation from the rules with scorn. Pasta does not find in a place of honour in traditional Tuscan menus. It`s commonnly believed that the Arabs firstly introduced pasta to Sicily in the early Middle Ages. From there it was later exported to the rest of Italy. Even today pasta dishes are not considered, strictly speaking, a local product. In many restaurants, the menu is heavily influenced by the seasonal ingredients available at the moment. It`s a choice that works well and attractis important peoplefrom all over the worldIndeed, he`s quite a success
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