Simposio | Italian recipes, travel, and culture: Florence

Ciao, Welcome to Florence, a city that needs no introduction, just a little framing to contain the endless beauty, history, and food it has given birth to. My frame will be Renaissance. Rich, beguiling, unforgettable Renaissance. But forget any do-goodism, forget any idealization, we are cooks, and cooks are earthbound. We handle dirt-covered vegetables, we cut bloody pieces of meat and know where they come from, we use heat and cold, salt and sugar, acid and sour. We know there’s good and bad in everything and everyone. We don’t need sweeteners to understand how the food chain and the world we live in work. We don’t need sanctification, not of ingredients, not of recipes, not of human beings. We welcome the truth. Be it a burned cake or the wrong amount of salt. Mistakes and flaws are part of our daily life. As are our instincts. There’s not much left to do but accept them like we do when throwing away the inedible stone-hard bread or eating the salty soup laughing at our prodigality. Renaissance was a time of great optimism. Rediscovering the classics and the divinities that were more human than ethereal – and, still, glorious -, liberated those lucky enough to access the reemerging culture. If sin wasn’t the only label for untamable feelings, sensations, and behaviors, perhaps humankind wasn’t destined for eternal atonement. Possibly, suffering was just one of the hues of a broader palette of vibes. Maybe freedom was the canvas to paint on. My warmest suggestion for approaching this cookbook is to consider yourself that white canvas, ready to welcome new stories, new flavors, and new sensations, free, for once, to descend into the underworld of what we are told to be wrong. Character flaws, weaknesses, and mistakes are still nowadays identified with sins. What if, on the contrary, they are the nourishing of our unique personalities? What if we need them to grow, to evolve, to do something great out of our existence? Leonardo Da Vinci will guide us through this anachronistic Inferno. Where, guilty of arrogance, I placed my favorite Florentines and their stories. Followed by recipes to celebrate them – and their unapologetic sins – via chopping, whisking, sauteing, baking, and slow cooking. Get ready to meet lusty Filippo, gluttonous Caterina, greedy Filippo, angry Michelangelo, heretic Girolamo, charmer Lorenzo, and traitor Sandro. Benvenuti a Firenze. Claudia THE INDEX: 06 Welcome To Florence 08 Cooking Notes 10 A Florentine Playlist 12 Dante Alighieri 16 The New Renaissance 20 Minchiate Fiorentine 28 Leonardo Da Vinci 34 Acquarosa 37 The Lustful 38 Filippo Lippi 42 Sugo Scappato 44 Ossobuco Alla Fiorentina 46 Zucca Al Vino Rosso 49 The Gluttons 50 Caterina De’ Medici 60 Carabaccia 62 Papero Alla Melarancia 66 Schiacciata Fiorentina 71 The Avaricious and Prodigal 72 Filippo Brunelleschi 76 Peposo 78 Fagiolini Alla Fiorentina 80 Schiacciata Or Tiaccia Con L’Uva 85 The Wrath And Sullen 86 Michelangelo 90 Zuppa Di Patate 92 Francesina 96 Pomodori Alla Fiesolana 99 The Heretics 100 Girolamo Savonarola 104 Porrata Bianca 106 Arista Alla Fiorentina 109 The Violent 110 Florentine Games 112 Zuppa Lombarda 114 Uova Alla Fiorentina 118 Calcio Fiorentino 120 Pappa Al Pomodoro 124 Fagioli All’Uccelletto E Salsicce 129 The Panders And Seducers 130 Lorenzo De’ Medici 138 Stracotto Alla Medici 140 Porrata 144 Alchermes Bianco 146 Alchermes Pot 149 The Traitors 150 Sandro Botticelli 156 Crespelle 162 Cavolfiore Alla Fiorentina 164 Budini Di Riso Alla Fiorentina