Showing posts with label Florence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Florence. Show all posts

Monday, 30 July 2012

Cured Salmon in Tuscany

This starter was prepared by the highly talented chef at the Piopponero (Black Poplar) restaurant at Villa Le Maschere, a 5 star resort hotel in the Tuscan hills about 1/2 hour from Florence.

It is marinated Norwegian salmon, flavoured with dill and combined with shavings of fennel bulb, green apple and ginger salad.

Like all the food at this hotel, it was DELICIOUS.  Thick cut succulent salmon, mildly cured with a hint of Dill.

A bottle of the very reasonably priced Orvieto Classico complemented it perfectly.


We enjoyed a range of seafood at this hotel including raw Langoustine (the largest ones I have ever seen), fresh rock oysters, sushi salmon and tuna sashimi and salt codfish.



Wednesday, 4 January 2012

New years eve in Florence

Arancine of cuttlefish


Enjoyed a wonderful New Years Eve at the Frescobaldi restaurant at Piazza della Signoria in Florence. The 9 course menu was was superb with a selection of stunning wines to accompany including a bottle of Spumante for each table to celebrate at midnight.

Seafood dishes included Arancine (which literally means 'an orange which has fallen from the tree') of durum wheat stuffed with cuttlefish and diced vegetable and served on a disk of yellow squash.  The durum wheat 'semolina', similiar to large cous cous, was soaked in the cuttlefish ink which provided texture and flavour.


Sauteed scallops
The scallops sauteed in black butter and Rosemary with green onion compote, rice balls and steamed shrimp with caviar were a superb combination accompanied by the 2003 Castelgiocondo Brunello di Montalcino.

After the midnight celebration there was a raffle for bottles of the wines we had enjoyed during the night and we won 2 bottles of the 40 Altari 2006, Vin Santo del Chianti D.O.C. (dessert wine) and a magnum of the Toscana I.G.T. red , Tenuta Luce della Vite, Lucente 2007.  As we were flying back to London with only hand luggage we donated our winnings to the hard working staff at the restaurant so we hope you enjoyed it !

A four and a half hour dinner to celebrate the new year of 2012 !