Florence, Tuscany
The Florentine tripe-stall classic: lampredotto (the fourth stomach of the cow — the abomasum, smooth-walled and particularly unctuous) boiled until tender, then simmered in zimino — a sauce of olive oil, soffritto, tomato, Swiss chard, and white wine that turns the offal into something deeply flavoured and almost stew-like. The zimino technique is used widely in Liguria and Tuscany for vegetables and seafood but reaches its greatest expression with lampredotto. Sold from trippaio carts in the Mercato Centrale and eaten on a crusty semelle roll.
Unctuous, gelatinous lampredotto simmered in tomato and chard, served on a hollow roll soaked in the cooking broth — the quintessential Florentine street food of the working class
{"Lampredotto first boiled for 2.5 hours in salted water with celery, carrot, onion — until very tender when pierced","Cut into strips or rough pieces after cooking; the boiling liquid reserved and strained (it is the stock for the zimino)","Zimino: olive oil soffritto, white wine, tomato passata, chard leaves (added last 15 min); simmer 20 min","Add lampredotto strips to the zimino; cook together 15 min to merge flavours","Serve on semelle roll (hard, white, hollow bread roll) with salsa verde and optional chilli oil"}
{"The best lampredotto is served at the Nerbone stall in the Mercato Centrale — the standard against which all others are judged","Salsa verde and olio piccante (chilli oil) are the two condiment choices at the cart — both are typically applied","The semelle roll must be dipped briefly in the lampredotto cooking broth before adding the filling (bagnato) — this is the traditional preparation"}
{"Under-boiling — lampredotto that isn't fully tender at the boiling stage will never soften in the zimino","Chard added too early — it disintegrates; add the final 15 minutes only","Skipping the boiling liquid — it forms the essential stock base for the zimino"}
La Cucina Toscana — Giuliana Bonomo