Northern Tuscany

People usually eat three meals a day.  Breakfast takes place in the early morning before work, and can consist of biscuits, cornetti (the Italian croissant), yogurt, or cereal.  There is always coffee, which is served with a lot of milk, and cappuccinos are quite common in caffès.  The cappuccinos in Italy are much smaller than the ones that have become so ubiquitous in the United States.  They are made with one shot of espresso, warm milk, and some frothed milk on top.  Breakfast is a very light meal.

There is one main meal a day, but the style of eating lunch and dinner also depends on one’s lifestyle.  The main meal of the day consists of a first- course of pasta followed by a portion of meat, fish, or frittata (omelette), and salad.  Although there are many courses, portions are small.  People will have some dessert and/or fruit afterward, followed by a coffee.

Tuscany is known for its grains and legumes, as the people who reside in the region are often called “Fagiolini”, or “bean eaters”.  They have a wide variety of different types of beans, which are eaten on their own, in soups, on pasta, or as side dishes.  One of my favorite beans is the cannelloni bean.  It is a large white, oblong bean which tastes like glory when paired with some olive oil, salt, and rosemary.   I recently had an amazing dish in the small artist town of Pietrasanta consisting of cooked chickpeas served with roasted cod and bottarga.  Beans are a great source of protein, and they are full of both soluble and insoluble fiber, whose benefits for leveling out blood sugar, regulating bowel movement, and maintaining healthy cholesterol are great examples of why the Mediterranean diet is receiving such acclaim.

Carbohydrates are the main staple of the Tuscan diet.  Grains, such as farro, are common.  Sometimes farro is translated as spelt, but it is actually emmer wheat.  The town of Lucca prides itself for its hundred or so recipes involving farro, my favorite being farro soup.  The soup is made with beans, vegetables, potatoes, and farro.  Pasta is eaten almost every day, with dozens of shapes and sizes to chose from, depending on their sauce.  Risotto is another common first dish that can be eaten with a variety of toppings.  Bread is eaten with both lunch and dinner and is much less salty than bread eaten in the U.S.  Tuscan bread is made with significantly less salt, so that it lasts longer.  The fear of carbohydrates that we have in the United States is unfathomable to Tuscans.

Cured meats and cheeses are called affettati (sliced things) and are commonly eaten as parts of a meal.  The charcuterie sections of markets are incredible.  There are a myriad of different cured pork products, which differ according to the amount of fat present, the diet of the pig, and the region of where it was produced.  Each region specializes in a certain cured meat, and most of the typical dishes will focus around that product.  In the Garfagnana area Lard is a specialty, and it is common for people to eat a thin slice as an appetizer.

Dessert is eaten everyday, sometimes before having fruit, or sometimes on its own.  Clementines, bananas, apples, pears, and kiwis are typical Winter fruits.  Although they are sweet, the Tuscan desserts are not overly done at all.  Common desserts are tarts, filled with chocolate, fruits, and marmalades.  Gelato is also a favorite.  One notable dessert from my stay was a tart filled with rice and chocolate (talk about carbo-loading!).  During Christmas pannetone is a typical after dinner treat. It is a cake made with eggs and sugar, raisins, and often chocolate nibs.  It is very tall, but quite airy and light.   Although pannetone is traditionally from the city Milan, it has become popular throughout Italy.  Another similar cake is pandoro, which is served topped with mascarpone cheese and chocolate.

For an American, the multitude of carbohydrates present in a meal is quite overwhelming, but I find that the lack of sugar and other additives does not cause them to be “fattening”.  The same has to be true for the cured meats, which in Italy is a craft.  People do not eat large amounts of any one thing, so even if they are eating very fatty ham, they only eat one thin slice in a sandwich.

Contributors

Sophia Brittan

Sophia Brittan hosts the online cooking show Kitchen Caravan, http://www.kitchencaravan.com. She is a trained chef and holistic health counselor, and is dedicated to teaching people about food, health, and culture. She currently resides in New York City, but loves traveling as much as possible.

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