Save
While Italian food is well known across the globe, regional foods like those from Tuscany remain a mystery to many people. Of course, the region is famous for its wine and olive oil but there's so much more to it than meets the eye.
Tuscan food makes use of a few staples like delicately cured meats, sheep's cheese and traditional bread made without salt. These simple ingredients create joyous dining experiences that celebrate tradition and seasonality.
If you love Tuscany, take a look at the following ingredients and discover how you can bring them to your table. Buon appetito!
Tuscan Bread
A peculiarity of this regional bread is that it is not salted. Tuscan bread has a golden crust and a fluffy interior. It is used in thickening a traditional dish called ribollita, a type of vegetable soup that dates back to Medieval times.
This sheep's milk cheese was traditionally made by Tuscan women. Since Medieval times, cheesemaking was a skill handed down from mother's to daughters. Pecorino cheese is sharper in flavor than Parmessan cheese and is great in pasta, salads and hot dishes.
Some of the most delectable Tuscan cured meats are finocchinoa, an aromatic salami laced with fennel and spices, lardo di colonnata, lard that is cured in spices and aged in marbled, and Tuscan PDO Ham, which is made from pigs raised in Tuscany.
Tuscany has many prestigious wines, including the reds produced by the Nipozzano estate Frescobaldi Marquises. The video below will take you through the 700-year history of the estate.
[VideoID=ddd817b2-3ba7-4271-8a77-48f25eda77c3]
The image of Tuscan bread is courtesy of Rebecca Siegel/Flickr.
