What Is Tuscan Style Cooking?
Tuscan-style cooking features all the elements of the flavorful and healthful Mediterranean diet. The ingredients are simple---olive oil, bread, fresh produce---but the results are delicious. Does this Spark an idea?
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History
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Tuscan-style cooking evolved from "la cucina povera," or peasant cooking. The cuisine relies on home-grown ingredients, prepared fresh with nothing left to waste.
Bread
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Bread is a key element of Tuscan-style cooking. In addition to fresh-baked breads like the flatbread schiacciata, Tuscan cooking adds leftover bread to many recipes, including ribollita soup and panzanella bread salad.
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Fruits and Vegetables
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Tuscan-style cooking employs a wealth of vegetables: artichokes, asparagus, green beans, fava beans, peas and all types of greens, including swiss chard, spinach and escarole. Peaches and pears are popular fruits.
Meats
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The most famous Tuscan meat is the bistecca alla fiorentina, a large grilled porterhouse. Game meats, including wild boar, duck and rabbit are also important to Tuscan-style cooking.
Other Ingredients
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Wild porcini mushrooms and truffles add an exotic touch to Tuscan dishes. The porcini can be served raw, grilled, sauteed in olive oil and garlic. Truffles are added to pasta dishes or shaved over eggs or steak.
Soffrito
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The basis of many Tuscan dishes is soffritto, which means "under-fried" in Italian. Soffritto is made by lightly frying minced vegetables in olive oil. The soffritto goes into sauces, soups and other recipes.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Wikimedia Commons/louis-garden
