The San Lorenzo Mercato Centrale, a.k.a. the Central Market, is a wonder. The structure houses butchers, cheese and fish mongers, green grocers, and delis of all types imaginable (and some unimaginable). Writing about it would take up several pages, so I’ll devote this blog to the butchers. One of the first things about the butchers you’ll notice is that they have all of their meats clearly visible in their display cases. None of it is pre-cut or pre-packaged. It’s all cut to order and priced by the kilo. You’ll notice that the butchers cut everything on huge blocks of wood that have been beaten into saddles over time. You want beef? Chop. Chicken? Chop. Pork, rabbit, or something more exotic? Chop, chop, chop. No issues with sanitary cutting boards here. Wood works just fine.
First, let’s start with items you’d expect to see. The deli counters are filled with cheeses – cow’s milk and sheep’s milk. Cured meats hang above and behind the counters. There must be a dozen different types of prosciutto (plus prosciutto from the delicious boar). Florence is known for pig and boar products.
Since the market is closed on Sunday, the butchers will prepare roasts for Sunday dinner and have them on display each Saturday. Wrapped in bacon and herbs these roasts look absolutely delicious – just throw them on a wood-fired grill or pop them in the oven and you’re good to go.
While it’s all yummy and wonderful, so far nothing’s unusual. You can simply point to the item, tell the butcher how much you want (ordered by the “etto”, which is 1/10 of a kilo), and he’ll even pound the cutlets for you before he wraps your order in butcher paper. It doesn’t get much fresher than that. Let’s start with the poultry butchers. You know it’s fresh when you can see the heads attached. These chickens are only €3,90/kilo. How about rooster for €6,50/kilo? They also carry turkey, guinea fowl, quail, capon, and some other birds. We haven’t seen pigeon yet, but then again, we haven’t had a need to look for it. They also offer fresh chicken livers and hearts. And if you’re just looking for chicken heads, why, they can sell you a bunch of those too. These butchers not only sell poultry, but they usually have rabbit as well – heads on, of course. Sometimes the heads are wrapped in paper with only the skinned bodies exposed, other times the heads are visible for inspection. Don’t need the bodies? Not a problem, you can buy just the heads.
Let’s move on to the beef butchers. You’ll see Bistecca alla Fiorentina on most menus around Florence. Their T-Bone steaks are thick and aged to perfection. The butchers proudly display their immense racks of T-Bones which they cut to order – most commonly into 1 kilo steaks. But we’re not interested in these as you can find T-Bones back in the U.S. Let’s start with the young ones first. Italians don’t just have one category of veal, they have three. First, you have the “vitellino”. This youngest, and most tender, of the veals is categorized as being under 300 pounds. The next is “vitello” which is between 300 and 500 pounds. And then you have “vitellone” which is between 500 and 700 pounds. Then above the veal there are the “manzo” which are between 700 and 1,200 pounds and the “bua” which are the oldest and are above 1,200 pounds. Now that you know your veal you can select the right size “zampini”, or hooves, to meet your needs. All 3 categories of veal hooves are available; freshly washed and ready to go. Not in the mood for hoof tonight? How about some “lingua”, or veal tongue? Looking for something more exotic? How about these: “testicoli manzo” (beef balls), “cervello vitella” (calf brains), “trippa” (tripe), “lampredotto” (tripe of the 4th stomach – and an answer to an earlier blog post – apparently the 4th stomach is the most popular of the stomachs and is sold at sandwich stands all over Florence), “rognoni” (kidneys), “fegato” (liver), “cervello” (brains), “nervetti” (nerves), “guance” (cheeks), “cuore” (heart), “musetto” (nose), or perhaps “poppa mucca” (udder). It’s all for sale and on display – and there’s more we haven’t even listed.
But Tuscany is known for the pig. I won’t even touch on the cured meats as these could easily number in the hundreds. One butcher has this cute little boar in his display case. Here he is leaning up onto some “lepre”. See the rib cage? See the thick legs? No it’s not “coniglio” (rabbit), it’s its big brother, the hare. Other porky offerings include the common “zampetti” (trotters) and the “orecchie” (ears). You can also find some of the same innards offered by its barnyard buddy, the cow, including the entire head. What would you do with a whole pig head? Well here’s an idea. Why not remove the skin, sew the eyes and mouth holes shut, stuff it with pork pieces, and cure it? A deli had the stuffed head on display (with sample pieces alongside). You’ll never think of that Boars Head brand “soprassata” in the same way again.