QUALITALY_132

December/Januar y 2023 IX MAGAZINE together, the tablecloths white. There is no shortage of paintings on the walls and a large deer dominates the entrance. The menu is handwritten. The first courses are called soups, even the dry ones. Meats are divided into grilled, boiled, stews and roasts. They have the taste of home and the Florentines gather there, they make reservations with difficulty, a sign that Ruggero is for real and that you feel good in the warmth of the dishes, in the common chatter, in the generous portions like that of your mother who loves you. In addition to beans, which areever present in Florence, there are asparagus and artichokes in season as side dishes that you expect but which, in the end, are not so common in trattorias. AL TRANVAI Al Tranvai is a small trattoria that overlooks Piazza Tasso. It is barely noticeable, discreet, with its narrow room in the shape of a tram, its counter reminiscent of a dashboard, its walls with wooden slats and period photos. It is a gastronomic benchmark for Florentines who love the quinto quarto. Offal is king. The lampredotto, tripe, fried brains, kidney with onions make good eating because the kitchen hand tames the savoury flavours and the sometimes-extreme consistencies of the offal. Then there are the liver crostini, bruschetta, ribollita, gnudi, pappa al pomodoro, lesso rifatto, fried rabbit. And vegetables in batter. The pillars of Florentine cuisine are all there and remain constant. ‘It’s just that the tram takes me back to Lisbon more than to the old Florentine tramway, the memory of which the restaurant celebrates , ’ I confess to Vilma. And I see again the yellow Remodelado tram that goes up and up and up, and from the top of the city you can enjoy the panorama of Alfama rooftops and the course of the Tagus, which is river and sea and sea and river with its mournful seagulls in flight. BURDE You have to exit in the direction of Peretola towards Ponte all’Indiano if you want to reach this ‘Fiaschetteria e caffè’ on the Pistoiese. At Burde, the best trattoria in Italy for the 50 Top Italy guide, you can only have lunch. It is a trattoria where you stop for tobaccos and groceries, for a quick meal at the tables tucked between people queuing at the charcuterie counter or, more quietly, in the cosy rooms that open up to the back in a riot of furnish- ings. Since 1927, they have been cooking according to a unique combination of home and shop that has led to an alchemy of home values and kitchen flavours. Burde is home and hearth, and although the Tuscans are all tough, and don’t necessar- ily want to please, the men of Burde know how to be real, and to be real requires character. The family has always counted: Paolo Gori , in the kitchen, and his brother Andrea , sommellier, are the fourth gener- ation of hosts since Egiziano Barducci , known as Burde, and Giulia Gori opened a grocery shop, then a delicatessen, then an osteria. Soups are a speciality, from pappa al pomodoro to caciucco di ceci, to car- abaccia. Meats are classics starting with stews and ending with grilled meats: pepo- so di razza Calvana, pork livers, Florentine tripe, lampredotto in zimino, stewed sheep, stuffed chicken, la francesina, the pot of mixed boiled meats brought to the table with the richness of its broth, sauces and pickles. The steak served in its purest form, which is queen here, deserves a mention. You choose the breed, whether you want the cut in fillet or the rib steak alone. Thus the grilling is precise. Paolo hopes you ask for it rare because it makes no sense to serve the steak well done with the varieties of cattle used in the kitchen: they have too little fat for extensive cooking. ‘ We give the gift of time ’, says the girl who tells me about the menu at the table: what better gift if at home we can no longer prepare dishes with long cooking times forced on the cooker by modern life. Tuscan wines and Champagnes make a rich and sophis- ticated cellar. The trattoria is closed on Sundays: the family needs its time. AT PAGE 32 DO YOU KNOW? Meat, the main course always pleases. As long as... ON AND OFF THE TABLE, MEAT IS ENTERING A NEW ERA THAT WANTS IT CONSUMED LESS, BUT WITHOUT LESSENING QUALITY. WE REMIND YOU OF THE BEST KNOWN IN THE WORLD (ITALY EXCLUDED) AND HOW TO OFFER THEM IN RESTAURANTS by Anna Muzio Specialisation and quality: these are the two pillars of today’s animal protein suppliers. Indispensable but often opposed for health or environmental reasons, but sought after by those who don’t wish to go without, and perhaps even indulge in it when they go to the restaurant. Worldwide, 350 million tonnes are consumed each year. According to the FAO, the most consumed in the world is pork (36%), followed by chicken (33%), beef (25%) and lamb or goat (5%). It can be said that practically every country has selected breeds with