On Monte Amiata
Thanks to a cultural and food reality strongly developed, the Amiata territory offers a great variety of tipical products, many of which with a quality mark. These are accompained by a great number of tipical festivals and celebrations that follow the production cycles.
First place among all the products: the chestnut. “Pan di legno e vin di nuvoli”, as our grandparents used to say, represented the only element of support for many and many years till the end of the Second World War. in autumn, when tree leaves start to change their color, that’s when this fruit starts to appear on the amiatini’s tables, who love it.
Another product of great interest are the mushrooms. Also for them, we try to find a quality award. Among them, without any doubt, stands out the porcino (boletus edulis).
Going down, under 700 meters, we find the olive trees. The oil is one of the most ancient production. Yet in IX documents we can find stories about wonderful olive trees. This plant has found in this territori the ideal environment. There are different varieties, but the most important is “Olivastra Seggianese”. As a result of the development of technology, today tradional mills, those with big millstones, have given way to state-of-the-art facilities, from which we can obtain high-level productions.
What’s more, lower still, it’s the time of vineyards and so the wine. The Amiata is located at the center of the most suited wine-growing area of Tuscany. To the north the Brunello in the Montalcino area, to the east the Nobile in Montepulciano area, to the south the Morellino near Scansano and the Pitigliano’s Bianco, to the west the Montecucco, the new wine of Amiata, born in 1998, now offering great products.
Then the cheese. The Amiata, a sheep farmers area, traditionally offers excellent goat cheese, and some farms manage to produce high-value cheese with extremely different and special ripening period.
The Cinta Senese is a pork variety native in our territory. In a Nasini’s painting, now situated in Abbadia San Salvatore’s Abbey, dated around 1600, we can see these animals move around freely in the wood. Today, we can find different farms, with extraordinary productions. This animal live in big woodland specaes feeding on acorns, roots, tubers and truffles.
The great “revenge” of the Cinta Senese is due to the great presence (57%) of oleic fat or “good” fat that makes the meat more tasty and healthy, with a beautiful and intense red color compared to that of the pork (50% oleic fat). Nationally known are meat and the whole pieces of Cinta: filet, arista, controfiletto, capocollo, the shoulder: ham, bacon, sausages, chopped bacon with spices. Great cold cuts are obtained also from traditional swine races, thanks to a secular Norcina culture.
Also honey is a traditional production of our territory. There are several poultry farmers who give rise to fantastic products that taste really good.
In conclusion, baked goods. Roccalbegna savory biscuit, tradional breads that today, thanks to new quality marks, are able to establish our artisanal productions also abroad. Of particular concern, the production of cakes, among which panettone, panforte, polentina, that small farms produce at the highest level.
Obviously, this great variety of products, give birth to an extraordinary cuisine, in which we can find soups, home-made pasta and roasts.
