Tuscany

Tuscany has bewitched travellers of every country and in every era. Since the 18th century, it has been the favourite destination for scions of well-to-do families during the Grand Tour, and those young travellers filled entire dairies with the descriptions of their emotions in front of the beauty of the landscape and the art. And its frank and venerable gastronomic culture exudes irresistible charm.

Land
Having left the Apennines behind and descending from the sharp peaks of the Apuane Alps with their white marble caves, the coast of Tuscany comes to sight, with so many famous and delightful locations, vast pine groves, sandy coves and coastal lakes.
From the Casentino area at the border with Romagna, through vast beech and chestnut forests there is Mugello, a green scenery and destination of countryside amenities of the nobles from the Florence of the Renaissance, who owned castles and fortresses in this area.
From Florence the hills that run uninterrupted all the way to the land of Siena, punctuated by cypress trees, olive groves, vineyards, and hamlets and fortified cities and churches standing alone in the middle of the green, create a panorama unique in the world.
As unique as the wide fields of Areto’s countryside covered in sunflowers in the summer, and the wild Colline Metallifere (Metal-bearing Hills), and again, at a distance, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the background to the Maremma plains with herds of cows and sheep.
A region sweet and harsh at the same time, where each town and each city cherishes and displays natural and cultural beauty: from Etruscan Volterra to Roman Luni; from Siena’s and San Gimignano’s medieval towers to Florence, cradle of art and of the Italian Renaissance; from the walls surrounding Lucca to Gothic Square of Miracles in Pisa.

Gastronomic Tradition
Great consumers of vegetables and pulses, Tuscan people boast quite an impressive production of chickpeas, Zolfini beans or those from Sorana, kale, artichokes, peas and tomatoes, often used in many recipes with mostly peasant origin.
Vegetable soups are served with homemade bread without salt (called sciapo, meaning saltless), as in the Ribollita, Kale soup, Bean soup; as well as Pantrito, Creamed tomato soup, and Panzanella.
Pasta is almost always egg-based, and it is added to chickpea or bean soups, and in the shape of wide tagliatelle called Pappardelle, it is used in first courses dressed with elaborate meat or game sauces (especially in the Maremma area), with hare or wild boar.
Rice too is flavoured and cooked with rich sauces based on meat, mushrooms, and chicken giblets. Fish, like in the Black risotto Fiorentina-style, is prepared with Swiss chard, squid meat and the ink.
Offal is used in dishes like Cibreo or as stuffing for Croutons: a sort of pâté made with spleen, game or chicken liver and heart. And offal is also an ingredient in the Florentine tradition of eating cow’s tripe or stomach, the famous Lampredotto, a street food to enjoy spread on a slice of bread.
Meat, especially the top quality beef from Val di Chiana, is simply barbecued, like in the classic Fiorentina, over juniper wood with aromatic herbs; pork, instead, boasts a historical recipe, the Roast loin.
Cacciucco and Clam soup are excellent examples of fish and seafood cuisine; as it is the excellent Mullet Livornese-style.
What about pastry? These products are known all over the world and come from way back: Panforte from Siena, and cookies like Ricciarelli, Cantucci from Prato, Confetti from Pistoia, Zuccotto from Florence, and Brigidini from Lamporecchio.

Products
A land of intense and simple gastronomic preferences, Tuscany is rich in top quality raw materials: extra virgin olive oil from Tuscany is the key element of regional gastronomy, and it is used almost in all recipes.
Among grains, spelt from Garfagnana, often used in vegetable soups, is especially renowned, and the marron from Mugello, the chestnut from Amiata, honey from Lunigiana and saffron from San Gimignano are excellent fruits of the forest.
Deli meats hold on to the taste typical of Tuscan cuisine: undisputed winner is Lard from Colonnata, trimmed, not refrigerated, left for maturation inside marble tubs previously rubbed with garlic, in alternating layers of salt, black pepper, rosemary, garlic and aromatic herbs, such as sage, star anise, oregano, coriander and cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg.
Other remarkable deli-meats are Tuscan Ham, Ham from Cinta Senese and among those filled in casing are Finocchiona, Tuscan Salame, Buristo, Bardiccio, and Sanbudello.
With its strong presence in the region, the pastoral culture created sheep cheeses like Pecorino Toscano and Pecorino from Pienza, Marzolino from Chianti, as well as many types of Caciotta with mixed cow-sheep milk.
Tuscany produces fantastic wines: from the classic Chianti to Brunello and Moscatello di Montalcino, from Morellino di Scansano to Bolgheri, from Vernaccia di San Gimignano to Candia dei Colli Apuani, and Vin Santo.

Historical curiosities
Catherine de’ Medici, granddaughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent and wife of Henry II Valois, was among the outstanding women of the Renaissance. As Queen of France, she brought to her country of adoption the elegance of Florentine cuisine. For example, the use of the fork, the refined level of culinary practises, such as the separation between sweet from savoury flavours, and the introduction of new products, like the extra virgin olive oil.

Some typical recipes
If you took a fancy to Tuscan cuisine, here are some recipes for you to try.

Panzanella
This is a traditional country dish, with a rustic, fresh and light taste, it is ideal in hot summer days.

Pappa al pomodoro
This typical recipe is great at room temperature or heated up, and it encompasses all the flavours of peasant cooking.

Arista alla toscana ai profumi del sottobosco con fagioli all’olio di frantoio
A main course with intense and classic taste.

Cantucci
Classic cookies of Italian pastry, they are perfect at the end of a meal with a nice glass of raisin wine.