Find out all about each region, including traditional recipes and more >>here
 

Richard & Judy will once more be joined in the studio by Italian chef, Gennaro Contaldo, who will pass on his tips for buying and preparing these wonderful foods, and you will have another chance to enter our fantastic Italian holiday competition in which you could win a once in a lifetime trip to the Bertolli Villa in Tuscany for you and 19 of your friends.

Amy first takes a walk around the dazzling city in the June heat battling with the hoards of tourists all trying to do the same thing. The beauty of the city is sublime but the attraction can be a double-edged sword as the tiny squares get swamped with people. The heat can be stifling and the whole experience draining if you’re not careful.

After a walk about the town Amy heads to the San Lorenzo market district to meet American chef Judy Francini who is married to a Florentine and has lived in the city for 25 years.

The Mercato Centrale
The Central Market is the best food market in Florence and one of the biggest in Europe. It is housed inside a large iron two-story building designed in the 19th century. On the ground floor vendors sell all cuts of meats, fish and a variety of cheeses. If you are in the area at lunchtime, you can try one of the already prepared Tuscan take-out foods – such as a dish of tripe. On the first floor of the market you can purchase fresh fruit, vegetables as well as dried fruit, nuts, honey, homemade pasta, wine, herbs, and other produce.

Judy’s lesson began in the market where she knew everyone and everything about the bounteous produce. Amy tasted a variety of things from the huge Tuscan olives to pickled garlic – but she stopped short of the chicken testicles. Together they buy the ingredients they will need to cook the two Tuscan bread recipes - panzanella and pappa al pomodoro.

The Enoteca – the wine shop
After a whirlwind tour of the market and numerous tastings, Amy is ready for a drink and happily Judy takes her to one of the oldest wine shops in Florence – where she continues her lesson on how to pick wine to compliment the food.

Cooking in Tuscany
Finally the pair go to Judy’s home cum school near the market where they escape the midday sun and instead stand over a hot stove. Judy teaches Amy how to make two bread based recipes – both native to Tuscany. Panzanella and pappa al pomodoro have as a base the unsalted bread of Florence which is particular to Tuscany. Although pasta is eaten in Florence – bread recipes often dominate menus in Tuscany unlike other areas of Florence.

Panzanella
This very mediterranean salad is another example of the green, white and red colors of the Italian flag (La Bandiera) influencing the color pattern of Italian cuisine. The record of panzanella goes back centuries. In the 1500s, a poem by the famous artist Bronzino described the salad. Of course, the tomato was quite a few years from being introduced into the Italian kitchen, so the ingredients were limited to cucumber, onion, basil, arugula, and bread.

In addition to panzanella, the Florentines have created several recipes that recycle stale bread. The most famous are ribollita, vegetable soup reboiled with bread, and Pappa al pomodoro, the tomato version.

After cooking Amy does get to eat the spoils from the market as well as the dishes she has helped to prepare. They are joined by Judy’s husband who happily approves of their cooking.

And Finally...
After lunch Amy needs a sit down so retires to Piazzale Michaelangelo above the city which has breathtaking views but thankfully less tourists and slightly less heat. She has had a hectic day but doesn’t forget to pick up something for Richard and Judy – a bottle of Vin Santo dessert wine and some Cantucci biscuits to dip in it – a classic Tuscan present.

Other well known Tuscan dishes include:

Bistecca alla Fiorentina – Florentine steak
This is the pièce de rèsistance of Florentine cuisine, the famous charbroiled steak that has made florentines’ mouths water since the fourteenth century. What counts most is the steak, the cut of which Tuscan butchers have mastered better than any others.
Tonno e fagioli - Tuna and bean salad
Crostini di fegato - Chicken liver crostini
Pappardelle sulla lepre - Pappardelle pasta with hare sauce
Pasta e fagioli - Pasta with beans
Trippa all fiorentina - Florentine-style tripe
Fegato alla salvia - Liver with sage

Tuscany & Florence
British people have been coming to Tuscany and Florence in their droves for years. The Romantic poets spent a lot of time here and Dickens, DH Lawerence and Elizabeth Barrett Browning all pended epistles in honour of the area.

Tuscany is one the world’s most famous regions which houses some of the world’s most beautiful towns and cities aside from Florence – including Siena, Pisa, Lucca and San Gimignano. Florence is only a small city but it regularly receives thousands of visitors. Indeed during the hot summer months tourists can number over 8 million.

Florence is a jewel in the Renaissance crown - indeed, the birth of the Renaissance took place in Florence, with numerous commissions of the Medici family. The most important artists of the Renaissance were: Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raffaello, Bramante and Giorgione. The city is filled with Renaissance buildings which still stand now in all their glory. One of the most important is the Duomo, or cathedral, completed in 1327, which is the fourth largest church in the world, and its domed roof is symbolic of the meeting of Renaissance craft and culture. Engineered by the architect and sculptor Filippo Brunelleschi, the dome was one of the greatest achievements of the Italian Renaissance.

You need a salt-free bread for panzanella. Some of the great new breads from artisan bakeries work well. (Florentines produce their bread without salt, which is balanced off with a heavy hand with salt in their dishes.) It's important to use a bread that actually goes stale. Do not use one with preservatives! Slice the bread thickly and let it dry. Do not save it in plastic or the bread will mold. It needs to crumble after moistening, not form bread balls. Its texture when crumbled should resemble couscous. In fact, try substituting couscous for bread the second time you make this recipe.

Ingredients
1 pound stale bread
3 tomatoes, cut into 8ths
2 red onions, thinly sliced
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
Basil
Olive oil
Vinegar
Salt

Method
Soak the sliced stale bread in cold water for 10 minutes. Squeeze out the water and crumble the bread into a serving bowl. Add tomatoes, cucumber, onions and basil. Season will olive oil and salt. Mix well and let sit.

Before serving, add vinegar and mix again. Serve with olive oil, vinegar, and salt on the side.

Pappa al Pomodoro

Ingredients
8 whole garlic cloves
1-3/4 pound can of plum tomatoes
1 pound loaf of stale bread, sliced (or unseasoned stuffing mix)
1/4 cup olive oil
1 leek, thinly sliced, only white part
6 cups water
1 bunch basil
Salt
Chili pepper

Method
The night before slice the bread and leave it out to get stale. (This does happen in Tuscany with our unsalted bread.) You can force the drying in a warm oven.

Sauté the whole garlic cloves and leek in olive oil with the chili pepper. When the garlic has lightly browned and the leek is just getting golden, add the tomato sauce. Season with salt. Add half the basil leaves torn into tiny pieces. Crush the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon and stir. Cook until the tomatoes fall apart.

Tear the bread into small pieces and put into the sauce. The bread will soak up the sauce and get quite thick. Add enough water to soften the bread and to make it liquidy. Add the remaining basil and cook until the bread becomes a "mush"-- PAPPA!

Enjoy this thick stew-like soup on a cold day with a drizzle of extra virgin oil on top. I like to reheat it the next day by sauteing some sliced garlic and more chili in oil and then reheating. This gives it an extra kick!