bed and breakfast near florence bed and breakfast around florence tuscany

FOOD & WINE IN TOSCANA
With an example of a typical menu from a local trattoria near B&B I Melograni Tuscany

(with prices) .

Ristorante or Trattoria’s are restaurants serving a wide variety of dishes including pizzas and pasta, meat dishes and sweets. The difference between a Ristorante and a Trattoria is that in a Trattoria the service and decor is very simple and ‘familiare’ and nearly always run by a small family. Ristorante are usually also run by a family but offer a larger choice of foods on the menu and sometimes specialized dishes making them a little more expensive than a Trattoria. Don't be afraid to order only one or two courses - it is not expected or that you have a five course meal so only order what you feel is enough- maybe the antipasto and a pasta dish will suffice with maybe some salad or vegetables to finish or miss out the pasta and go straight to the 'secondo'.
A typical Italian meal will have several courses as follows:

Antipasto: The starter - sometimes crostini or a soup, ham with melon or mixed appetisers which may include the chef's own creations.
Primo: The first course - usually a pasta with lots of different sauce choices, often home-made. Sometimes a dish of the day, or a risotto.
Secondo: The second course - meat or fish is often from the grill and could be with a sauce.Rural restaurants also have typical dishes of the area - wild boar, rabbit, hare or pheasant when in season. Almost everywhere in Tuscany, meat is grilled over open fires, but one of the most well known grilled dishes must be Bistecca Fiorentina. This is a perfectly cooked T-bone steak, which is often served with a splash of olive oil, or topped with peppery arugula lettuce
Contorni: Vegetables or salad are usually fresh from the market.Many vegetables are eaten raw, or steamed and drizzled with olive oil. Artichokes, asparagus, spinach, fennel, broad beans and cannellino beans are grown in kitchen gardens everywhere. Tuscans are named the "bean-eaters" as they are renowned for their love of beans. One particular favorite is the white cannellini or toscanelli beans. The traditional method of cooking toscanelli is in a flask with olive oil and garlic and cooked over a dying fire overnight until they reach a creamy consistency.
Pane: Bread is eaten with almost everything in Tuscany and served at I Melograni Bed and Breakfast Tuscany for breakfast with home made Honey from Lucca. Tuscany bread is baked without salt. This is because historically it was found bread retained its freshness longer when salt was not added, and it has been made that way ever since.
Frutta: Fresh fruit.
Dolce: Something sweet - you may be offered the dish of the day typically a 'torta' - gateau or 'gelato' - ice cream or something like Tiramisu.(Tiramisu is a derivative of Zuppa Del Duca ("the duke's soup"), a creamy layered dessert from the 17th century created in Siena in honour of a visit from Florence by the Grand Duke Cosimo de' Medici III (1642-1723),
The Grande Duke took the recipe back with him to Florence where it became extremely popular among the English intellectuals and artists who lived there at the time.It eventually made it’s way to England as ‘The Trifle’).
Pizza: Usually on a separate section of the menu and can be an entire meal or taken as your prima or secondo.

Crostini: Small pieces of bread grilled with olive oil and topped with cheese, mushrooms, pâté or tomatoes.
Ribollita/minestra di pane: Wonderful farmers soup of black cabbage, all vegetables, beans and old bread - a meal in itself
Cinghiale: Wild boar - a Tuscan speciality.
Fagiano: Pheasant - cooked in many different ways often in red wine.
Coniglio: Rabbit
Funghi: Mushrooms
Fagioli: Beans - a Tuscan speciality can be served as a soup or with olive oil as a vegetable on its own with bread.
Porcini: Wild mushrooms - collected wild in the field and offered seasonally as a local delicacy.Often served as part of a pasta dish or with pizza.
Tartufo: Truffles.Very expensive. Sometimes just grated over the pasta
Zuppa Inglese: An Italian form of trifle.

A Pizzeria
Serves pizzas but will often have other pasta dishes available.
Pizzas come in many varieties usually on a very thin base and anything up to twelve inches in diameter. I Melograni (The Pomegranates) Bed and Breakfast is near Florence,Siena and Pisa so there are many Pizzerias with typical local flavors, for example with Artichokes (carcofi) or Mozzarella di Bufala (buffalo cheese). Here are a few examples.

Calzone- folded pizza with cheese,ham and tomatoes
Capricciosa-literally ‘capricious’.Topped with whatever they have in the kitchen usually including baby artichoke ham and egg.
Frutta di mare-seafood usually mussels, prawns and clams.
Funghi-mushrooms
Margherita-cheese and tomato
Quattro stagioni- “four seasons. Toppings split into four separate sections.ham, green pepper,onion and egg.

Crostini Misti: Slices of toasted bread with different toppings e.g.chicken livers, mushroom sauce,chopped tomatoes. € 3.00

Tagliatelle al pomodoro:Fresh pasta ribbons (another word for fettucini) with tomato sauce€ 8.50
Tagliatelle al Cinghiale: Fresh pasta with wild boar sauce € 8.00

Risotto ai carciofi per due persone: Risotto with artichokes (a dish for two people) €6.00

Spaghetti ragù o pomodoro:Spaghetti with tomatoes or minced meat sauce € 4.60

Ravioli al pomodoro fresco, aglio, rucola e parmigiano:Fresh large square-shaped pasta filled with ricotta cheese and spinach with tomato, garlic,rocket and parmesan cheese€ 7.50

Ossobuco alla senese con patate alla fattoressa:Stewed beef bone with potatoes € 8.50

Cinghiale con fagiolini in umido:Wild boar in typical sauce served with green beans € 10.50

Pecorino toscano con le pere: Sheeps cheese from Tuscany with pears. € 6.50

· Bisteccha alla Fiorentina *: Fiorentine sirloin Chianina steak (approx 700 grms each steak.)· *Piatto tradizionalmente al sangue*typically underdone and very rare € 31.50

Trippa alla toscana :Stewed tripe in sauce of carrots, celery and onion € 8.50

Insalate miste-Mixed salads

Insalata mista con tonno e mozzarella di bufala:Lettuce, tomatoes, chicory of Treviso, with buffalo mozzarella and tuna fish € 7.80

Insalata caprese con mozzarella di bufala:Tomatoes, buffala's mozzarella and basil € 8.00

Panna Cotta ai Frutti di Bosco o Cioccolato:Cooked cream with forest fruits, or chocolate €4.00

Cantucci con Vin Santo:Traditional dry almond biscuits with vinsanto (similar to sherry) € 4.60

Many small trattorias will speak some English but to help out a young waitress or waiter here are a few simple phrases to learn:

Buon Giorno=Good day (until lunch time)......................... roll you R's

(You don't have to ask for non smoking tables because by law nobody can smoke in public places anymore.)

Una bottigla di aqua minerale non gassata/gassata.=A bottle of mineral water without gas/with gas.

Una bottiglia di vino del casa perfavore. Rosso (red) Bianco (white)= A bottle of house wine please .

Crostini Misti e Spaghetti ragù per me /per mia moglie/per mia amica/per mia amico =Mixed little tasters on toast and Spaghetti Bolognese for me/for my wife/for my friend

Contact:Sue or Riccardo, 'I Melograni Bed & Breakfast Florence'.
Tel : 0039 0571 924255
e-mail sue@relaisimelograni.com