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Post by fumobici on May 19, 2011 23:51:07 GMT
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Post by mich64 on May 20, 2011 1:16:21 GMT
Really enjoyed this, the pictures and videos, thanks Fumobici. Were you by yourself? The reason I ask is because a woman would have made you stop at least 1000 (000) times to look at this and that. ;D Mich
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Post by hwinpp on May 20, 2011 2:00:28 GMT
If I get the chance I most definitely will go!
How I love the fish and meat sections of markets, thanks Fumo!
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2011 13:05:44 GMT
What an nice colorful array of goodies! So when are you taking me with you, fumobici?
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Post by auntieannie on May 20, 2011 17:56:33 GMT
Mamma mia.... you got me drooling all over the keyboard.
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Post by Deleted on May 20, 2011 18:52:25 GMT
Lovely thread, but is it common to see the English language signs like "The Best" or "Only Caps"?
I have to confess that it is the aspect that flashed itself in my face immediately.
The colorful dried things (fruit?) are also a surprise.
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Post by fumobici on May 20, 2011 21:01:46 GMT
You don't see a whole lot of English in the market but some of the Asian vendors use it some for signage. The ethnic Italian vendors don't generally seem to know much, but the East and South Asians mostly seem fluent. Here's a large photo showing labels at one of the dried fruit stalls in Italian/Chinese/English. I bought an etto (100g) of dried strawberries from an Italian vendor and they were amazing just eaten plain, such concentrated strawberry flavor. I could definitely find a use for them in baking and deserts. How about minced dried strawberry and marscapone filled pastries with a dribble of balsamic over the top or a sauce made from dried guava and lime over panna cotta gelato? scrimshaw-globes.com/Firenze/IMG_2911.JPG
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Post by auntieannie on May 21, 2011 8:54:30 GMT
fumo, I dry strawberries myself and use them in my muesli. a little bit of summer in winter.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 21, 2011 18:23:03 GMT
Weeping, positively weeping with helpless desire! Fabulous photos, Fumobici. I love the one with the newspaper/fishwrapper next to the fish. Gawd, that seafood! Well, the variety, beauty, & freshness of everything. Get a room with or with use of a kitchen, or just make picnic/bag lunches. Then eat. I take it you've done this. What a way to live!
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Post by fumobici on May 21, 2011 21:19:58 GMT
Yes, it really is nice to have a kitchen available, so much more variety and value shopping at the market as opposed to dining out. Here's the kitchen at the wonderful little B&B, Casa Corsi, I stayed at in Florence: Roberta, the proprietress is wonderful and yes that is an espresso machine on the left. Here's the little common room: And perhaps best, there's a beautiful courtyard to eat or relax in as well: The cost is super reasonable too, and easy walking distance from the train station, Piazza S. Maria Novella and the Mercato Centrale, even the duomo as well. I can't recommend the place highly enough.
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Post by mich64 on May 22, 2011 1:38:09 GMT
You have found yourself a delightful place Fumobici. I thought the garden must be a great place to relax after a full day of activities. What a wonderful place. Cheers, Mich
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Post by Deleted on May 22, 2011 5:59:37 GMT
Nice little place!
Going back to the delightful cheese photos at the market, I found myself wondering if Italy has a lot more hard cheeses than soft cheeses, or if the impression is simply caused by the ease of displaying the hard cheeses at a market. Obviously mozzarella, gorgonzola, etc., are soft, but a lot of the other 'stars' of the Italian cheese world seem to be hard. Easier to keep in a warmer climate, perhaps? I know that in France, the farther south you go, the more hard cheeses there are. The northern cheeses are much more soft and runny.
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Post by fumobici on May 22, 2011 14:22:00 GMT
I think you may be onto something with the climate. Hard sheep's milk cheeses (although there is a lot of variation in texture- when fresh they are somewhat soft) known generically in Italy as Pecorino dominate. Soft cheeses tend to be (extremely) fresh rather than ripened. Up near the Alps of course the cheeses tend to be similar to Swiss, with more cow's milk as opposed to sheep's.
Honestly, nobody makes cheeses of the variety and consistent quality the French do. It's not even a close thing IMO.
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Post by onlymark on May 22, 2011 15:15:27 GMT
I'll challenge that statement with my opinion (though each are as valid) - nobody makes cheeses of the variety and consistent quality the British do. It's not even a close thing IMO. I admit if you want soft cheese than the Continent is where to go. If you want hard cheese, then it's got to be Britain and Ireland. Needless to say I prefer hard cheese.
France has "Traditionally, there are from 350 to 400 distinct types of French cheese" (Though it is said that due to varieties of the same "some claim closer to 1,000 different types") But "there are over 700 named British cheeses produced in the UK."
If you discount all the false cheddar products about and look at the proper cheese, (rather like discounting all the Brie crap that's out there) the consistent quality and variety cannot be surpassed. Uk cheese is a hidden gem overshadowed and overlooked by European snobbery.
But who am I to say.
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 1, 2011 12:37:10 GMT
fumo, aren't le pecore goats?
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Post by bjd on Jun 1, 2011 12:50:58 GMT
Auntieannie -- goats are capri. Pecore are sheep.
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Post by auntieannie on Jun 1, 2011 14:46:05 GMT
I always get them confused. thanks for that , bjd...
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Post by hwinpp on Jun 16, 2011 5:06:15 GMT
I always get them confused. thanks for that , bjd... Remember capricorn
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2011 5:22:25 GMT
I can't remember if stories about the island of Capri talk about huge numbers of goats there.
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