Archive for 'Food and Wine'

Italian cuisine is one of the most popular and most widely eaten in the world and tourists can delight in the rich variety of foods that greet them when they go on holidays to Italy, especially here in Tuscany.

There are several types of eateries in Italy, that are defined by the interior design of the building they’re in and the style and cost of food they serve. It can be very helpful to know the characteristics of each one before you embark on your exciting gastronomic discoveries in Tuscany. Tourists will come across these places all over the region as well having the choice of an extensive selection of luxury villas tucked into the hills or overlooking the beautiful coastline.

Olives and the tasty oil they produce are among one of Italy’s largest exports and visitors to famous olive producing regions like Tuscany has a wonderful opportunity to watch how olives are processed into the healthy oil that Italians nickname ‘green gold’! Tourists can choose from a wealth of accommodation around some of Tuscany’s finest olive oil producing districts including; Montalcino, Lucca, Chianti and Siena.

Enjoy a stay in a holiday villa rental in the Montalcino countryside where you can visit nearby olive grove farms that are open for tours.

Olives, once picked before the colder days of Autumn are ideally stored in their crate for a day or less before travelling to the local ‘frantoio’ or mill for the next stage. The mill has become a wonderfully social place among farmers and members of the local community where they discuss the weather and how their yield this year compared to others. Many of them stay all day and through a lot of the night as they wait their turn for their olives to be turned into oil.

One of Italy’s most delicious and widely exported products is of course, olive oil. The trees on which olives are grown are modest in appearance but they have been the staple food of Mediterranean countries for millennia.

High quality olive production is treated with almost a godlike reverence, especially in Tuscany where tourists are likely to see olive groves no matter what direction they look at in the countryside! For those who would like to witness the care and love that this delicious fruit receives, a trip to anywhere around some Tuscan country towns would be the perfect viewing point.

Visit and perhaps stay a few nights in a charming holiday villa in towns like Poppi, Bibbiena and Fiesole where you can relax and enjoy the cultural delights they have to offer.

When you come on vacation to Tuscany, you will be introduced to a wide selection of delicious breads to choose from with your meals. Italians love their bread but there are so many different types to choose from that, without knowing a bit more about the different types, tourists may become confused!

Those wishing to stay in cities and towns across the region have a wonderful selection of tuscany holiday rentals available to them; enjoy a nice relaxing seaside experience in Livorno or enjoy the fast paced movement of cities like Siena or Pisa.

Baked dough in Italy can be divided into two categories; bread and sweets. Bread is often baked daily and sold to be placed on the table at mealtimes. It’s sold in sizes ranging from one kilogram to one and a half kilograms.

There are four basic types of bread; bread with no salt, bread with salt, bread with salt and olive oil, bread with salt and olive oil and a few other ingredients like ‘Foccacia’.

If you’re holidaying in Tuscany and are enthusiastic about tasting authentic homemade food products that invigorate the senses then you're in for a treat! This beautiful region of Italy has protected the cultivation and production of slow foods in direct response to the monstrous growth of the fast food industry in the country during the eighties.

Great food has been an integral part of Tuscany’s cultural heritage and thanks to the many people who fought hard to promote them in their local areas, you can still taste these exquisite old recipes today.

The following areas of San Miniato, Pistoia, Lunigiana, San Vincenzo, and along the rest of the Tuscan coastline has a wonderful selection of luxury villas and other great value holiday accommodation for visitors to stay in and explore the culinary trail of delicious slow food products that originate here.