Traveling Italy: Firenze addition Blog #5

So this weekend I traveled to Firenze, also known as Florence. While there I did the touristy sites and I also spent a day in Pisa. Now my Italian class and my Food and Wine class had both talked about Florence and its cuisine namely la bistecca alla fiorentina. Basically it's a gigantic T-bone that costs a pretty penny and it is seared on the outside while super rare in the middle. 

This is what it looks like cooked. A lot of restaurants had a pretty display of a gigantic cut of meat, the T-bone, to showcase this famous dish was sold here!  

Most of the history I've been able to find on the bistecca fiorentina focuses more on the bistecca. According to writer Maria Luisa Incontri the bistecca's history began in Florence in 1565 in San Lorenze square where a whole ox was roasted to celebrate the wedding of Paolo Orsino and Isabella, the daughter of the Duke of Florence. Attending the wedding there were English knights who screamed "beef-steak! beef-steak!" I'm imagining a cheer similar to a football game where big burly men chant something. The name apparently stuck. However in a different article I read that the origins derive from the early 1800s where they used to distribute meat in the piazzas for the feast of St. Lawrence. Visiting Anglo-Saxon merchants would ask for the  "bif-steik" which later translated to bistecca. Which is true? I don't know but isn't it fascinating to have such a history behind a piece of meat?

Now I am a cheap student studying abroad in Rome, I just spent quite a bit on tickets and a hostel, and I am alone so I can't split the bill, but I wanted to try the bistecca fiorentina. So instead of buying a 45$ cut of steak, and possibly being unable to finish it, I ordered a steak to be cooked like fiorentina. Luckily I like my steaks a medium-rare otherwise this would have been a disaster. The steak was cooked on the outside and tender and juicy in the middle. It was absolutely delicious! It was served on spinach leaves, halved cherry tomatoes, and a balsamic vinegar reduction. Since I don't really have pictures, enjoy my adjectives! The steak was really delicious when paired with the spinach and balsamic reduction, but I thought the tomatoes kind of overpowered the steak flavors. The tomatoes were juicy and firm, almost like popping a grape in your mouth! Something interesting is that before this they placed complementary bread and olive oil on my table, I was too cheap to order an antipasto. now recently in class our professor told us if they give you olive oil for free, it's probably not the good stuff. So curious I happened to look up the brand name. Although I can't recall it now I do remember that the oil was produced in California. Just a funny tidbit. 

The next day I went to Pisa to visit, you guessed it, the Leaning Tower of Pisa! There's not much more to do in Pisa than visit that thing, although I did climb it. I climbed that sucker in heels and that felt so weird because everything is tilted. After the tower I visited the Marina di Pisa and while I was there I ate some seafood pasta. I am not a seafood gal, but I figured when you are at a restaurant right next to the beach, try it. It was surprisingly good for seafood, but I probably won't be trying it again. 

What?! Why is there a Chinese flag in a post about Florence?! That's because of the sheer number of asian restaurants there! Many of them were Chinese but you also had Japanese, Thai, and Korean. All located right next to classical Italian restaurants, cafés, gelaterias, and an American diner. There were also a lot of Asian tourists! Many street vendors I passed addressed me in Chinese. Lots of "Ni hao"s. I really find it interesting how Italian food is nothing like Americans assume it will be. There are no spaghetti and meatballs with marinara sauce and lots of cheese. Nor is there really any garlic bread that I've had yet. There is Chinese food and big fat juicy steaks and a Korean barbecue and American hamburgers and really so much more than what is assumed, and all really delicious!

Sources:
http://www.panoramitalia.com/en/food-wine/article/la-bistecca-alla-fiorentina/778/
https://www.visittuscany.com/en/ideas/bistecca-alla-fiorentina-legends-facts-and-a-recipe-00001/