Читать книгу Walking in Tuscany. 43 walks including Val d'Orcia, San Gimignano and the Isle of Elba онлайн

21 страница из 44

Pecorino cheese comes in a range of flavours

Bakeries also have treats suitable for rucksack transport: delicious heavy-duty spicy biscuits such as cavallucci and ricciarelli, or the omnipresent Siena speciality panforte, crammed with dried and candied fruit, honey and nuts.

In restaurants, a good rule is to be adventurous and enquire as to the day’s special: Che cosa avete oggi? Two memorable antipasti (starters) are bruschetta and crostini. The former are thick toasted slices of bread with a hint of garlic, a dribbling of olive oil and some fresh tomato, while the latter are morsels of toast smothered with home-made pâté, sausage, mushroom spread or whatever takes the cook’s fancy that day.

One topping might be fragrant nutty tartufi, namely truffles or earthnuts, edible tuberous fungi that grow underground. They are grated and sprinkled over pasta also such as pici, thick home-made spaghetti. As soups go, you’ll come across acqua cotta, literally ‘cooked water’, a simple tasty brew made with a variety of vegetables, while caciucco consists mostly of fish. Despite its uninviting name, pappa al pomodoro is delicious; this simple thick soup is made with leftover bread, fragrant tomato and basil. Olive oil, preferably the cold pressed extra vergine variety, reigns over the lot.