Kara Hoffman is a freelance food and travel writer based in New York City. Having previously lived in Florence, she frequently travels to Italy to enjoy the food and culture.
Italian chefs live by the season. Every season signifies a change of the menu which reflects the produce found during each time period. For many chefs, October in Italy means truffle season. Truffles, or tartufi, date back to the times of the Greeks and Romans and were historically perceived as
The turn of the seasons signifies many things: the beginning of a new year for academics, the emergence of a new wardrobe for the fashion world, and the end of a harvest for vintners. The annual wine grape harvest, or la vendemmia, that takes place each year at the
Some consider gelato a sweet treat and some call it a staple in their diet. Whatever you may call it, everyone knows that Italy is the place for gelato. But what exactly is gelato? Is it just another name for ice cream? The proof is in the pudding, so they
Summer in Siena means the Palio a famed historic horse race run each year on July 2 and Aug. 16. The Palio tradition dates back to the 11th cen-tury, when the race was initiated to honor the Madonna dellAssunta, patroness and advocate of Siena, for her protection of
Pizza is a word that people from almost every corner of our earth know. But is a pizza in Chicago the same as a pizza in Japan? Or is a pizza in New York the same as a pizza in Italy? The answer is no. In Italy,
Whether it be shopping at the Tuesday morning market, taking a run along the river, swimming at the public pool or frequenting the discotecas, you may have spent time in Florence’s largest public park, il Parco delle Cascine. This massive park, more than 290 acres, is about