Tastings

As compensation for all of the rain I've had to endure for the past 3 weeks, the regional food producers have brought their wares into Florence for tasting festival. Specifically, olive oil makers have the first press of their oils, bright green, piquant and utterly surprising to my palette, used to supermarket or even just bottled brand from Sonoma County. This bears no resemblance to even extra, extra virgin oil. I was told that Toscanos love their olive oil fresh, bright, and spicey ... saturating bread, eaten before meals, during meals, between meals. There were white tents set up in the piazzas with tables full of the stuff from dozens of different orchards and producers, each slightly different, but all very different from what I expected. During the last weekend there was a new twist; some of the producers were putting salt into the bread soaked with oil; this made it more palatable to my mouth ... just as I was getting used to the delicious freshness of the pure oil....

Last weekend the vintner came into town. At the Pitti Palace 250 wineries from around the Chianti area brought reds, whites and a few prosecos to a happy crowd for tasting. 10 euros bought you a glass, a bag and supposedly 10 tastes, but very few stamped the counting cards, so one could really sample as many as one liked. I did not sip a chianti that I didn't like and I was introduced to a few whites that I'll look for when I get home.

Other treats in the market were fresh cheeses of all sorts (peccorino may be a generic Italy cheese), salames, and for one fleeting day, truffles. When traveling, never pass up an item you think you will want the next time it comes around ... it won't come around again. The truffles were there; I saw them; I smelled them (can't possibly describe the smell); and they were gone the next day. I content myself with a small jar of chopped truffles in paste...