italian. completely. completely. .cuisine medici money cultivated this city, and the arts and the ideas that grew here in the renaissance changed how we all see the world. but this family also changed the way things taste. it may seem a long way from michelangelo to the greatest t-bone steak you ve ever eaten, but the medici had a hand in that too. secret. fabio picchi may look like he s fallen out of a renaissance painting, but he s actually a renowned chef, a born and bred florentine, and a master of meat. back in the 1500s most people wouldn t even get close to cuts of meat this good.
appetizer, yet another cut of meat. we head back to the deli fabio owns. thank you. oh, look at that, look at the flowers. he hurries us past any food that hasn t had a pulse. and we head up to his hideaway on the roof, where he does his cooking. oh my god. come on. we re starting with the chianina beef, the medici family favorite. the cattle has grazed the tuscan fields for 2000 years. they re of such high quality, that we re eating it raw . oh my god. that s the best sushi i ve ever had. [laughs]
roast beef to the common people. most of the time though, they kept this amazing meat for themselves. this one actually comes from the same area where the medici family originated. jesus. this is like no steak i ve ever eaten. it s both crisp and delicate and the smoke carries the taste of the land. god damn it! it just melts in your mouth. it s what makes the regional cooking of italy about so much more than a tasty meal. but the palate is the organ that connects italy .
that s the most convincing. [laughs] for me panzanella is one of the greatest dishes of tuscan poor food. giving brittle old bread new life by using fresh tomatoes to create a surprisingly refreshing salad. knowing my love of food and art, daniela has invited me to a festival this evening. a very fancy festival. the one thing that everybody has in common is the food. yeah. this event is about as far as you can get from the wheat threshing festival. here florence s richest and most powerful families have gathered, as they have for centuries, to toast the city s new creative talent from chefs and musicians, to artists hoping to follow in the footsteps of da vinci and michelangelo. you are right now in a situation where, more or less 500 years ago, the medici would have done something like this.
the food of rich cities and the poor countryside are the two great pillars of tuscan cuisine. but what unites them is a blast of fresh sea breeze blowing in from tuscany s fabulous coastline. i ve come 50 miles west of florence to the city of livorno. in the late 16th century, the medici family turned it into one of the great trading ports of italy, where tuscany welcomed the world. chef fabio picchi is never happier than when he s here, with friends, and the prospect of a good meal on the horizon. during the renaissance, migrants were actively encouraged to settle in livorno and its reputation as a free-thinking