9/21 Notes from Taste Florence food and wine tour

Conti Market in Central Market: make their own olive oil.

Olive Oil notes: first pressed doesn’t mean anything, cold pressed doesn’t mean much either
Tuscan olive oil is the purest and has a very long shelf life, but do not cook with it. Has less fatty acids so will smoke, plus it’s too expensive!

The peppery taste in olive oil comes from the younger oils that you’re eating sooner after harvest. Harvest is in the late fall so you’re more likely to get a peppery olive oil (which I like) in the winter months. It mellows over time so will get milder in the summer and early fall.

Traditional balsamic vinegar producers are required to use a blend of wood in their barrels and are made from only cooked grape musks. Non-traditional balsamic combines red wine vinegar with the cooked grape musks. Much less expensive. Traditional can almost be used as an aperitif or palette cleanser after a meal.

The real balsamic from Modena come in a small bulbous bottle in it’s own box. It is marked DOP to protect it’s origins.

Tasted: pecorino with Chianti jelly (yum--bought some of the jelly)
Parmesan with onion marmalade
Brusceta al Tartuffe (with truffles)

The difference between a crostini and a bruscetta is a crostini has a spreadable topping and a bruscetta has a chopped topping.

Visited a butcher in the Central Market who wanted to make sure our guide translated their sign for us: “eating boiled meats is good for your sex life.” Funny old guys!

The next butcher sold every part of the cow, and asked our guide, “You like 1 kilo penis?” He then explained to her that they used to put a weight in a cow penis to stretch it out and turn it in to a whip for the horses. Okay, ew. Very authentic market---very cool.

Gelato tasting: they have sorbets which are fruit and ice, gelato which is the flavor ingredient (pistachio, chocolate, coffee, etc.) and milk, and they have creams which I think she said had a higher level of milk fat? I can’t remember all the details of the gelato except they were GOOD and I tasted a ton!

Wine tasting:
In a cool wine shop where the owner is very creative and turns old barrels in to chairs and uses wine crates to make tables and doors. The wine generally was not overly impressive so I didn’t write them down.

Very cool 4 hour tour--totally worth it.