• Flights
  • Hotels
  • Flight+Hotel
  • Cars
  • Holidays
Select your outward journey date
Select your return journey date

Cooking Tuscany

Italy
Tuscany

Our expert Italy

Rooksana Hossenally Section editor

Travel is my driving force in life, and although I have had the privilege of visiting 30 countries so far, my heart will always remain in India...

Search Now

  • - Find the best bargains
  • - See our hotel reviews
  • - Book the latest deals

Weather

  • Alghero  20°C 17°C 23°C 22°C
  • Olbia  22°C 20°C 23°C 23°C
  • Cagliari  22°C 23°C 24°C 23°C
  • Palermo  21°C 23°C 26°C 25°C
  • Naples  20°C 21°C 24°C 25°C
  • Pescara  27°C 22°C 23°C 23°C
  • Milan  16°C 17°C 17°C 22°C
  • Bergamo  16°C 16°C 17°C 22°C
  • Bologna  22°C 22°C 24°C 24°C
  • Rimini  20°C 21°C 23°C 21°C
  • Genoa  17°C 19°C 19°C 24°C
  • Rome  20°C 20°C 22°C 24°C
  • Torino  17°C 20°C 22°C 23°C
  • Bari  29°C 24°C 26°C 28°C
  • Brindisi  28°C 23°C 25°C 27°C
  • Lecce  27°C 24°C 26°C 27°C
  • Venice  19°C 20°C 20°C 21°C
  • Verona  21°C 21°C 23°C 24°C
  • Treviso  20°C 20°C 21°C 23°C

Tuscany : discover authentic cuisine

 Gastronomy

FLORENTINE-STYLE STEAK
A culinary tradition which has been handed down since the time when Florence was governed by the Medici family, Florentine steak is a typical dish in Tuscan cuisine. Only the most exquisite part of the meat of young Chianina or Maremmana cattle is used. This typical T-bone steak with a thickness of at least 2 inches is grilled, without seasoning, on hot embers of wood coal. Well-cooked on the outside, red and juicy on the inside, the secret lies in the tender cut, guaranteed by the quality of the meat and how it is prepared.

LIVORNO-STYLE CACCIUCCO
Apparently, cacciuco used to be made by fishermen using the fish they hadn't managed to sell during the working day. It is a poor man's dish that is prepared with different qualities of molluscs and shellfish. Cuttlefish, octopus, rockfish, slipper lobsters, mussels and various types of firm-fleshed fish are all cooked together in a tomato and stock-based sauce, making cacciuco a delightful dish, made all the more delicious thanks to the wide variety of fish used. Once ready, it is served with Tuscan garlic bread.

CANTUCCI
Commonly called cantucci or cantuccini, Prato Biscuits are prepared using the same recipe that Antonio Mattei perfected almost a century and a half ago. The dough is prepared with flour, sugar, eggs, almonds and pine nuts and no fats like oil or butter are added, thus explaining the secret of the hard consistency of these sweet-scented biscuits. In Prato, the ancient Antonio Mattei biscuit factory is still very active; it has retained its original brand name and continues to produce quality products.