Cinghiale
Cinghiale means hog or boar in Italian. Actually wild boar is more appropriate as wild boar is definitely one traditional food which is still available in plentiful in most parts especially the hills and forests of Tuscany.
Cinghiale or wild boars roam wildly in most of the vineyards in Tuscany. Hunting them and cooking them serves many purposes for the Tuscan farmers. They not only get to save their precious vineyards from a wanton vineyard predator but they also get to eat delicious dishes using its meat. The only sufferer is the Cinghiale who loses its life when it goes to feast on lovely grapes in the vineyards and is hunted down.
The Tuscans really know how to transform wild boar to umpteen numbers of dishes. Proscuitto di Toscana is made using the thigh meat of the Cinghiale. Many other hams and salamis are made using wild boar. The Tuscans stew it between flames, roast it and even drown it in a lovely sweet and sour sauce or ragu (Italian meat based or pasta sauce). They add delicious truffles, prunes, porcini mushrooms, lasagna and pasta to make different dishes with Cinghiale being the major ingredient. They even make it into a wild boar sauce.
Cinghiale is a very popular food with Tuscans especially in autumn or fall. One particular dish Pappardelle Cinghiale is so popular that it is unofficially the national Tuscan dish atleast according to many of its residents.
