Baccalà alla fiorentina

Baccalà alla fiorentina. The most typical of all sea delicacies in Florence is definitely the Baccalà alla fiorentina. Fish was always a main element of Florentine cuisine since the Arno was navigable and therefore the city had access to the sea. Its last river port, the port of Mezzo was located near the village of Signa and was only closed after the flood of 1966. Until then the Florentine commercial ships carrying silk, wool, and other materials to the northern countries usually returned with a bulk of salted cod fish to the port of Livorno and then Mezzo.

The codfish became even more popular through the Lanzichenecchi, the German mercenary soldiers who had for long been providing their police services to the Medici contributing their part to the establishment of this year-long gastronomical tradition. The dried cod was rinsed with water, dried and cut into pieces that were covered in flour and sauteed along with thin slices of onion, garlic, rosemary, salted tomatoes and peppercorns.