A place good enough to eat
Tuscany’s regional fare (cheese, truffles, olive oil) presents an edible adventure.
Food in Tuscany is more than a meal. It’s a marvel. A walking tour through the region lets you appreciate that as no other tourist can.
As we passed through the thick forest from the abbey at Castlenuovo dell’Abate to the hamlet of Rocca d’Orcia, for instance, we saw wild boar hoof prints in the soft dirt, along with scattered shotgun shells from the hunters who had pursued them.
When the restaurants here tout their fresh, local ingredients, they mean it.
That night, as we dined in the small La Cisterna nel Borgo restaurant, a vegetarian side dish delighted our taste buds. It featured white cannellini beans and faro mixed with rosemary, olive oil and cinnamon. Everything was local save the cinnamon, which the chef and his wife had brought back from a vacation in Zanzibar.
It was one of those dishes that is so good, you never want it to end.
Indeed, knowing we would be walking off the calories the next day, we finished our meal, ate our dessert, then sheepishly asked if we could please have another order.
The next day we walked out of Rocca d’Orcia and through groves of olive trees that were no doubt used to make the region’s famous olive oils. We then passed a few wheat fields before visiting the ruins of a 300-year-old grain mill built into the travertine cliff below the ancient village of Bagno Vignoni.
We walked past a truffle reserve on our trip from the monastery of Monte Oliveto Maggiore to Buonconvento. Although the fungus sells for thousands of dollars per pound, the locals have found efficient ways to use it in pasta sauces, balsamic vinegars and more.
We especially enjoyed tasting the balsamics, which were also flavored with figs or made into glazes with hints of pomegranate, cherries or chili peppers.
Although they aren’t local to Tuscany, the balsamic vinegars were often sold in wineries, perhaps because they too are made from grapes, albeit different varieties.