My husband is in on salt-free diet and we're going to Tuscany.Will this be difficult? Is it easy to shop for fresh fruits, veggies? He can have meat that is grilled. Steakhouses around there??? We're staying in a hotel so a condo isn't possible this trip.

It's easy to find fruit/veggie stands in most towns and cities and steak is available on many menus. Because Italian food is, in general, heavily salted, use caution in ordering and it might be good to have a card which says, in Italian, "for medical reasons, I can't have salt" to show to the waiter.

The traditional bread in Tuscany is not salted - that's why it tastes so bland, in my opinion. It's the only place I've ever seen my father-in-law not devour the bread at dinner - he won't even eat a slice.

Stu Dudley

That's funny. I too thought the bread in Tuscany was just so so. I love a fresh baguette.

Whoa!! Bread. Actually my biggest disappointment in Italy. After 20 days in Tuscany, Cinque Terre, Portofino, Naples & the Amalfi Coast there was only one restaurant (in Alamfi) that served good bread. Seems the Govt decided to tax salt back in the 15th century. Infuriated the bakers...who took salt out of the bread. Even though the law was revoked several hundred years ago, the bakers are still seething...hence the lousy bread. (I hear the govt is working with the Vatican to try to get the Pope to issue a papal dispensation, absolving the govt of their error 600 years ago.)

So anyone have some restaurant suggestions? Florence? Peruggia? Siena? Rome??? Need salt free.

I've always figured they more than make up for the salt they leave out of the bread by putting plenty in everything else. I find so much of the Tuscan food very salty, and I normally use quite a lot of salt or even add it to many other cuisines. Sorry, I can't help you, anavert, but I'd think it will be hard to get salt-free cooking, particulaly if you want any soups or other prepared foods.