The Art of Food…Italian Style

I can't leave this blog post about Florence without mentioning the food. One of life's greatest pleasures and greatest art forms is food...from growing, cooking, presenting, and eating. When I think about my memory of the food in Florence, it would be more about the "experience" than anything else. Not to say that the homemade pasta made from the finest semolina, with spaghetti as thick as a tender small rope wasn't remarkable in itself, but it was more the care and pride that went into it that left an impression.

The food itself was simple, basic food...kind of like food used to be. Like my mother used to make. Honest, simple and unpretentious. Pizza that was light, delicately layered with the perfect amount of toppings. The Tiramisu hardly had to try at all.

One of our more memorable meals in Italy, oddly enough, was a steak. Whenever most of us think of Italian food, we think 'pasta'. But the steaks we had in Italy were quite a surprise. A grilled steak would be marinated simply in olive oil and fresh lemon...simple and distinctly different.  The steak we had above, was our favorite... thinly cut, cooked to perfection, with a mustard cream sauce that had something that resembled capers in it. We later learned from the waiter that they were fresh green peppercorns. The combination of flavors plus the feeling of the peppercorns popping in your mouth was about as full an experience as you can get. (Searching out the perfect recipe to re-create this meal, we did a pretty decent job of making it at home just recently.)

Back to the "experience" of Italian food…Italians are proud. They are proud of their families, their culture and their country. They know why people flock to their homeland, and they are excited to share the complete experience with you. We found this wherever we travelled in Italy.

A great example of this "experience" was the B&B we stayed at in Florence. Katti House B&B was one of two hotels that were family owned and managed. In addition, they owned an adjoining restaurant, (also Katti House), named after their daughter, Katarina. Katarina, along with her father and mother Maria, ran the restaurant and B&B from morning to midnight, 7 days a week. From fresh pasta daily, to homemade desserts, Katti House was packed with customers every night we were there. Katarina scurrying around waiting on customers, and Maria waltzing between tables, making sure everyone was happy. It was clear why people were waiting in line every night.

We became quick friends with Maria, loving her attentiveness and pride in her businesses and love for her family. Each morning she would invite us into the not-yet-opened restaurant and make us cappuccino and let us sample amazing pastries such as this apple tart.

In the end, we began to get an understanding of what Italian food was really about. It came from hard work, loving care and pride...Italian style. Grazie mille Maria!