You’ve seen it on a menu before – when a dish contains spinach,
it’s described as “Florentine.” There’s Florentine Chicken, Florentine Pasta and Florentine Pizza. But why does Florentine always mean spinach?
You would think it’s because the people of Florence, Italy consume
a lot of spinach in their regional cuisine, but it’s not as easy an explanation
as that. For starters, it’s a French term that usually means spinach and cream,
usually a Mornay sauce.
Legend has it that when teenage Catherine di Medici of
Florence married Henry II of France in 1533, she brought her kitchen staff and a
love of spinach to the marriage. Food historians now say that story is a load
of bunk though.
It is said the culinary term “a la Florentine” pre-dated
Medici, though the exact origin is unknown. In 1903, French culinary legend
Escoffier included a recipe for Sole Florentine, poached fish with spinach and
Mornay sauce, in “Le guide culinaire” while Henri-Paul Pellaprat, founder of Le Cordon Bleu
cooking school, included five spinach-y Florentine dishes in 1936’s “L'Art
culinaire modern.” These recipes help seal Florentine-style dishes in French
cuisine.
In 1930s America, home chefs tried to replicate the French Florentine
style at home, cheaply and quickly and recipes using canned mushroom soup as a
base instead of Mornay sauce became popular. Now you’ll see Eggs Florentine on
the menu of small-town diners everywhere.
The funny thing is, real Florentine cuisine isn’t all
spinach and cream sauce. In Tuscan cuisine, there are roasted meats, white beans and salt-free bread. Don’t forget high-quality olive oil, biscotti and Chianti
wine. Sure, there’s some spinach, but it certainly doesn’t define the region’s entire
culinary style.
The concept of Florentine spinach is definitely a French
idea, not Italian. Who knows where it actually came from, but it certainly
seems to be cemented in French foodie traditions. Enjoy your Florentine Chicken
but also seek out some real Florentine grub, especially gelato (sans spinach).