Gelato. What a country!

Welcome to Florence Italy. This journey is about the foods to be found here. During the month I will be studying with chefs, touring the countryside and cooking the local cuisine. Please sit back, return your seat to a reclined position and enjoy.

To keep this blog on track I wanted to set some guidelines.
1. Yes there are historical sites to see but this is a food fantasy come true so the food is the focus.
2. Museums, churches, palaces and statues are all well and good BUT we all know how crappy the food is at such touristy establishments.
3. I promise as your guide to keep this blog on what matters. Cooking.
4. The following images are a courtesy to those who want to see what else Florence has to offer. This will hopefully be the only basic tourist pics of the blog. Look at them quickly and then move on. Nothing delicious here.

There ya go. It's David courtesy of Mr. Michaelangelo and sculpted from 1501 to 1504. Quite amazing in person but not delicious. Put some shorts on for Pete's sake.











You can't get away from this thing. It's 3 blocks from my apartment.

Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral church (Duomo) of Florence, Italy. The basilica is notable for its dome designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, its exterior facing of polychrome marble panels in various shades of green and pink bordered by white. The first stone was laid on September 9, 1296 . The building of this vast project was to last 170 years, the collective efforts of several generations. Duomo does not mean delicious in Italian. Please step to your right, make room for others and let's move on to more important things......

And now for our first food story. Gelato folks, it's delicious. Cold, creamy, subtle flavors (no preservative and fake ingredients) and oh so good. To keep myself focused I have only been trying pistachio, hazelnut and almond. Here are three of the best shops in Florence.

Vivoli. Old school gelato by Santa Croce.

Grom, it's everywhere. Organic too.

Vestri is mainly a chocolate shop with their own coco plantation in the Dominican republic. Think about that. Truffles, Italian hot chocolate, gelato AND a plantation on a tropical island. And no, they are not accepting applications. My friend Will had a half hazelnut gelato and half hot chocolate. Don't think anything more needs to be said about that.

That's it for now folks. Stay tuned for a map with all the listings, more stories and pics of all the dishes to be cooked. 2nd blog will be tonight's dinner (feb 2 '08) My first cooked meal. The 3rd post will be a recap of the first weeks adventure.

Please keep in touch. Ciao, Jonathan