La Notte di San Lorenzo

August 10th is the San Lorenzo’s day.

Saint Lawrence, San Lorenzo, was martryed by being grilled to death.
The story goes that as he was being grilled, he called out to those torturing him and said, ” Turn me over I’m done on this side!”.

For me, San Lorenzo is the patron Saint of my cooking school located at the Mercato Centrale in Florence which is also called Mercato San Lorenzo, named for the church.
The beautiful Medici chapel is located on the backside of the San Lorenzo church with Michelanglo’s famous statues Dawn and Dusk/ Night and Day, created for the Medici tombs housed in the Chapel.

For a fabulous guide to the area, stop by the site which was put together by the local mercants.

It is also the night of the falling stars,
most people leave the city lights and head out to the countryside to watch the show.
All over Italy now there is also Calice alle stelle, a night wine festival, toasting the stars! Sounds great!

In Florence a evening party is held at the church and the local vendors celebrate by feeding the crowds with Lasagna with meat sauce ( lasagna being flat noodles, not the lasagna al forno, which is the baked layered lasagna) and watermelon.

Grab some wine and some watermelon and head out to the countryside and join me in making a wish!