Food Consumption

May 16, 2013 14:30

After the Engineering course this morning, we headed over the Mercato Centrale, Florence's Central Market featuring a labyrinth of fresh produce, meat, fish, dried fruit and restaurants. The market reminded me of Pittsburgh's Strip District, but the market is bustling daily until around three in the afternoon. It was loads of fun to walk through the market and look at all of the exotic food.

As part of our assignment, we were to visit a popular restaurant in the market: da Nerbone. It only takes one look at the restaurant to realize its immense popularity: there is always a long line. Given its apparent popularity, it seems that in some cases people feel obligated to try out the hidden treasure, or at the very least, take several photos as they pass by.

I had the privilege of trying one of Nerbone's signature bollito sandwiches. These consist of boiled beef, salsa verde (parsley, capers and anchovies) and chili sauce (chili pepper, garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and basil). It was much better than the lampredotto I had a few weeks ago – it didn't have the same weird consistency.