 |
Wine & Food > The typical products |
| |
Extra-virgin Olive Oil
The extra-virgin olive oil represents for the Sienese hills an agricultural product of quality. Its selected production, has many substances that makes it a precious food: from the pruning of the olives to the growing, to the selection of the olives, to the time of the grinding, to the careful conservation. The spread in Tuscany of the cultivation of olives grew, especially in the second half of the last century, when for example the Valdichiana started to produce oil after the reclamation of the land.
Characteristics
The extra-virgin olive oil of the Sienese hills is very refined and has a low acidity. It is produced at an altitude between 300 and 600 metres, where it is not necessary to spray against the oil fly but the productivity is very low. As well it doesn’t undergo environmental pollution, the olives of this area do not undergo anti-parasite treatment thus the oil does not contain toxic residues. The lack of heavy industrial installations, the agricultural management is careful and respectful of nature, the big woods, have safeguarded this territory from pollution. The plants are reared and cultivated in a way to give them the maximum space and the harvest is made when the olives are still not completely mature so the harvesters must collect them by hand in an operation called ‘brucatura’ – stripping.
Consumption
The consumption of extra-virgin olive oil is recommended ‘raw’ for example in pinzimonio, on salads as a dressing for the first course, vegetable soups and vegetable courses, typical traditional Tuscan dishes (ribollita, chickpea pasta , beans in a flask – go to the recipes) and on the classic bruschetta.
The origins and the local certifications - go to ARSIA >
Go to Courses of oil tasting >>
Pecorino
"Al padrone non far sapere quanto č buono il cacio con le pere": non mancano i proverbi ad assicurarci sulla tradizione del pecorino, la cui squisitezza deriva dalle condizioni ambientali di allevamento delle pecore, da particolare tipi di pascoli e da tecniche di produzione antiche.
I‘Who doesn’t know how good cheese goes with pears’ one doesn’t need a proverb to be reassured of the tradition of pecorino whose exquisiteness comes from the environmental conditions of rearing the sheep from the particular type of pasture and antique techniques of production.
The green Sienese pastures are particularly endowed with aromatic herbs that result in a tasty and appetizing milk.
The fresh pecorino is tasty after 20 days of processing. Otherwise it can be aged, 4 months is an ideal time. One important element is the place in which it is dried. The sheep farms in the Siena area represent one of the principal agricultural activities. Apart from the craftsmen producers in the countryside there are also cheese factories. Sweet and creamy ricotta that is made from the whey of the from the curd .
In the Tuscan and Sienese territory there is also found the ancient transfer routes that the first shepherds and their flocks took into the mountains of the Casentino to the Maremma through the Valdichiana and Mt. Amiata in search of less rigid winter conditions.
Formaggi Cugusi Silvana >>
COSCIA DI MONACA PLUM
A weekend in the city of Poliziano can provide other little surprises: here exists indigenous plums, the "mascina" or the "coscia di monaca", from which conserves and jams of high quality are made.
 Jam from mascina plums
The outstanding production from the fruit growing in the area and in particular around Montepulciaon. The fruit is unmistakable with its elongated shape from which comes from the ancient nickname “coscia di monaca”- “nun’s thighs”. A tree whose fruits produce a considerable quantity, but in alternate years, reach maturity in the hottest period of the year, August. It has a strong and individual taste, that gives a particular quality to the jam and conserves.
 Jams and conserves of Montepulciano
The jams and products are prepared with one or more types of fruit (with the exception of the citrus fruits ),using at least 35% of the pulp of the fruit; for the extra-conserve the fruit pulp represents a minimum 45%. The word "marmellata" in fact refers to the conserve of citrus fruits prepared exclusively with puree, pulp and juice. In everyday use the two terms are the same and are used as synonyms
There exist various types of typical jams and conserves from the different areas in Tuscany, in Montepulciano there is produced the handmade plum jam of Montepulciano (colour variable from chestnut to plum with a creamy consistency) and the plum conserve of Montepulciano (chestnut-plum colour, creamy consistency and bitter taste).
Description of making process
The plum jam of Montepulciano: is made using wild plums from the area. The fruit is pitted, put in an oven to eliminate excessive dampness and then cooked in a pot over a low flame with sugar added.
The conserve of Montepulciano: the wild plums of the area are washed, pitted and cooked over a flame. Sugar is not added to the conserve.
The production of the fruit jams and conserves is a tradition that has been lost over time. The use of local fruit and the multiannual perseverance of the techniques tied to ancient recipes make these products particularly appreciated. There are many agriturisms and single farmers that produce jams for family use.
The Chianina Cattle
In our countryside they have been bred for more than 22 centuries, and their beauty has always been praised and boasted about by the population who have bred these splendid animals, testified to, by the many examples of Etruscan and Roman portrayals of them, and there are those who dear to relate them with the Bos primigenius of the prehistoric wall paintings.
The Chianini are the oxen who pull the cart during the Siena Palio parade.
Charles Darwin poté ammirare presso il giardino zoologico di Londra l magnifico esemplare regalato da Vittorio Emanuele II alla corte britannica.
Charles Darwin strongly admired them in the London Zoo. The magnificent examples were given by Vittorio Emanuele II to the English Court .
Who really couldn’t extol the beauty, the grandeur and elegance of them , apart from the goodness of the meat that for centuries has delighted the table of the gourmets who would never ever give up a steak cooked over the coals, of the famous bistecca alla fiorentina
To breed the Chianina is still an extremely laborious undertaking: every adult example needs at least a hectare of pasture to move freely and select the best food.
Now there are less breeders who have decided to take up the challenge and set their sights on a quality bred product. For this reason the Chianina race today, could be considered at serious risk of extinction.
The cinta senese pig
The Cinta a medium size pig, with a black skin, black slightly thick bristles and a characteristic pinky-white band (a kind of a belt, to be exact) that surrounds the chest, shoulders, withers and other parts.
The snout is longer and narrower in respect to other kinds of pig, an adaptation to a more rustic style of life, the tail with plumes of bristles at the end and it almost always carried without a curl.
Their feed is made up of mainly tubers, roots and organic materials of the grassy ground, to find this food it is equipped with a very developed organ for sense of smell, but at the same time it is also suitable to search in muddy areas and to mix up the soil. The ears are small in size, pointed ahead and a little low, to protect their eyes from brambles and brushwood.
The skeleton apparatus: the size of the bones are in proportion, almost double to those bred in large quantities, witness of an adaptation to a life of movement in the wild. The muscular structure is toned, lean and very spread out.
I pici
Pici is a typical authentic Tuscan dish relevant to the farming civilization of the Val d’Oricia and the lower part of the Siena province. Penalized by the pasta law it is not even considered as a pasta, and it only survived as a traditional dish in the sixties, thanks to the housewives, who were originally farmers, and who on Sundays and holidays made the dish ‘well’, creating it by hand with wheat flour and seasoned with various meat or vegetable sauces (with bread crumbs, mushrooms and garlic etc.) As it was tasty and ‘good for the health’ it was rediscovered by the public in the mid sixties in the Taverns of Monticchiello (SI) and from there it has spread through all the restaurants in the lower part of Tuscany
White truffles from the Crete Senesi
The season for truffles is from September to December. In San Giovanni d’Asso of the three hundred inhabitants 60 are truffle hunters. A kilo of white truffle can cost from two to five thousand of the old Lire. These small mysterious and perfumed tubers are the economic base of this tiny hamlet, and covertly or not, they manage every year to get together hundreds of lovers and dealers of this delicacy: in fact they arrive from all over Italy to resell the precious White Truffles overseas. It has an almost spherical shape and grows only in the soft soil, light and in a word, perfect. The search for truffles is very fascinating. The old truffle hunters, the best, maintain a truffle dog, with an infallible nose, which is a cross-breed –‘called a straw dog’
It is not a pedigree dog, but they are dogs that undergo a long and laborious training from birth, able to bear hunger and the commands of the owner who, little by little leads them to address their own natural impulses towards the places where the truffles are hidden.
Saffron
Saffron is a spice that is derived from the very fine burgundy red coloured stigma filaments, of the Crocus sativus. It is generally sold in threads, or as a powder of an intense yellow colour.
It has been produced in the province of Siena since the 1200’s.
Saffron is a ‘luxury’ product, whose cost is created according to its particular processing, that requires time, attention and manual dexterity of expert people. The Crocus sativus bulbs are planted at end of August and the flowering and harvesting happens between September and October.
The flower is harvested manually as the pistil of the flower is very delicate and could be damaged by a mechanical harvest, so it is always done by hand so that the stigma can be extracted and laid down on a cloth. The drying process can be long ,in a sieve near a brazier or a wood stove at 180°,or in the sun or via a flame as this is responsible for the particular taste of the spice.
Once dried, the stigma, is broken into pieces and put into glass jars, to await packaging into very small portions.
The Siena saffron has an event dedicated to it that is held in San Gimignano in October, and around it is held a convention called ‘Yellow as gold’.
Bread
Tuscan bread, without salt, is ideal to accompany the intense tastes of the cold meats and cheeses.
SWEETS
Cantucci: They are the heirs of a very ancient “biscottelli”, and are still used , above all, to accompany Vin Santo. They are called by many names, but the original ones are called Cantucci of Prato from where apparently they were created.
Crogetti: The are the classical sweets of Carnival that are made in almost all of Italy with a hundred different names, and in other parts of Tuscany they are called cenci, frappe o nastrini.
To have a little taste of them you need, a spoonful of sugar, a spoonful of melted butter, a little grated lemon rind, a large glass of vermouth and enough flour necessary to make a dough. Put it all into a heap of flour, kneed it, roll it, cut it in strips and with a wheel, tie the strips in crosses and fry in boiling oil.
Panforte: It is the most known of the spiced breads. It is the gastronomic symbol of Siena and the province. It origins are very ancient and go back to the honeyed breads that were prepared in the Medieval period. It is a sweet with a flour base, almonds, dry fruits, candied fruit and spices.
|
|
|
|
|
 |
Book now our Tours!
• Art & Culture ..>>
• The Wines ..>>
• Cinema Sets ..>>
• Nature & Well-being..>>
• Activities ..>>
• News ..>>
• Typical products ..>>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Wine Tour and other proposals
|
Have fun with our along the Nobile di Montepulciano Road ..>>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
