Tuscan Cooking Classes
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Tuscany is a region in Italy which is very famous for its exquisite cuisine. During the last couple of centuries, Tuscany has developed its cuisine, but still managed to maintain its particularities and personal flavor.
Appetizers are the bread and butter of the Tuscan cuisine, as the Italian cooks often prepare hearty plates for the gourmands. The central
ingredient here: Tuscany’s famed bread.
The meat dishes found in Tuscany are designed to complement the excellent red wines the region has to offer and are mainly beef-based. We
can’t forget about the delicious Tuscan soups and seafood dishes, which are so tasty that you’ll never get enough!
Below, we will present you some of Tuscany’s famous recipes and unique ingredients. We will start with the most popular products found in
Tuscany.
From the Tuscan extra virgin olive oil to the Tuscan Bread
Perhaps the most famous Tuscan product is the extra virgin olive oil, which is a trademark in this region of Italy. What’s so special about it? It’s all about the way they prepare it! The olives are usually stored in special recipients for proper ventilation until they reach the mill where they have to be processed. Once they get there, it is time for the extraction of oil from the pulp of the olives! This involves washing the olives, crushing them with stone grinders and pressing them for the extraction and separating the oil from water. Finally, they are stored in jars made of terracotta.
The Tuscan style bread is the base for many famous recipes and ingredients, including the highly appreciated Panzanella (a popular Tuscan salad) and ribollita (Tuscan bread soup). The most unique thing about this type of bread is the absence of salt during its baking process. Another interesting feature: the Tuscan bread is cooked in firewood ovens and is known for lasting a lot longer than the usual bread.
Other famous Tuscan recipes: Cacciucco and Bistecca alla Fiorentina
Cacciucco – the celebrated Tuscan soup
A-fish based dish, cacciucco is famed for its delicious taste and flavor. The dish is basically a soup made out of all kinds of seafood. Scorpionfish or weever are recommended, but you can also use octopus or cuttlefish. The food is seasoned with onions, garlic, and chili and it is served with homemade Tuscan bread.
Bistecca alla Fiorentina – raw beef meet done the Tuscan way
Bistecca alla Fiorentina is another popular recipe served in Tuscany. Only the meat from the Chianina cattle is used to prepare this raw and
extremely intense dish. One of the standouts: the meat is kept for several days to get softer before it’s integrated into the final product.
There are dozens of other Tuscan-based recipes and ingredients but listing them all will be a very long and tedious process. We recommend you trying them if you have the opportunity in this lifetime to visit Tuscany. There’s absolutely no way you’ll regret this decision!
