In a city so revered for its sophistication and cultural pedigree – the Renaissance! Michelangelo! Botticelli! – it’s striking that Florence’s most iconic street food is basically tripe. Lampredotto is prepared very specifically using the fourth stomach of a cow, the abomasum, slow-cooked in an onion and herb broth, served in a bread roll with a dollop of salsa verde and, if you fancy it, chilli sauce. Infinitely more appetising than it looks (or sounds), here are our favourite lampredotto spots around Florence.
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Il Trippaio del Porcellino
An OG stand not far from Ponte Vecchio / Credit: Alamy
To watch owner/manager Orazio Nencioni make a lampredotto at his little kiosk on Piazza del Mercato Nuovo is to watch a great artist at work. His family have been flogging lampredetto here or hereabouts – originally from the back of a bicycle, until Florentine health authorities put a stop to all that – for over a century. The bread is dunked in the tripe broth for just long enough to soak up the flavours, but not make it structurally weak. Truly a maestro.
Via di Capaccio, Santa Croce
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Da Nerbone
When you wander into Mercado Centrale – that’s the central market – turn to your left and you’ll see the longest queue in the place. That’s for Da Nerbone. The team here have been slinging Florentine’s signature tripe sarnies since 1872, and the old-school, fairground-style stall indeed cooks up an unforgettable lampredotto, boiled with celery, onions, garlic, fresh herbs, tomatoes and carrots, with a piquant smear of chilli sauce and trademark salsa verde.
Mercato Centrale, San Giovanni
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