Tuscany food
Tuscany is gourment. Nothing tastes as good as Italian food. Tuscan cuisine is simple yet delicious and confirms this popular saying! The Tuscan slow food philosophy has become really fashionable as has the return to traditional ingredients. Gourmets today value farro, an ancient grain from the Garfagnana area and the main ingredient of a gorgeous soup.
Tuscany is bread. Bread is the king of many Tuscan recipes: salt-free ‘pane toscano’ (Tuscan bread) can be grilled, rubbed with garlic and drizzled with oil to become a ‘bruschetta’. Bread is an important ingredient in traditional soups called ribollita, pappa al pomodoro or simply zuppa di pane. And when the bread gets a bit old and hard? It is turned into panzanella a salad with tomatoes, onion, basil and bread. Or why not spread a piece of toasted bread with chicken liver paté or chopped tomatoes. The result? A crostini. A flatbread called schiacciata is also very popular. Usually made with oil and salt this delicious bread is also prepared with rosemary or with grapes.
Tuscany is homemade pasta. Not to be forgotten are the tagliatelle and pappardelle, served with hare or duck sauce, and pici, a rustic kind of spaghetti, often served with porcini mushrooms and sausages.
Tuscany is meat stewed or roasted. rabbit, pigeon, duck, wild boar, pheasant and guinea fowl are all part of Tuscan cuisine. Florence is proud of its bistecca alla fiorentina, a large steak from the Chianina breed, cooked on a barbecue, so that the juicy red interior is enclosed in a charred crust. And why not accompany the meat with one of the wold famous wines of this region - Chianti, Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano to name but a few…..
And there are endless ways to cook Pork. Try the delicious grilled ribs (rostinciana), roast loin (arista), spit-roasted livers wrapped in bay leaves (fegatelli) or porchetta. Or the sausages, prosciutto and salame. Tuscany is famous for its salame flavoured with wild fennel seeds called la finocchiona,
Seafood prevails along the coast and it is definitely worth tasting the famous cacciucco spicy fish soup from Livorno.
Tuscany is cheese. Perhaps one of the most famous cheeses is the Pecorino Toscano DOP a sheep’s cheese produced in Pienza near Siena, in Monte Amiata area and in the province of Grosseto.
And last but not least, Tuscany is sweet. Chestnuts are roasted or used in soups and desserts, such as castagnaccio, a flat cake with pine nuts and rosemary. Siena is famous for its panforte, a chewy fruit and nut cake whilst in Florence you should try the zuccotto, a dome-shaped sponge cake flavoured with chocolate, nuts and liqueurs.
And why not round your meal off with a glass of Vin Santo (a sweet, dessert wine aged in barrels) and a few cantucci biscuits.
"Buon appettito"!
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