Florence's Mercato Centrale

One of my favourite things to do on my travels is to visit the food markets to check out the interesting and wonderful foods - they provide amazing inspiration for my cooking as well as being educational and heighten my appreciation of all things food.
My foodie senses went into overdrive when we visited the San Lorenzo Central Food Markets in Florence.
I was expecting the markets to be quite chaotic, based on visits to other markets around the world however this place was pretty neat and laid out very well. I found a few of the stalls start to cater for the tourist market which is a little disappointing however the fresh meat and seafood sections where still rather satisfying. I had seen a few shows on TV that featured bull's testicles so was on the hunt to find them (no, don't worry, I won't be using them as an inspiration for my next dinner party) just to satisfy the curiosity. I thought about posting the pictures but you have been spared...!

Aside from bull balls, there was plenty of prosciutto hanging from the stalls in whole legs - they probably weigh 8-10kgs each - not sure how long it would take one to finish a whole leg?!! Looked yummy though - made me dream of it thinly sliced on some crusty bread with some Chianti wine...perfecto!

There was also a lot of dried porcini mushrooms - they are sold in such small quantities back in Sydney but here they are in abundance. Different grades sold for different prices - it reminds me of when my mother sends me to Hong Kong to buy dried shittake mushrooms - how to tell what's better?! I'm always at the vendor's hands when it comes to knowing quality of dried mushrooms.....

Also, plenty of cheese.....oh my legs are weak already...

And here are some examples of touristy stuff.... bow shaped pasta in italian flag (green, white & red) colours....

and of course the rather eh - hem "interesting" shaped pasta that I've seen back at home as well. I wonder who buys this stuff? Is it just made to bring a chuckle out of teenagers? The name on the packet is "Fantasia".....Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse would be mortified...

and finally, just wanted to share this really cute moment which I captured. This local italian couple was buying meat at the butcher stall with her dog. Do you think little wags here was just hoping for a little bone to be thrown in?