Tuscan Food to Envy

Tuscany is a wonderful region full of lots of culture and history - but what about the food? Surely they have stuff that makes you think 'I wonder what's in the fridges of all those Tuscany villas?'. I'm sure they have some mouth watering things, so let's have a look.

It is home to the Pappardelle' which is a flat pasta that is slightly wider tagliatelle and lasagne. This is a pasta that is usually served, with a rich sauce, with meats such as duck or wild boar. It can be found on most menus in the region and is a very popular dish in the winter, as it is quite a warm meal. It is not a pasta that can be used for baked dishes, however, so it wouldn't be good for lasagne.

In Tuscany, Bruschetta is a thick bread that is coated with olive oil and then grilled over coals, then it is rubbed with fresh garlic as the bread is cooling down. The bread is then topped with various other provisions like wild mushrooms, fresh tomatoes and a hint of basil, and sometimes they just have the bread topped off by grated cheese. It is often served as an appetizer, so it isn't really a stomach filler. Bruschetta is often pronounced wrong - the way you're supposed to pronounce it is 'brus-ketta'.

Porchetta is a boneless pork roast which exemplifies Italian culinary tradition and is a favourite through the central Tuscany region. It is a tender suckling pig that is flavoured with various scents, herbs and spices such as rosemary, thyme, sage and pepper. It is then roasted, which in turn makes the pork have a fantastic crackling outer coating. It is is a dish that has been selected by the Italian Ministero delle Politiche Agricole, Alimentari e Forestali (Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies) as a 'prodotto agroalimentare tradizionale', a certification for food products that are protected traditional home-made products. Throughout Italy it is considered a celebratory dish and is usually sold by pitch-men in their white painted vans, mainly during holidays or public events. An ideal way to eat it is in a panini, which is why some eat it as part of a picnic. When the Porchetta was introduced to the USA it was called 'Italian pulled pork'.

Truffles - not the chocolate kind - are very popular in the Tuscany region they are seen as an expensive delicacy. White truffles are what is usually found in in the Tuscany region near the north of the country. They grow by trees and are highly regarded compared to the black truffles found in France. They are usually used to flavour risottos, pasta and various meat dishes.

The desserts in Tuscany mainly use natural ingredients such as figs, raisins, ricotta cheese and sweet wines like Marsala. Panforte di Siena is a traditional cake that contains fruits and nuts, which you could say makes it resemble a fruitcake. It is said to have dated back to the 13th century in Siena, and there are documents that show that the Panforte was a way to pay monks and nuns of a local monastery as a tax that was due on February. Panforte means 'strong bread', referring to the spicy nature of the cake.