Postcard: Mercato Centrale di Firenze in Florence

Designed in 1874 by Giovanni Mengoni, this market hall in the San Lorenzo district is located within a building where metal, glass and cast iron used to be traded. These days, people go to the market hall to buy fresh groceries, pantry items and souvenirs, or have a meal at one of the numerous stalls, restaurants or food court upstairs.

We came here after having climbed the Duomo di Firenze and Giotto’s Bell Tower earlier that morning, a couple of starving people seeking their first meal of the day.

We walked around the shops, making a mental shortlist of the ones we wanted to return to. We bought some dried candied fruit from one of the stalls in the corner on the ground floor – a snack that would keep me alert during the upcoming road trip in a couple of days’ time. We also walked past a few deli counters with plenty of meat and cheeses. Other shops displayed their sun-dried tomatoes and chilli, porcini mushrooms, flavoured olive oil and other delectables, inviting would-be customers for a closer look.

Deciding to have several smaller portions of food from different places, we headed upstairs to the food court first, where we were drawn to the colourful display of rectangular pizzas at the stall named La Pizza in Teglia. We had two slices of Margherita pizza, which were sold by weight. They were pricy, so it was a good thing we bought smaller portions. I liked the thin and crispy crust, especially the slightly burnt edges; the torn mozzarella on top was a delicious milky mess, its lightness tempered by the basil’s earthiness.

After finishing the pizza, we headed back downstairs to F. Ili Perini, a sit-down diner serving freshly cooked food. As we stood in line outside the food display, we could see some of the food being prepared in the kitchen behind. A large basket of zucchini flowers had been prepared – each was then dipped in tempura batter before being deep-fried in a fresh batch of cooking oil. The vegetables were fresh and vibrant, and I was tempted to order a lot more than I could finish. This was basically an Italian version of our Singaporean staple of economical mixed rice – we ordered our dishes from the simply labelled display, collected our food and sat at a table to tuck in.

Although the food was pre-cooked, the trays were regularly emptied out by the never-ending line of customers at the restaurant so everything was still pretty freshly prepared from the kitchen. We had the fried zucchini flowers, a heaping portion of lasagna with porcini, and grilled egglplant – everything was as delicious as they looked in the display.

We finished up with a fuss-free coffee at one of the shops nearby. Bridget did the apparently taboo thing in Italy of ordering a cappuccino after lunch but there were no dirty looks, just efficient barista service, and we carried on our way getting our caffeine boost.