P
Italian · Florence, Tuscany
Lampredotto alla Fiorentina
Florence's street obsession: the abomasum (fourth stomach of the cow) boiled for 90 minutes in a herbed broth until completely tender, then sliced thin and served inside a chewy bread roll (semmel) moistened by dipping the bread in the cooking broth, dressed with either salsa verde or a spicy peperoncino sauce (salsa piccante). Sold exclusively from the lampredottai (street carts), this is one of Italy's most uncompromising street foods — pungent, gelatinous, and utterly specific to Florence.
I
The Market List
The benchmark for each ingredient, and who stocks it near you. Tap a stockist to go straight to the product.
800 g
abomasum (fourth stomach of the cow)
thoroughly cleaned of any remaining digestive material
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
For the broth
1
onion
peeled and halved
Your own market
2
celery stalks
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1
carrot
peeled
Your own market
1 small bunch
flat-leaf parsley
Your own market
1 tsp
black peppercorns
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 litres
water
cold, to cover
Your own market
For the salsa verde (Florentine)
1 large bunch
flat-leaf parsley
leaves only
Your own market
4
anchovy fillets
in oil
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
2 tbsp
capers
rinsed
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 clove
garlic
Your own market
1 thick slice
white bread
crusts removed, soaked in white wine vinegar and squeezed
Your own market
To serve
4
semmel rolls
chewy crumb, crusty exterior
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
II
The Method
1
Place the cleaned abomasum in a large pot with the onion, celery, carrot, parsley, and black peppercorns. Cover with cold water. Bring to a steady simmer over medium heat. The surface should show a consistent, gentle agitation — not a rolling boil, not a still liquid. Skim any grey foam that rises in the first ten minutes.
2
Maintain the consistent simmer for a minimum of 90 minutes. This is where the dish lives or dies: the abomasum must reach complete gelatinous tenderness. Press the thickest part with a spoon — it must yield without resistance. Any chewiness means the boiling must continue. There is no shortcut and no recovery from under-cooking at the service stage.
3
While the abomasum cooks, prepare the salsa verde. Pound or process the parsley, anchovies, capers, garlic, and vinegar-soaked bread to a coarse paste. The sauce should be bright green, cohesive, and sharp on the tongue — the acidity of the soaked bread and the salt of the anchovies must be clearly present.
4
Remove the cooked abomasum from the broth and slice it thin. Keep the broth hot over low heat. Do not strain it yet — it is the service medium. The sliced abomasum should be glossy, deeply coloured, and collapsing slightly under its own weight.
5
For bagnato doppio service: split each roll without fully separating the halves. Dip the interior crumb face-down into the hot broth for several seconds until thoroughly moistened — the bread should be saturated but not disintegrating. Then pass the sliced abomasum briefly through the broth to moisten it equally. The bread must be wet to the touch, yielding, and fragrant with the broth aromatics.
6
Fill each roll with the broth-moistened abomasum. Apply salsa verde generously across the top of the filling. Close the roll and serve immediately. The sandwich should be heavy with broth, the salsa verde sharp against the gelatinous meat, the bread barely holding its structure.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Abomasum sourced from a named Chianina or Maremmana animal, cleaned and prepared by a specialist tripperia; bread from a Florentine baker using local stone-milled flour; anchovies from Cetara.
02
Estate — Abomasum from a known regional producer, pre-cleaned; a good chewy semmel from a craft baker; quality salted anchovies, rinsed and filleted at home.
03
Market — Pre-cleaned abomasum from a reliable butcher or tripperia; standard supermarket semmel rolls with adequate crust; jarred capers and tinned anchovy fillets.
04
House — Pre-cleaned, pre-blanched tripe pack containing abomasum (confirm the fourth stomach is present); any crusty roll with sufficient structural integrity to survive the bagnato dip.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The broth surface shows a steady, gentle agitation throughout the 90-minute cook — neither still nor violently boiling.
◇Touch. The cooked abomasum yields completely under light pressure from a spoon; no springback, no resistance in the thickest section.
◇Sight. The sliced abomasum is glossy and slightly collapsing, with a deep, uniform colour across the cut surface.
◇Touch. The dipped bread is saturated to the crumb with broth, heavy in the hand, and yielding — but still holding its form when lifted.
◇Smell. The assembled sandwich releases the compound aroma of herb broth, gelatinous meat, and sharp vinegared parsley — all three must be distinct.
◇Where it lives or dies. The abomasum must reach complete gelatinous tenderness after a minimum of 90 minutes at a consistent simmer — any residual chew renders the dish irretrievable at service.
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VI
What to Pour
A young, high-acid Tuscan red served cool — Chianti Classico without extended oak, or a simple Sangiovese-based vino da tavola: the acidity must stand against the gelatinous richness and echo the vinegar in the salsa verde. Still mineral water is the lampredottai's own pairing.
The whole pairingPillar VII
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Where the dish comes from and how it came to be — on every recipe.
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