Food in Florence is much more than just bistecca alla fiorentina. In fact the famous Florentine steak is just a drop in an ocean of mouthwatering dishes you can try in the city. Yep, food here is an art. And as important to the city as the masterpieces in the Uffizi Gallery.
Expect a variety of top-quality traditional dishes, that will delight your appetite and curiosity, and keep you coming back for more.
It’s true that Florence loves its meat dishes, with various ways of cooking and curing it, and are famed for their use of offal. Tuscany offers top-quality breeds like Chianina beef and Cinta Senese pig – and game like wild boar also makes an appearance on menus. But this is just one side of a delicious story.
Vegetables are also an important staple in Florentine dishes, as are cannellini beans (an absolute favourite, used for many recipes). Local olive oil and wines from the Tuscan hills are an important presence at every meal, as is the unsalted Tuscan bread that is used as a base for mouthwatering soups, including the renowned ribollita. And have we mentioned the sweet treats that fill Florence’s bakeries?
Ready to take a closer look at what you’ve been missing? Here are 15 of the top traditional dishes you should try next time you’re in Florence.
Food in Florence- 15 Dishes You Should Try
1. Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Probably the most famous of all the city’s dishes is the Florentine steak, so we’ll start from here. For any meat lover the prized Fiorentina is right at the top of their food-to-try list. The thick Florentine t-bone steak is cooked on a wood fire, seared on the outside, red in the middle, and served sizzling hot seasoned with salt and olive oil. It typically weighs around 1.5 kilograms, so you might need to share it!
* A few of our favourite places to eat bistecca in Florence: Trattoria Mario, Da Burde, I’ Brindellone, Perseus, Trattoria dell’Oca.
2. Ribollita
Ribollita is the other backbone of Florentine gastronomy, and perfect for vegetarians. Although you find it on the menu all year round, ribollita is a good match for the colder temperatures. An excellent example of ‘cucina povera’ (peasant cooking), this thick soup is made with Tuscan bread, Tuscan kale ‘cavolo nero‘ and cannellini beans. Served with a generous dash of olive oil on top.
“Cucina povera” indicates traditional peasant cooking, that wisely uses the leftovers in the pantry, mainly bread and vegetables. You’ll find many examples of this dish on Florentine menus.
3. Pappa al pomodoro
Another ‘humble’ dish that uses stale bread as the main ingredient is ‘pappa al pomodoro‘ – a traditional soup that is at once delicate and so very tasty. If you like the flavours of tomato and garlic, you’ll fall in love with this comforting and mushy (in the tastiest possible way!) thick soup, that has earned its place in the Florentine cuisine hall-of-fame.
4. Panzanella
Onto another bread-based dish, the summery panzanella. This simple cold dish – you could call it a ‘bread salad’ – is as delicious as it gets, and perfect for Summer. Tuscan bread (stale, of course!) gets soaked in cold water and then squeezed dry. Then you add thin-sliced fresh onions, ripe tomatoes, fresh basil (some people add cucumber), and splash it with vinegar and Tuscan olive oil. In Florence it’s also called ‘pan bagnato’, which literally means ‘wet bread’.
5. Lampredotto
The infamous lampredotto (boiled cow’s stomach) is arguably Florence‘s most talked-about food. You find many ‘trippai’ stalls around the city where you can try the lampredotto sandwich. This is almost a rite for anyone visiting Florence who has an interest in food. You might argue that it doesn’t look, or sound, very appetising, but that’s where you’re wrong. The texture is delicate and so is the taste (despite appearances!)
We love it served with traditional salsa verde, the aromatic sauce made with parsley, eggs, and anchovies. But you can also have it in a sandwich dressed simply with salt and olive oil.
There are other ways to eat lampredotto, for example when it’s cut into little pieces to give taste to a simple vegetable soup – which we tried at Trattoria Coco Lezzone , or the polpette and lampredotto-filled ravioli that you’ll find at Il Magazzino Restaurant in Piazza della Passera.
6. Trippa alla fiorentina
Next to lampredotto you find trippa on the menus of many trattorie and Florentine food trucks, called trippai for obvious reasons. For us, trippa alla fiorentina – Florentine-style tripe – is the best way to enjoy tripe, simmered in abundant tomato sauce, plus a generous serving of parmesan cheese. Another example of authentic Florence food for the more daring palate.
7. Crostini Toscani coi fegatini
This is one of Tuscany’s beloved festive starters: Tuscan bread topped with chicken liver paté. Thin slices of bread are toasted and soaked in broth or milk first to make them more tender, and served hot. The chicken livers are cooked with onion, anchovies and capers creating a delicate and distinctive taste.
WHAT IS ‘ANTIPASTO TOSCANO’? On restaurant menus, the ‘crostini toscani’ are usually part of the so-called ‘antipasto toscano’ (Tuscan starter) that you’ll find virtually everywhere around the region. It consists of a range of crostini with various toppings and a variety of cured meat like local ham, salame toscano, finocchiona and lardo, cured pork fat.
8. Stracotto alla fiorentina
Yes, we did say that Florence loves its meat. And a tasty slow-cooked stew made with top-quality beef cooked in red wine is one of the favourite Winter dishes. The meat is so tender it melts in your mouth, as the flavours explode on the palate. Add a glass an aged Chianti red wine to make this dish unforgettable.
If you love meat stew => Another stew that hails from a town near Florence is Peposo dell’Impruneta – cooked in wine, garlic and abundant black pepper that gives it a rich and unmistakable flavour.
9. Fritto misto alla fiorentina
We have a saying in Florence “fritta è buona anche una ciabatta‘ (even a slipper is good when fried!), and when it comes to frying food, the choice is vast and creative.
The traditional recipe for the Florentine style ‘fritto misto’ (fried mixed food) includes a variety of meat cuts and offal, like veal brain and sweetbread (animelle). Today these last two ingredients are not always available, so fritto misto usually includes chicken, beef, (sometimes rabbit) cut in small pieces together with vegetables like zucchine, artichokes, onions and when in season, the delicious zucchine flowers. Where to eat it? We love the ‘gran fritto dell’aia’ at Trattoria 4 Leoni.
For the most daring => There are traditional trattorias that still serve fried veal brain if you like the idea of trying something unusual (the taste is very very delicate and creamy, by the way), like Trattoria da Ginone or Baldini.
10. Coccoli
While we’re on the subject of frying, it’s time to talk coccoli. For the unitiated, these are deep fried small balls of dough (the same used for pizza) served piping hot with plenty of salt. You can eat them on the go, at one of the friggitorie or have it as a starter, usually served with Tuscan ham and stracchino cheese. Sinful and heavenly.
11. Fagioli all’Uccelletto
Cannellini beans are a variety of white beans which are a favourite in Florence. Kidney-shaped with squarish ends, cannellini beans are creamy white in colour and when cooked, they have a fluffy texture and a mild, slightly nutty flavour. The traditional Fagioli all’Uccelletto are cooked in a coccio (earthenware pot), with garlic and tomato – while the strongly flavoured sage gives them a unique flavour.
12. Pasta with wild boar sauce or hare
Game is often on the menu in Tuscany, and traditional sauces made with wildboar (we have plenty of them roaming around our countryside) and hare are among the favourites. Pappardelle, tagliatelle pasta, or even ravioli, are the perfect companions for these distinctive and unapologetically satisfying dishes.
13. Crespelle alla Fiorentina
For a first course that is definitely more subtle and gently flavoured, choose the delicious crespelle alla fiorentina. A traditional festive dish in many Florentine kitchens, it involves crepes filled with spinach and ricotta cheese, covered in a layer of besciamella. Buttery, creamy, a slice of heaven on a plate.
14. Baccalà alla Fiorentina
Finally, a fish dish with a long history. Baccalà is the Italian name for salted cod, a food that became popular centuries ago when it arrived with merchants from the northern sea. Easy to preserve, it would travel well, remaining edible a long time thanks to the salting process, and was quite cheap. That is why all around Italy we find a choice of baccalà dishes. In Florence we cook it with tomato sauce, garlic and fry it first. It’s not to be confused with Baccalà alla Livornese that is similar but doesn’t involve frying.
15. Cantuccini Biscuits
When it comes to sweets, Florence has a few up its sleeve, from zuccotto to seasonal treats like schiacciata all fiorentina, fritters and cenci (you find these during Carnival period), and of course gelato.
But Cantuccini biscuits (or Cantucci) are at the top of the list, as one of the symbols of Tuscan cuisine. You’ll find them practically everywhere: in bakeries, food markets and restaurants’ menus. These crunchy almond biscuits, cooked twice for a satisfying hard bite, are traditionally served at the end of the meal, accompanied by Vinsanto sweet wine.
Did you know? The Cantuccini boast a long history, were loved already at the time of the Medici, becoming a favorite all around Europe after they made an appearance at the Paris Exposition in 1867.
* Where to Find the Best Gelato in Florence
* Best Food Markets in Tuscany
Author: Sabrina Nesi, founder of Lovefromtuscany.com, passionate about sharing the beauty of Tuscany and Italy with the world.
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