Archive for 'Food and Wine'

A crostata is an Italian baked tart or pie and they can be traced back to at least the 15th century in their modern form. It is characterised by being a "rustic free-form version of an open fruit tart". Traditionally, a crostata consists of a base of three layers of friable dough but, today, shortcrust pastry is used instead. It is differentiated from a torta by its filling, as a crostata has an inconsistent chunky filling, whereas a torta has a consistent filling made of ingredients that have been blended together.

Lardo di Colonnata is one of those must-try typical food products in Italy. Interestingly, it is also actually made using two great Tuscan products: the white marble of the Apuan Alps and Tuscan pork, the main livestock of the region. Both products have long histories in Tuscany, as well, with marble having been quarried since the time of the Ancient Romans and pork having been raised consistently since the time of the Barbarians who came after the Romans.

Brigidini are thin, yellow-orange coloured cookies, not unlike waffles, that come from the village of Lamporecchio, near Pistoia. You will find them at almost every fair, events and food festival that takes place in Tuscany, often made fresh, right in front of you. They are one of the oldest sweets still made today in Tuscany and have even come to symbolise the region. Like many well-known products of Italian cuisine, they seem to have been born from a mistake. Local lore tells that they back to 1300, when Sister Brigida, made a pilgrimage, from her country of Sweden, to Tuscany. Here, she founded the Order of the “Brigidine” and, one day, while she was preparing the hosts for the Mass, she made a mistake. The result were some crumbly, thin and tasty anise cookies.

While Chianti may be the most famous wine region in both Italy and Tuscany, it is not the only celebrated wine region in the country or the region. Tuscany is also home to Carmignano, a Tuscan wine region centered on the city of Carmignano, about 10 miles northwest of Florence. It has been praised for the high quality of its wines since the Middle Ages and was even singled out and favoured by Cosimo III de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany. Protected since the 18th century, it was awarded Denominazione di origine controllata (DOC) status in 1975 and subsequently promoted to Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita (DOCG) status in 1990.

As great pizza is a highlight of any trip to Italy, we thought it was only fitting to try and help you track down some of the best places to get pizza in Tuscany. Based on review sites, articles and recommendations, we have compiled a list of some excellent options but the only way to really know is to try them for yourself. So, just find a luxury villa in Tuscany and try out any of these places and let us know whether or not you feel that they live up to the hype!

7. Florence – Mercato Centrale

We have mentioned a couple of Florentine locations so far but this spot is something special. Unlike the other picks, it isn't a single, dedicated pizzeria but an indoor market place where you can find food vendors selling and cooking various kinds of food, all under one roof.