Typical Italian cuisine: Polpette

Proba­bly the oldest meat specialty in Italian cuisine is the polpette, the small meatballs. Indeed, they were already on the menu of the Romans. In the oldest cookbook of the world, the de re coqui­na­ria, Apicius dedica­tes the very first chapter to these isicia. At the Podere Palazzone holiday home, we have our own perso­nal recipe for them. Just like every Italian Mamma. It was handed down by grand­mo­ther and will only be passed to our own daughters.

Specialty of Tusany: The Cinta Senese

Pork in Tuscany often comes from animals of the local Cinta Senese breed. These pigs origi­nally come from the Val d’Elsa and the Val di Merse, borde­ring the munici­pa­lity of Pomarance. It is easy to identify them by their white chest strap on black fur. Most important, they are kept free-ranging, in the middle of lush leccio and oak forests. There they feed on roots, acorns and nuts. As a result, their meat is well-marbled, a little darker and doesn’t shrink in the pan like some super­mar­ket steaks. Certainly, in the Tuscan cuisine, it is used for roasts in herb crust. In addition, it is perfect for any type of scalop­pine, whether with rosemary, lemon or Vernac­cia. Another local specialty is the spezza­tino di Cinta Senese, that we prepare with kitchen herbs such as fennel seeds, corian­der seeds, myrrh and bay leaves. At the end, it is garnis­hed with our olives or articho­kes. Also, the stron­gly seaso­ned salsic­cia is an indis­pensable part of Tuscan cuisine, grilled or pan-fried. However, its true home is the stew fagioli all’uc­cel­letto, together with lots of sage from the herb garden and canell­ini beans.

Chicken, the symbol of Chianti

Chicken is especi­ally grateful for any addition of herbs. That’s why it goes so well with the herb-rich Italian cuisine. As a matter of fact, the crispy grilled chicken thighs with rosemary are truly delicious. Or chicken in umido with olives, mushrooms and seaso­nal vegeta­bles. The importance of chicken in Tuscany goes beyond the cuisine. Because, the Gallo Nero, the Black Rooster, is the symbol of our famous Chianti wine. Accor­ding to legend, in the Middle Ages he played a crucial role in the struggle for supre­macy over the Chianti region, which lies between Siena and Florence. The rulers of these two city-states agreed to settle their dispute over the course of the border by a ride: The border was to run where two horse­men met, who set off at the same time, one riding from Florence towards Siena, the other from Siena towards Florence. It was agreed to begin the ride at the first cockcrow. So, cunning Floren­ti­nes took a black rooster and, for a couple of days locked it in the dark without food. As a result, on the appoin­ted day the confu­sed and hungry cock crowed before sunrise, which gave the Floren­tine rider a good lead. Thus, nearly the entire Chianti region fell under the rule of Florence.

Seasonal meat dishes in the Italian cuisine

On warm summer evenings, in the Podere Palazzone holiday home we are happy to serve lighter main courses. For example, a fresh carpac­cio with rucola, or the refres­hing summer classic vitello tonnato. Autumn protago­nists, instead, are stron­ger main courses, such as ossobuco alle olive or galletto al vino rosso.

Vegetarian main courses in the Italian cuisine

It doesn’t always have to be meat. The Italian cuisine offers every­thing for a vegeta­rian main course, without compro­mi­sing on enjoy­ment. There­fore, let yours­elf be surpri­sed in our restaurant by a variety of flavours in vegeta­rian special­ties. Often, they are even vegan. For example, the stuffed tomatoes, zucchini, onions and auber­gi­nes. Try a delicious pepero­nata and seaso­nal vegeta­bles from the grill marina­ted in olive oil, or refined with herbs. All of this in best organic quality from our own culti­va­tion. Further­more, in the oven we prepare potato casse­ro­les au gratin and the queen of vegeta­ble casse­ro­les, the parmi­gi­ana di Melanz­ane. There is no limit to fantasy for torte salate recipes. Equally delightful are the many frittatas and omelettes, of course made of eggs from our free-range happy hens. Very typical for Italian cuisine in our area is the sformato carciofi e patate that is prepared with fresh articho­kes in spring and autumn.

However, the most popular vegeta­rian ingre­di­ent is mozza­rella, in parti­cu­lar during summer. Be it in the form of a refres­hing caprese with our tomatoes and basil or as a delicious burrata. Instead during cold season, we warm oursel­ves with cauli­flower on black olives, with the local specialty cavolo nero or with a tasty zuppa Volter­rana.

Side dishes in Tuscany

In Tuscan cuisine, the main carbo­hy­drate accom­p­animent to main courses is bread. In the cold months we often bake it oursel­ves in our large oven house. During summer, light raw vegeta­bles are very popular, especi­ally leaf salads. What could be better than refres­hing your palate with a bite into a hearty tomato? Or with a tomato salad, seaso­ned with our organic olive oil and homemade vinegar? We are also happy to serve steamed green beans and peas at the Podere Palazzone holiday home. Of course, the Tuscans do not go without the delicious rosemary potatoes, patate fritte, or, during colder days, with polenta.

- Bistecca Fiorentina, the right one -

Of course, the Floren­tine Steak, called Bistecca alla Fioren­tina, deser­ves a place of honour in Tuscan cuisine. For the real Floren­tine Steak, you need three things: the right beef, the right steak and the right embers.

The Chianina beef

The Floren­tine Steak comes from Chianina cattle, an old-estab­lished breed of Tuscany. The rearing of this white cattle is subject to regula­ti­ons that make it compul­sory keeping it on pasture. With the Chianina trade­mark, the beef’s life cycle can be traced all the way from breeder to the autho­ri­sed butcher’s shop.

The steak

We leave the aging of the meat, crucial for its tender­ness, to Nicola, our trusted master butcher in Pomarance. The T‑bone steak is cut from the roast beef of the about 20-month-old beef, at least two fingers high and weighing from 1.2 kg and upwards. Three fingers high is better, because then it can “stand on its side”.

The embers

Prepa­ring the embers is an art in itself. At the Podere Palazzone holiday home, we use holm oak, oak or olive wood. Once the flame has caught the matches, all the pieces of wood are added to create, over the course of one hour, a flame­l­ess ember. This is distri­bu­ted over the grill surface and the grate placed at a height of about 12 cm. Now the steak, which has previously reached room tempe­ra­ture, is placed on top. It needs to grill at highest heat to quickly form a strong crust. This prevents the juice from escaping. In order not to damage the crust, the meat is only turned with tongs and not with a fork.

Buon appetito!

The Floren­tine Steak is deliciously crispy on the outside, while remai­ning pink-red, tender and juicy on the inside. Bistecca-Fioren­tina-purists like the meat decidedly bleu. They swear to season it with neither salt nor pepper, neither rosemary nor olive oil. Because all the neces­sary flavours are already contai­ned in a good Floren­tine Steak. However, in our restaurant that’s up to everyone.