32 SAVEUR.COM
AND
OTHER WAYS TO
FLOREN
C
EL
O
VEof all the sensorial delights avail-
able in the overstimulating tourist trap
that is Florence—making out in the moon-
light on the Ponte Vecchio; communing
with Botticellis and Donatellos; pairing
fire-charred Chianina bisteccas with back
vintages of Le Pergole Torte—could it be
that a sloppy street snack of stewed tripe
ranks among the very finest?
Behold, lampredotto, Florence’s preem-
inent cibo da strada, a Renaissance-era
sandwich named for its putative resem-
blance to boiled lamprey flesh. There’s
no way around it: The stuff is ugly. Wrin-
kly, f laccid, grayish beige, it emerges from
its vat of indiscernible bouillon, wobbling
on the end of the trippaio’s (tripe-seller’s)
carving fork. That such a pile of innards
is beloved in such a stylish, wealthy mer-
chant center—and has been for over 500
years—is rendered even more incongru-
ous by the city’s pastel-hued elegance. It’s
like a joke from the Middle Ages whose
punch line is still being hawked from
street carts in San Marco.
Dante probably ate it while pining after
Beatrice. There’s a good reason for its
ongoing appeal: Lampredotto tastes as
divine as it looks infernal.
The first time I tried it was at a street
food stand called Sergio Pollini. The ven-
dor’s setup wasn’t too different from a1
Fall in love with
lampredotto
PHOTOGRAPHS by MICHELLE HEIMERMANBy Adam Leith Gollner