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gredients. do, I accepted the fist-sized sandwich offered by
The most uniquely Florentine example we a smiling Simone Ballegi, who founded his food
sampled was a lampredotto panino from Da Si- stand in 1999.
mone in Piazza de’Nerli. If you don’t know what Deep breath. Small bite. Verdict? DELICIOUS.
lampredotto is, you’ll probably be sorry you I’d seriously have asked for seconds, but I knew
asked. It means “eel,” which seems unappetizing Aziz had more up his sleeve.
enough, but it actually gets worse—because a At Alimentari Sandro & Ivana, we were
lampredotto sandwich is, in fact, made with the greeted with a meat and cheese platter prepared
fourth stomach of a cow. WOW. by owner Marzio Pirgher, who toured all of Italy
It sounds like something a ten-year-old boy to select the best the country has to offer. “My
might scarf on a triple-dog-dare, but lavishly blood is made of cheese,” Pirgher declared with,
seasoned lampredotto is legendary in Florence. dare I say it, a charmingly “cheesy” grin.
So, mustering a semblance of juvenile derring-
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