Finally a weekend where shoving endless amounts of samples in your mouth and sneaking back around for seconds is completely acceptable. The 9th edition of Pitti Taste has created the perfect event for all the food, wine, and beer lovers of the world, bringing nearly 300 gourmet producers from around Italy to Florence. We admit to being pretty greedy when it comes to bottomless samples; we will just eat whatever it is, no questions asked. For all we know we could of been eating the head of a pig, and we wouldn’t of even cared as long as it was included in the €15 entrance and tasted good. That is pretty much how our day began at Taste.

Here’s an inside look at the crazy-delicous things we consumed that day, no questions asked until after they were eaten.

1. “Testa in Cassetta” – Macelleria Salumeria Giacobbe, Liguria

Taste festival head in a box
Testa in casetta translates to, “head in a box,” which I wasn’t informed of until I was biting into it.

As crazy as this looks, it was, by far, one of the most amazing things that I had ever tried. This lovely looking slab of meat is a pig’s head with the bones taken out, boiled for six hours, and sprinkled with a dash of salt. Seems easy enough to prepare… dinner party anyone?!

Macelleria Salumeria Giaccobe lard
Although my arteries are probably clogged after the 7 samples I took, it sure was delicious in the moment.

Another delectable item by the same company, salty lard spread (tastes like butter) infused with aromatic herbs!

2. “‘Nduja” – L’Artigiano della ‘Nduja: Calabria

Spicy 'Nduja meat
Let’s just say I bought a jar of that to bring back home… YUM.

This hunk of spicy cured meat is referred to as ‘nduja, a mixture of pork lard, cheek, pancetta, salt, and chili peppers that really give your taste buds a kick.  It’s a spreadable salami and tastes amazing on crackers or bread; I actually had it on my pizza for lunch one day!

3. “Mortadella Classica” – Bonfatti Salumi: Emilia Romagna

giant egg of salumi at taste
Dinosaur egg or giant meatball?

To save you from turning into to a vegetarian, I will spare you the explanation of how this is made. All I’ll say is that it’s basically bologna’s high-class Italian cousin, encased in a cow’s bladder. For all the meaty details, check out Intern Muzzi’s article.

4. “Vinaigrette al Tartufo Nero” – San Pietro a Pettine: Umbria 

Quail egg with vinaigrette
Quail egg with truffle vinaigrette!

Good news! We’re done with the meat part of my adventure and moving on into the world of truffle goodness (not the chocolate kind, the tuber kind).  I could of drank this entire bottle of truffle vinaigrette alone! The earthy flavor was so powerful and yet so light and tangy in liquid form. I have been in love with truffles ever since I arrived in Italy, and this company was truly paradise for truffle lovers. They also produced a chocolate hazelnut truffle spread. UNREAL. I wanted to just camp out at this booth the whole weekend, but I had work to do 😉

5. “Olio Extravergine di Oliva” – Mate: Croatia

Mate olive oil
Bet you would of never considered this kind combination. It’s the new chocolate syrup to your sundae.

Olive oil drizzled on top of yogurt gelato?! It was the greatest thing I have ever had. It totally beats any traditional topping. If you have never tried it, I strongly suggest you pick up a good quality olive oil and and get to drenching some plain frozen yogurt. Life changing!

I don’t know about you guys, but I never thought a day filled with pig’s head, spreadable meat, cow bladder bologna, and lard would end up being some of the greatest tasting treats I have ever tried. If there’s one thing I learned at Taste (which I think can be applied travel in general), it’s that you have to put the thought of what a new food is aside and just eat it! You can trust the locals. And if you don’t — you’ll be missing out!

Taste aftermath
Food, wine, & beer coma! Taste was a success.

 

 Whats the wildest thing you have ever tasted while traveling?

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.