The lady at the reception was so nice, even though my room was not ready yet, while waiting she kindly offered a breakfast, even a shower if I want to refresh. I did have a good breakfast in Verona, so I took only a cup of hot tea with a cake. Left my luggages with the reception, I decided to go out.
All specialities of Tuscany cuisine can be found in Central Market in Florence.
I love the market, the traditional market. Wherever I travel, I always tried to visit...I feel the real routine life, the tradition and, of course, the local cuisine here. To me, it's simply a big fun! The central market (or Mercato Centrale) in Florence was exactly what I expected for: big, colourful, lively, old, modern, smells...I spent almost a whole morning here.
The decoration was nice...from far but when approaching - all flowers were "unreal"!
Built in 1870s, but it obviously has been renovated so the market was a perfect combination of the pass and the presence in many details. Located in a big new-old towering cast-iron building, the sun light stream in through many high windows on the top, to give an impression of the open-air market - one of the fascinating places to visit in Florence, especially for foodies!
Buying here must be cheaper than in supermarket, I got some fruits from this stall.
The market open everyday, except Sunday, from 7:00 am to 2:00 pm, it was not very crowded, quite spacious, very clean with some good smell at certain stalls, so walking, taking photo in here was such a pleasure, especially some stalls were very well decorated with flowers (paper or plastic ones!) or old traditional kitchen tools. Look very attractive! The only thing I regretted was not enough time, I couldn't check more carefully the specialities in this place and made a big mistake to miss a popular local food stall "Da Nerbone".
The colours, the sounds, the smells were something to remember.
Mercato Centrale offers a big varieties of typical Tuscany ingredients, spices, fresh or dried fruits, uncured or traditionally preserved butchers meat, all kinds of pasta or oils, grocery items, bakery, seafood...to the good hot food, especially on the second floor - like the food court, even with a very good-looking cooking class. Imagine the cooking class right in the market!
Salumi - preserved meat by salting, drying or smoking - big speciality from Florence.
One of many salumeria (salumi stall) in Central market
Salumi is just a collective name given to anything preserved or cured in salt, especially the pork meat. This speciality is important in everyday Tuscany cuisine - from the sandwich, pizza, lunch to the Tuscany appetisers for dinner, named Antipasto Tuscano that can be found on almost every dinner menu in Florence. It's a selection of sliced salumi.
Salami, (one kind of salumi) one of my favourite sausages, is made with spiced, salted pork and cubes of pork fat, forced into a large casing and aged for several months, drier and darker than Finocchiona - another kind of salami. I was interesting to learn there's a variety of salami, like Salamino for smaller diameter version, or Soppressata with cooked pork, or Bresaola - with cured beef fillet. Anyway my all times choice for sausage - pepper salami!
Dried fruits, nuts, spices, oils...big selection!
But Central market still offers a good selection of hot food, especially on the upper floor - don't miss it! But before heading upstairs, you should at least try - Nerbone! A local favourite place, located in the southern corner, on the ground floor, of the market. Founded in 1872, it's like a walk-up eatery with a bank of tables that is surely swamped by the lunchtime.
Nerbone offers a variety of dishes but most famous, probably, lampredotto (or bollito sandwich) - a boiled beef sandwich where the bread is slightly dipped in the cooking broth and topped with the green parsley sauce and spicy sauce.
To be honest, I didn't try this bollito sandwich due to the long queue (that you couldn't see on the photo) and my feeling of fullness from my "double breakfast" in the morning! By the way, you should know what to order first then go the cash desk, pay for it, then queue for the food at the counter nearby.
You can even find a cooking class on this floor - the kitchen was amazing!
The entrances to Central market are often obscured by many stalls of another market San Lorenzo that line the streets outside, you may notice the Central Market when you are not surrounded by those stalls selling handicrafts, clothing, shoes, leather or souvenirs. Try to find the entrance and get inside the market building!
Like these colourful ceramics for your dining table or kitchen.
Sitting back home, writing this review, I don't recall that my visiting to Central market was in the initial travel plan or not, or I just discovered it by chance while walking from the hotel to the old quarter. Besides Central Market was not very visible from the outside. But don't miss it...like I missed my bollito sandwich at Nerbone, and now I can enjoy only by watching this video!
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