A stracotto sandwich is one of the best dishes among the many places that serve street food in Florence.
Less well-known than lampredotto, a stracotto sandwich is no less tasty! It is made with a beef-cheek stew that is a traditional dish of Florentine cuisine. Since childhood, a family tradition is to enjoy stracotto sandwiches at the Central Market.
The recipe for stracotto is ancient and uses the poor, less desirable parts of the cow. It’s a traditional dish of peasants and people who couldn’t buy choice cuts of beef; they were content with pieces of meat that required a long cooking time until the meat melted. Stracotto is considered a companatico, which literally means that it has to be eaten with bread.
Today, stracotto is also a Sunday dish in the family; the sauce usually seasons the pasta. Unfortunately, one must wake up early to prepare stracotto; the beef and vegetables are cooked in wine for about three hours, but the end result is delicious!
Come discover with me this authentic, appetizing Florentine tradition!
