Eating Well in Tuscany

Eating Well in Tuscany

Just as the ancient Etruscans introduced cypress trees to the Tuscan landscape, their influence on regional food -- in the use of fresh herbs -- still lingers after more than three millennia. Simple and earthy, Tuscan food celebrates the seasons with a host of fresh vegetable dishes, wonderful bread-based soups, and savory meats and game perfumed with sage, rosemary, and thyme. Saltless Tuscan bread is grilled and drizzled with olive oil (crostino), spread with chicken liver (crostino di fegatini), or rubbed with garlic and topped with tomatoes (bruschetta or fettunta). For their love of beans -- particularly cannellini simmered in olive oil and herbs until creamy -- Tuscans have been disparagingly nicknamed mangiafagioli (bean eaters) by Italians from other regions. Pecorino, a cheese made from sheep's milk, is particularly good in these parts -- try it when it's young and in a soft, practically spreadable state, as well as when it's stagionato (aged). At its best, it's the equal of the finest Parmesan. Relatively new to Tuscan cuisine is the reintroduction of dishes featuring cinta senese, a once nearly extinct pig.

Grape cultivation here also dates from Etruscan times, and particularly in Chianti vineyards are abundant. The resulting medium-bodied red wine is a staple on most tables; however, the discerning can select from a multitude of other varieties, including such reds as Brunello di Montalcino and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano and such whites as Vermentino and Vernaccia. Super Tuscans, a fanciful name given to a group of wines by American journalists, now command attention as some of the best produced in Italy; they have great depth and complexity. The dessert wine vin santo is made throughout the region and is often sipped with biscotti (twice-baked cookies), perfect for dunking.