If you follow my travels then there is no need to repeat over and over how much I like savoring unique and cultural food.
For this reason, I was determined to explore Florentine cuisine on my recent trip. I have to admit, I shamelessly indulged in traditional Florentine dishes during my two-week stay in Florence.
If you plan a trip to Florence, check out my list of must-try food in Florence, Italy. Read about Florentine cuisine, Florentine dishes, and eating in Florence. Find out what to eat in Florence and where to find the best traditional food in Florence.
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- Must-Eat Food in Florence Italy
Must-Eat Food in Florence Italy
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Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Florentine steak, or bistecca alla Fiorentina in Italian, is the most iconic dish from Florence and one of the most famous dishes in the world.
Thus, you can not visit Florence without trying the authentic Florentine stake, unless you don’t eat meat.
The T-bone beefsteak from Florence is traditionally grilled on glowing glow and light layers of ashes.
When prepared this way, a stake becomes juicy and tender from the inside out, with a colored outside.
The Florentine steak is a must-try dish in Florence!
You can try a Florentine stake in Santo Spirito Osteria, my favorite restaurant in Florence! It is a cozy and inexpensive restaurant with fabulous food and a relaxed atmosphere.
Belcanto restaurant near Santa Croce church in Florence is also a good choice.
Pappa al pomodoro soup
Tomato soup, or pappa al pomodoro in Italian, is a traditional Tuscan soup. It is a thick soup made with tomatoes and stale bread as the main ingredients and with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil.
This simple tomato soup of modest peasant origins is one of the most popular Tuscany dishes nowadays. You can eat it all over Tuscany. But when in Florence, give it a try in Florence! I ate pappa al pomodoro in Da Rocco trattoria in Sant’Ambrogio market in Florence.
Ribollita soup
‘Reboiled soup, or ribollita zuppa in Italian, is another famous Tuscan soup.
Ribollita is a thick and hearty bread and vegetable soup. Its name comes from reboiled leftovers (stale bread and leftover vegetables). It is made of stale bread and various vegetables that a cook has at their hand, like potatoes, cannellini beans, kale, carrots, celery, cabbage, etc.
As you might assume, like pappa al pomodoro, ribollita soup was once a poor man’s Tuscan dish. And today it is equally popular!
I had a plate of ribollita soup in Da Rocco trattoria in Sant’Ambrogio market in Florence. I recommend it!
Panzanella salad
Panazanella is a traditional Tuscan salad made with two main ingredients: stale bread and tomatoes.
It is made of stale bread, chopped tomatoes and onions, olive oil, and vinegar. Cucumbers and fresh basil are often added, too.
The panzanella name comes from ‘pane’ meaning ‘bread’ and ‘zanella’ meaning ‘bowl’ (deep plate).
Panzanella is a highly refreshing salad.
Thus, it is popular in summertime. Panzanella is a traditional first course or appetizer.
Check out panzanella in Santo Spirito Osteria!
Trippa alla Fiorentina
I understand that tripe is not appealing to everyone.
Regardless of our tastes, tripe is one of the most loved traditional Italian food.
Let me mention some popular traditional Italian tripe dishes such as Roman-style tripes (trippa alla Romano), Venetian-style tripes (trippa alla Veneto), Milan-style tripes( trippa alla Milanese), and Abruzzo-style tripes (trippa alla Abruzzo).
Rome has its tripe dish, Venice has its tripe dish, …, and Florence has its tripe dish too! Trippa alla Fiorentina is one of the most popular traditional dishes in Florence.
The Florentine-style tripe is the only tripe dish in Italy prepared with tomato sauce.
The stomach lining of cows, sheep, and pigs is cooked in a juicy tomato sauce prepared with oil, peeled tomatoes, parsley, celery, salt, and pepper. Don’t be surprised to see locals indulging in this authentic Florentine dish on every corner in Florence. Florentine-style tripe is served in restaurants, osterie-tripperie, and street stalls (chioschi) in Florence.
You can try the Florentine-style tripe at Tripperia Pollini street stall next to San’t Ambrogio church in Florence. It is one of the favorite tripe places among locals. If you prefer restaurants to food stalls, Santo Spirito Osteria offers great Trippa alla Fiorentina.
Tripp & Zampa trattoria is a good choice, too.
Lampredotto sandwich
Lampredotto sandwich is the iconic tripe sandwich from Florence. Yes, it is made with tripe. But you need to give it a try! It is the most popular snack in Florence!
Lampredotto sandwich is made with panino (bun) filled with tripe, previously slowly cooked in the lampredotto sauce. Simple but delicious ingredients: olive oil, onions, peeled tomatoes, carrots, celery, parsley, salt, and pepper make teh lampredotto sauce. Lampredotto is a tender sandwich. The secret of a mouth-watering lampredotto sandwich lies in the slow cooking of its ingredients. Also, its bun gets soaked in the lampredotto sauce first, and then grilled.
Lampredotto is sold on street stalls, called chioschi, in Florence. It is the most popular street food in Florence.
I tried lampredotto sandwich at Tripperia Pollini at Sant’Ambrogio sqaure in Florence. I saw many locals eating there. This was the reason I had a lampredotto sandwich there. My lampredotto sandwich was surprisingly tasty!
Fagioli all’uccellato bean stew
The name of a typical Tuscan dish translates to Beans with Little Birds. Fagioli all’uccellato is a traditional bean stew from the Florentine area. It is a creamy vegetarian dish with olive oil, garlic, tomatoes, cannellini beans, salt, pepper, and sage leaves.
If you don’t eat meat, this vegetarian Florentine dish is for you.
Osteria del Porcellino is a great place to have fagioli all’uccellato in Florence.
Crespelle alla Fiorentina crepes
Traditional Florentine cuisine has its unique crepes, called crespelle alla Fiorentina.
Florentine crepes are thin crepes filled with ricotta and spinach, and baked with a creamy béchamel-tomato sauce. Crespelle alla Fiorentina is a traditional first-course dish. So, if you want to start your lunch with a traditional Florentine dish, do it with crespelle alla Fiorentina.
I ate crespelle alla Fiorentina in Finisterrae restaurant next to the Basilica of Santa Croce in Florence.
When sightseeing Florence and on your way to visit the tombs of Italian Glories (Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei, Dante, etc) in the Basilica of Santa Croce, make a stop in Finisterrae restaurant to try traditional Florentine crepes.
Pappardelle al cinghiale pasta
Wild boars inhibit the woods of Tuscany. For this reason, dishes with wild boar meat are widely eaten in Tuscany.
Pappardelle al cinghiale are a classic Tuscan pasta dish with wild boar meat. Flat and wide pappardelle pasta cooked with wild boar meat ragù make this traditional Florentine dish.
The savory ragù is made of chopped wild boar meat, tomato puree, red wine, salt, paper, and spices (bay leaves, rosemary, sage, cloves, parsley, and juniper berries).
However, the wild boar meat is marinated in red wine, garlic, carrots, onions, and celery for a minimum of 12 hours before cooking. When prepared in this way, the wild boar meat gets extremely tender.
You can try pappardelle al cinghiale in Osteria del Porcellino restaurant in Florence.
Gnudi Fiorentini
Gnudi Fiorentini is a typical pasta dish from Florence.
It is a dumpling-like dish. The gnudi pasta is filled with ricotta cheese (instead of potatoes) and semolina (instead of flour). These ingredients make gnudi pasta lighter than classic gnocchi. Fluffy gnudi can be prepared with spinach, besides ricotta. In that case, greenish gnudi are called spinach di gnudi. Gnudi Fiorentini is a typical first-course dish in Florentine cuisine.
You can have gnudi Fiorentini in Hosteria da Ganino, near Museo Casa di Dante in Florence.
Schiacciata alla Fiorentina cake
Schiacciata alla Fiorentina is a traditional cake of Florence. It is a simple and light cake, made with dough and cream. Schiacciata alla Fiorentina appears like a lemony sponge cake. So if you like refreshing lemon and light sponge cake, Schiacciata alla Fiorentina might be your thing too.
Buscuit of Schiacciata alla Fiorentina is made with egg yolks, sugar, olive oil, yeast, flour, vanilla pods, lemon peel, and lemon juice. Its light cream is made with milk, eggs, sugar, starch, and whipping cream.
Schiacciata alla Fiorentina is tradionally prepared for the Carnival time in Florence. However, nowadays you can find it in pastry shops in Florence year-round. I ate it in the iconic Gilli Cafe and it was one of the best cakes I tried in Florence.
Zuccoto dessert
Zuccoto is a semi-frozen dessert from Florence. It is a cupola-shaped cake made with ice cream and a biscuit. The liquor-soaked biscuit is filled with cheese and gelato and then frozen altogether. Despite being a traditional Florentine dessert, it is hard to find zuccoto in modern pastry and ice cream shops. After a long search, I finally found it in Badiani Gelateria Pasticceria in the historic center of Florence. The zuccoto was refreshing but too sweet for my taste. However, if you like semi-frozen desserts like semifreddo, Florentine zuccoto is a must-eat in Florence!
Affogato
Affogato is a famous Italian dessert (or a beverage, arguably). The coffee and gelato-based affogato is not of Florentine origins. No one knows where exactly in Italy, affogato comes from. But, affogato certainly has a long tradition of being served in Florence. And one place in Florence is treated like an institution for its affogato. The place is called Vivoli Gelateria. Vivoli is the oldest gelateria in Florence. This legendary gelateria serves old kind of traditional Italian frozen desserts (gelato, semifreddo, affogato, sorbetto, etc). But, Vivoli’s affogato is known worldwide. Some claim it the best affogato in Italy. I am not an expert on Italian affogato. But the lines of people waiting to get their affogato in front of Vivoli gelateria speak for themselves. I waited in line and ordered vanilla affogato, one of the two most popular affogato flavors (along with hazelnut affogato). It was sweet, but the espresso was too strong for me! Strong or not, Vivoli affogato is a must-have in Florence.
Gelato
Gelato might not originate in Florence. Its origins are unknown.
Some believe that gelato originates in Florence.
Whether or not, gelato has been popular in Florence since the Middle Ages. The Medici family sponsored a contest for the best frozen dessert in Florence. Cosimo Ruggeri, an alchemist, prepared egg cream gelato. This gelato was available only to the Florentine aristocracy. Not to the public!
But, the first gelato as we know it today, was prepared by Bernardo Buntalenti, a famous architect and artist with great culinary skills. The Medici family invited him to prepare a menu for the feast for the King of Spain on his visit to Florence in 1565.
His original gelato flavor, which has an egg cream and whipped cream base, is called the Buonatelenti – after the gelato creator. Gelateria Badiani, located near the Duomo, offers the original Buontalenti gelato flavor.
It is impossible to visit Florence without having a scoop of gelato!
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