It is indeed an amazing experience to gather fresh pine nuts from the wild (forests in Tuscany) and eat them immediately. All nuts are very tasty but fresh Pine Nuts straight off the pine trees are something you should experience when you visit Tuscany. Stone Pine trees in Tuscan forests produce a very high quality of nuts with a piney flavour, sweet and slightly buttery taste, smooth texture and a lovely natural woody flavour.

Pinoli, Pignoli or Pine Nuts are easily available in Tuscany. There are many forests filled with Stone Pines all over Tuscany. Some of the most beautiful forests are along the sea shore. One forest famous for its abundant and beautiful pine trees is the Migliarino forest which is close to Pisa.

Pine nuts are used as an ingredient in a variety of Tuscan recipes. They form a part of innumerable salads, Tuscan biscotti and cookies, cakes, pastas, meat dishes, chicken dishes, vegetable dishes, fish, game etc. Although they are mainly used to make sweet dishes pine nuts also form a part of a few savoury traditional Tuscan dishes. They are the major ingredient in pesto sauce. Pine nut oil is also extracted from pine nuts. It has a mild but nutty flavour.

Pine nuts are healthy as they are rich in protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Pine nuts can be eaten raw, lightly roasted or as part of various extremely delicious dishes. I prefer them raw and sometimes I like the lightly roasted pine nuts. However I also enjoy them when they are part of dishes especially confectionary and so will you I hope.

Bistrot is an elegant restaurant situated in Viale Franceschi, Forte dei Marmi. It offers the best of dining by the beachside along with delicious and naturally fresh food. It is generally open for both lunch and dinner.

The pastas are fresh and home made. But of course the highlights of the menu are the seafood on offer. Some of the highly recommended dishes include carpaccio di branzino where thin slices of bass are seared on a high flame and then seasoned with fresh local olive oil, tomatoes and basil. Another favourite is the risotto with lobster. There is another typical dish called sauté di frutti di mare which is a combination of clams, garlic and tomato and has the consistency of something between that of a stew and a soup.

A range of desserts are available but the hot flan dotted with pieces of white and plain chocolate is definitely an excellent way to complete your meal.

Situated along the beautiful coast it has a lot to offer especially to the tourist. You will find a few locals frequenting the restaurant to enjoy the excellent sea food. Visit this restaurant especially if you love fresh seafood and fine dining as the prices are a bit on the high side. It is better to book a table in advance.

Tignanello is one of the best and most often recognized red wines among the Super Tuscans. It is a pioneering Super Tuscan from the famous winemaker Piero Antinori. In 1971 Antinori developed a new wine which fell out of the specifications of the Chianti Classico. He decided to name this wine as Tignanello after the Tignanello Estate where it is being produced. Thus the Super Tuscan was born in Tuscany and released in 1978.

Tignanello is a fine blend of three grapes-the Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc. It is a dry red wine. Tignanello is aged in small French barrels. This was the first wine to be aged thus. Another first about Tignanello is the fact that this blend used the Cabernet Sauvignon for the first time after eliminating local white varieties like Trebbiano and Malvasia.

Tignanello is indeed a Super wine in every way. It is made only during certain vintages with the choicest and best quality grapes from the main vineyards. The grapes are gently harvested by hand. They go through well controlled maleolactic fermentation stage in French oak barrels. Finally they are aged for over two years before they are marketed.

Tignanello is a full bodied deep red wine. Depending on the vintage the bouquet has the aroma of berries with hints of tobacco, raisins, spices, chocolate etc. It is a velvety wine which offers you a long and smooth finish. It has a complex structure and a rich mouth feel. It is well accompanied by Bistecca alla Fiorentina (Florentine Steak).

Tignanello is an excellent wine to add to your wine cellar. It always improves with age as maturity further softens the tannins and improves the smooth finish. However go ahead and indulge after picking up your Tignanello and enjoy this Super Tuscan.

As you drive through the hills in Tuscany you will find most roads are lined with beautiful chestnut trees. Chestnut trees are as much part of the Tuscan landscape as vineyards, olive groves or oak and cypress forests. From ancient times chestnut trees have been a part of the landscape. They have provided sustenance for the Tuscan mountain dwellers both as the chestnut and as chestnut flour.

If you traveling in autumn you may even find the locals and tourists stopping to pick up chestnuts straight off the trees. It is great fun to pick the chestnuts straight from trees –its like enjoying a picnic and gaining delicious bounties from nature. If you have a knife you can even peel away the outer shell and eat the nut raw. But be careful of the spiny outer layer covering the nut.

Chestnuts can also be boiled, roasted or made into flour and are used to make an amazing number of delicious dishes. They can be used to make both sweet and savoury dishes. There are so many tasty local and international dishes which can be made using chestnuts. The local Tuscan favourites are necci (a flat rustic style cake which is made in griddles using chestnut flour with milk or water and generally eaten with cheese), fritelles (fried pancakes which taste superb with honey) and of course the famous castagnaccio (an ancient and traditional Tuscan chestnut cake).

Chestnuts are an important part of the Italian countryside and some towns have festivals dedicated to the chestnut just as there are festivals for truffles, mushrooms, grape and wine festivals and olive and olive oil festivals.

Although the chestnut or its flour can be converted to innumerable recipes each one holding its own place in Tuscan cooking I believe roasted chestnuts are one of the best ever foods nature has provided for us. Roasting chestnuts in an open fire in Tuscany? Ahhhhhhh…. You have to really visit Tuscany to enjoy this amazing experience.

The Gardens at Villa Poggio Torselli can be admired by one and all when you visit San Casciano Val di Pesa as they are situated on San Casciano hills. The Villa is a beautiful country house that was built during the fifteenth by the famous Machiavelli family. Its ownership passed through several noble families including that of Corsini, Capponi, and Antinori till it became the property of the Orlandini family.

In 1690 the Orlandini family renovated and transformed Villa Poggio Torselli and most probably its gardens. There is a long cypress lined avenue leading to the main villa. The gardens are beautiful and quite vast. In the northern side there is a park area. In the south you can find the Italian gardens with two stepped terraced areas.

After restoration works some parts of the original gardens including the oblong flower beds can be still admired. One distinguishing feature of the Gardens at Villa Poggio Torselli is the resourceful irrigation system which is one of the best preserved systems in the whole of Tuscany.

During 1925 the flower garden went through a restoration process by renewing the box hedges in the garden. The second restoration which followed included the restoration of some of the original flower beds. Vegetation typical of the late seventeenth century was also reintroduced adding more historical dimensions to the Gardens at Villa Poggio Torselli.

Some of the old and new plants in the Gardens at Villa Poggio Torselli include dwarf fruit trees, aromatic herbs, roses which were and will be an integral part of most gardens and many other annual, biennial and perennial plants and trees. They include narcissus, tulips, hyacinths, dahlia, sage, clematis, hibiscus etc. Hence whichever season you visit the gardens have a lot to offer you in terms of beauty and aroma. There is a fountain at the centre of the gardens.

If you visit the Gardens at Villa Poggio Torselli in summer you are in for a heady experience of flowers. You can look in awe at the centuries old potted citrus trees in the limonaia or lemon house. The villa is surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and cypress trees making the surrounding landscape enthralling. Spend some time in the calm splendour of these beautiful surroundings when you visit Tuscany.

When you visit Tuscany in December there are very many attractions for Christmas including special markets, beautifully lit cities, squares, churches and shops. But there are a lot of religious festivities as well to enhance the Christmas spirit. The Festival of the Display of the Virgin’s Girdle on Christmas and the day after at Prato is one such not to miss religious festival.

Prato has the distinction of being the holy custodian of the Virgin Mary’s girdle. Although this holy relic is kept heavily guarded throughout the year, on certain occasions including December 25 and 26 it is taken on a procession for the masses. Amidst religious fervour and the beating of drums the Virgin’s Mary’s Girdle is taken on a procession in the piazza for the crowds to venerate this holy object.

The Virgins’ Girdle is securely kept in the “Pulpit of the Sacred Girdle” for the rest of the year. It is in the right hand corner of the façade of the Duomo also known as the Parish Church of Saint Stephens. On the left there is a series of frescoes illustrating the legend of the Virgin’s girdle. Around 1172 it was presented to the church authorities by Michel a merchant who returned to his hometown of Prato.

According to tradition and ecclesiastical authorities the Virgin’s Mary’s girdle is the Sacred and Holy green belt which is green in colour and made of wool. It is considered to be the belt she had given to Saint Thomas before her ascent to heaven.

The girdle or sacred belt is a relic which is venerated by people far and wide. Some believe it has miraculous powers. The procession and festivities are a major attraction of Prato, do join jn and enjoy a religious, sublime and soul stirring Christmas as well as an enjoyable one with us in Tuscany. Merry Christmas!!

Chocolate, the moment I type the word, my mouth starts watering as I think of all the yummy chocolates available worldwide. For a choco lover like me it is very difficult to say which is the best chocolate as I think most chocolates produced are excellent and the rest which are not excellent are very good. Tuscan chocolates definitely belong to the excellent grade.

Although chocolates have a long and traditional history in Tuscany and Italy, it was Roberto Catinari a young chocolatier who studied the art and craft of chocolate making from the Swiss for a couple of decades who revived the art and craft of chocolate making. In 1975 he opened his first chocolate shop in Agliani. This was the first start to developing the Chocolate Valley stretching from Pisa to Prato to Florence.

The chocolate is taking its rightful place in Tuscany. There a number of exclusive chocolate makers including the modern father of chocolate making Roberto Catinari, his former student Andrea Slitti, Paul de Bondt in Pisa, the brother-sister team of Alessio and Cecilia Tessieri at Pontedera, Pisa, Luca Mannori from Prato, Frederico Salzo from Pisa and the latest entrant is Andrea Bianchini of La Bottega del Cioccolato in Florence.

Tuscan chocolates incorporate the flavours of Central Tuscany. Some of the chocolates include olive oil, lavender oil, balsamic oil, rosemary as well as the general flavours like pralines, crushed nuts, vanilla etc. In Tuscan chocolates the perfect balance of ingredients and the subtle aromas of Tuscany unite with traditional Tuscan techniques to make the excellent Tuscan chocolates.

One can say that the main fact that distinguishes Tuscan chocolates from others is the use of sugar instead of corn syrup and perhaps a higher content of cocoa. But I say it is the marriage of traditional Tuscan chocolate making secrets (which some chocolatiers will take with them to their death bed or share only with their family) together with the correct use of modern technology and high quality ingredients that contribute to the excellence of both the hand made and small scale factory produced Tuscan chocolates.

Whatever the reason for the excellence of chocolates especially Tuscan chocolates do excuse as I am off to enjoy a piece but may be more than one piece of delicious chocolate and maybe you will do the same after reading this.

Did you know that Spargolo is a Super Tuscan red wine from the vineyards of Cecchi, situated in the heart of what is considered the Chianti Classic Zone? This Super Tuscan has the IGT appellation and not the Chianti Classico one despite being produced in the same zone.

The Spargolo vineyards in Castellina spread over the hills of Chianti at an altitude of about 270 metres. The vineyards are carefully nurtured to give the highest quality and low yield of the best quality Tuscan Sangiovese grapes.

To make Spargolo, the best quality of Sangiovese grapes are hand picked carefully at the correct stage of maturation. Then these grapes are vinified. The maceration and initial stage of fermentation begins. Twenty days later the wine is racked and followed by maleolactic fermentation. Then the wine is aged for a year in oak barrels. For about fourteen months the Spargolo is a further aged this time in bigger oak casks.

To improve the aroma and complexity of Spargolo there is a further ageing in the underground cellars at Cecchi for upto six months before reaching the open market. These underground cellars are maintained at a temperature in the range of sixteen to eighteen degrees.

Spargolo had a deep and intense ruby red colour. As it ages it assumes garnet reflections. It has a fruity bouquet with subtle overtones. Depending on the vintage you can feel the subtle overtones of black currants, chocolates, berries, oak, plum, mint, vanilla, spices, tobacco leaf and dried tea. It is a medium bodied elegant wine with dry, structured and persistent after taste giving it a long finish. The tannins of the Sangiovese mellow finely with age.

Spargolo is considered as a meditation wine by some. It pairs well with red meat games thick pastas, and rich cheeses. It is advisable to decant Spargolo before serving it.

Spargolo the Super Tuscan made from hundred percent Sangiovese grapes is definitely a remarkable, earthy red wine from Tuscany. This wine had a fine depth, a lovely flavour and a perfect balance and should be definitely a part of your wine cellar.

If you want to visit what is arguably considered the best restaurant in and around Siena you have to visit Antica Trattoria Botteganova. It is situated on the road leading to Strada in Chianti. It is only two kilometres away from Siena in a north easterly direction.

It has an elegant and inspiring interior with high ceilings and a touch of class. The service is first rate and they have been sensitive enough to reserve a room for nonsmokers.

But what is as if not more important is the food and here is where Antica Trattoria Botteganova scores many brownie points. Chef Michele Sorrentino goes out of his way to outdo his own creations by combining simple flavours with different combinations to create delicacies. There are a large number of starters and pasta dishes. There are many varieties of meat and fish dishes. The dessert range is also mouth watering. It is difficult to choose amidst the excellent cakes, pastries, ice creams and fruit platters with cream. He also takes a lot of care to present the food very stylishly. There is a fairly good wine list.

Antica Trattoria Botteganova is open both for lunch and dinner. On request they also provide gluten free meals.

Did you know that Farro also known as a type of Spelt is an ancient grain which dates back to seven centuries BC to Mesopotamia, Syria, Israel and Egypt? Although its exact origins in Italy have not been recorded it seems as if Farro has always grown in the local climate and soils of Garfagnana, Tuscany.

Farro has been an important and highly cultivated cereal crop in Garfagnana and other towns and villages in the surrounding district of Lucca. It is still grown in natural soil without using any pesticides. It has the appellation IGP (Protected Geographical Indication) granted by the European Union. Farro stalks grow up to a height of 1.70 metres. After harvesting the spelt is husked resulting in grains which have a white streak.

Farro is an ancient Italian grain. It has existed from Etruscan and Roman times. Farro has a subtle nutty flavour and low gluten content. It has a firm and chewy texture. It is used as an ingredient in salads, casseroles, soups, pies or even as a substitute for rice or potatoes. It forms a part of many simple, rustic and traditional Tuscan dishes. A simple dish requires that you boil Farro grains, drain them and garnish them with herbs, tomatoes and extra virgin olive oil. You can also top up this simple dish by grating some Grana cheese if you wish.

Although the whole grain is used it is also milled and used as flour to make breads, buns, biscuits, cakes, muffins, pancakes and pastas.

Farro or Emmer was once considered as a poor man’s staple diet. Today it is part of many gastronomical dishes and has achieved the IGP status. This high fibre cereal also has appreciable amounts of protein and B complex vitamins. It can become a tasty, wholesome and healthy addition to our eating patterns.