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July/August 2023 XIII MAGAZINE aged in barriques, and Solaia, also produced by the same company. Moving south of Siena, to the hills of the medieval town of Montalcino, we find Brunello di Montalcino , one of the first wines to obtain DOC status in 1980. The name derives from the dark colour of its berries as they require a long maturation before the wine can be put on the market; in fact, Brunello cannot be consumed before 1 January of the year following the end of the five-year maturation period. Bolgheri , a wine with a singular history, also deserves some attention: towards the middle of the last century, Marquis Incisa della Rocchetta, a lover of French wines, realised that there was a morphological similarity between the soil of Bolgheri and that of Graves, in Bordeaux, which led him to import some cabernet sauvignon and cabernet franc cuttings from the Salviati dukes in Migliarino to plant them in his Tenuta San Guido. This was how Sassicaia was born, forerunner of a series of wines from this wine-growing area that gradually became one of the most prized in the world. Also worth mentioning is the Nobile di Montepulciano whose origins are very ancient, dating back to 1300. The adjective noble was given to it because at the time its producers were exclusively the noble families of the village. It is obtained by combining Sangiovese and Canaiolo Nero grapes with the addition of some local varieties. Maturation time cannot be less than 2 years from 1 January following the harvest. Tuscan wine cellars are sacred places consecrated to Bacchus. They are veritable vaults that hold rare and precious treasures. The wine cellar of the Caino restaurant is proof of this, whose host is sommelier Andrea Menichetti , son of chefs Valeria Piccini and Maurizio Menichetti, who represents the third generation of the Montemerano restaurant founded by his grandfather Carisio. Andrea has a strong bond with the jewels of the house/cellar: each bottle contains the soul and history of the territory. An immense heritage of which the youngest of the Menichetti family has profound knowledge and manages with care. A passion that drives him to guide his guests to discover a world rich in nuances, peculiarities and suggestions. FROM BACCHUS TO THE OLIVE OIL TRADITION Another regional excellence is olive oil, which has been present in Tuscany since the Etruscans in the 7th century B.C. began cultivating olives. Olive growing, however, only began to spread in this part of Italy in the Middle Ages. Tuscan PGI olive oil has a colour ranging from green to yellow. The fruity aroma is accompanied by some scents of almond, artichoke and ripe fruit. The maximum permitted acidity is 0.6 per cent, but the ideal acidity is below 0.1 per cent. There are several varieties: Toscano IGP; Chianti Classico DOP; Terre di Siena DOP; Lucca DOP; Seggiano DOP. TRADITIONAL DISHES No matter where you go in Tuscany, especially in autumn and winter, there is no shortage of soups; one of the favourites - including our chef’s - is Acquacotta , an ancient recipe from the Maremma tradition, very tasty that farmers, shepherds and woodcutters of yesteryear used to eat after an exhausting day in the countryside. A makeshift, anti-waste dish that consists of different vegetables that vary according to season. Always present in Acquacotta are tomatoes, celery, onions and herbs. Once the soup is thick and full-bodied, dip the eggs in, one at a time, and cook for as long as necessary until the egg white sets and the yolk remains soft. On the menu at Ristorante Caino there is no shortage of Pici seasoned in an original way with an ‘amatriciana’ sauce made with smoked tomatoes; Paste Ripiene and Pappardelle con la lepre ( Pappardelle with hare), which the Maremmani use to call Pappardelle sulla lepre , Valeria instead calls it Lepre sulle pappardelle , a dish served with a tightened meat sauce and a hare tartare, at the end sprinkled with nutmeg and chocolate. WORLD-FAMOUS If wine is the absolute king in Tuscany, meat is the queen. Among the native meats, the most prized are the Cinta Senese , the Vitellone Bianco dell’Appennino Centrale and the Agnello del Centro Italia . “Among my favourite cuts,” explains the chef, “are the Cinta piglet and the Maremmana , a type of meat with little marbling that needs to be cooked as little as possible, raw in carpaccio or tartare. Equally tasty is the tagliata, always rare with a nice outer crust that I first grill and then, to finish it off, I put in the oven three or four minutes’. Another of Caino ’s specialities is the Apennine lamb, sautéed in a frying pan and finished in the oven, accompanied by an aubergine, pine- nut and basil tartlet with an aubergine peel and smoked goat’s cheese sauce. In Chef Piccini’s kitchen, tradition and experimentation come together and become one, thanks to her magic hands and creativity. This is why she has thought of proposing two distinct menus to her customers: one, Menu Degustazione Piatti Storici (Historical Tasting Menu), dedicated precisely to the typical recipes of the Tuscan tradition, revisited in a modern key; the other is the Menu Gran Degustazione Idee in movimento (Ideas in Motion Grand Tasting Menu), an imaginary journey around the world, where each course has a connection with a foreign country made up of flavours, smells and colours. On the Ideas in Motion menu, The traveller pigeon jumps out at the customer, a second one linked to a memory, to the chef’s trip to China a few years ago, who recounts: ‘I was in Hong Kong on business and in a restaurant I ordered Peking Duck. As soon as they served it to me, I was struck by the beautiful crispy and glassy skin of the duck. So I thought of doing the same thing with the pigeon I prepare. I knew it wouldn’t be easy, but I had to try, so once I got home, I used the same techniques, ingredients and spices that the Chinese use to cook Peking Duck and in the end I managed to get the same crispiness’. BREAD AND FOOD In almost every Tuscan dish there is history, tradition and gastronomy. And the simple Crostini neri can confirm this. This is an appetiser whose base is the typical Tuscan bread which, as everyone knows, is salt-free. A peculiarity that could lead us to give nutritional or religious reasons, but nothing of the sort. The real reasons are closely linked to history, specifically to the local economy in the 12th century, when the Pisans blocked the supply of salt to Florence, which therefore had to adapt, creating a recipe that later became typical of the area. The companion for Crostini neri consists of a kind of ragout made with chicken liver pâté, anchovies and capers. An unusual combination that makes the starter unique because the bland bread highlights the contrasting flavours of the sauces and condiments. Another gastronomic alchemy is bread with cured meats and local cheeses, whose flavours, in these parts, are strong and decisive. Excellent as an aperitif, perhaps accompanied by a good red wine, or eaten as an appetiser. Among the cured meats, we cannot fail to mention the famous