Category: What to buy in Tuscany

A guide for your Shopping in Tuscany

Tuscan bread

When the typical Tuscan bread comes under discussion, it’s hard not to cite the phrase “You shall discover how the bread of others tastes of salt” from the Divine Comedy, through which Dante emphasizes his distaste for the salted version.

Even though unsalted bread is undoubtedly one of the most typical elements of Tuscan cuisine, its origin has yet to find a clear explanation. There are many theories and all are equally credible but unfortunately there are no reliable sources.
The most famous story dates back to the ages of the independent states, when Florence was constantly fighting with Pisa. During one of the numerous wars between the two cities, Pisa decided to block the sale of salt to Florence to create trouble for its adversary: in those times, salt was the main food preservative as well as a condiment. The Florentines did not let this get the better of them, and forged ahead by baking bread without the salt.

Other stories claim that unsalted bread originated from the medieval fiscal policies of Pisa toward the Florentines. Pisa monopolized the sale of salt in Tuscany and therefore could impose taxes and duties whenever and however they liked; they even raised them so much that the citizens of the Republic of Florence finally chose to go without! This theory is supported by the fact that in Lucca and Massa Carrara, who both had their own ports and did not purchase their salt from Pisa, produced bread with salt. Perhaps that explains why the phrase “better to have a death in the house than a Pisan on the doorstep” is still pronounced in most parts of Tuscany!

A third theory suggests that unsalted bread didn’t originate from the political disputes of the time, but rather from the abundant use of spices in Tuscan cuisine; for example, the finocchiona salami, the Peposo dell’Impruneta meat dish and the Tuscan prosciutto, to name the most reknown. They are all strong flavour foods with a decided taste that would decidedly be overwhelmed if paired with normal salted bread. Unsalted bread exalts the taste of these dishes.
All three theories could be true, and there is no proof or indication of which could be true, since taxes on salt no longer exist. Unsalted bread is such a deep part of Tuscan cuisine that if Dante came back to life today, he would just need to cross the Versilia river to say “how salty is the bread of others”.

Discover the real “Made in Tuscany” brand and download the famous App for tablets and smartphones  “Made in Tuscany” on Google Play and on Apple Store . The best one for the traveler who wants to discover the real and authentic Tuscany.

The Christmas market of Piazza Santa Croce in Florence

The Christmas market of Piazza Santa Croce in Florence has been a regular event in the urban schedule of the city for fifteen years.

Piazza Santa Croce is one of the most evocative squares of Florence, a few steps from River Arno and Palazzo Vecchio and easy to reach even for the public transport. In December, the magnificent marble façade of the Franciscan basilica, to which Foscolo dedicated verses because it stored the remains of great Italians such as Michelangelo and Galileo, acts as the background of the small wooden chalets recreating the northern village that is typical for Christmas.

This year, over 50 exhibitors compose the Christmas market of Piazza Santa Croce that, in spite of its original name being German (Weihnachtsmarkt), gathers perfumes, colours and specialties from all over Europe. Ukrainian Christmas decorations, French cheeses, British jams and Greek delicacies share the room with food and specialty of the Germanic area, from the ever-present strudel to the gingerbread. There are also many objects and gift ideas for any price and of any material and dimension, which are appropriate for all tastes and pockets.

Strolling through the Christmas market of Piazza Santa Croce in Florence, which is opened from 10 am to 8 pm every day and until 20th December, means getting lost in an ocean of different colours and perfumes, but which matches with the Christmas atmosphere.

Participating to a celebration for all five senses: listening to the merry people’s speaking in many foreign languages, admiring the decorations, smelling the typical perfumes, tasting the European and Italian specialties, touching with your hands the products. Ultimately, it means to live a celebration atmosphere fully.

Come to the Christmas market of Piazza Santa Croce in Florence and enjoy warm tea, mulled wine, or chocolate, hot and energizing beverages: do not mind the freezing cold, which helps creating the Christmas atmosphere though, and immerse among the wooden chalets. In the joyful din of elder and youth, you will find an object, a gift, something to make your Christmas special surely.

Discover the real “Made in Tuscany” brand and download the famous App for tablets and smartphones  “Made in Tuscany” on Google Play and on Apple Store . The best one for the traveler who wants to discover the real and authentic Tuscany.

Tuscany linen

Tuscany linen – Maximum attention to detail and careful selection of materials, are the two values ​​that guide the company LINO UNA PASSIONE, in Tuscany, in the production of home linen.

The two sisters, work together to offer a customizable tuscany linen product, precious but sober, made out with sophisticated materials and workmanship.

Their workshop of Viareggio in Tuscany is a private home that welcomes interested appointment only maintaining the privacy and exclusivity of the precious goods.

Inside, set in everyday, beautiful furnishings textiles born from the same workshop: the pieces of the collection, all unique, linen and hemp blend with antique lace, embroidery stitch old and counted thread.

Everything is extremely artisanal, hand embroidered personally by the two women, who tell their job with passion, the silent, patient waiting, curiosity and careful observation of the material, the enthusiasm of the result, when there is, and regularly THERE IS! And in any case compare themselves with the gap between subject thought and object made.

The tuscany linen creations are embellished by playing on contrasts between the thickness of the linen and the refinement of lace and fringe work, creating glimpses of light with inserts or bobbin tatting, with sfilature and plots.

“We are often offered old kits passed inheritance” tell “is a thrill to approach drawers and trunks!”

We feel a great shame in approaching things so intimate that speak of romantic dreams of young women not yet wives, fearing fantasies of old aunts and hands of nuns, who have designed a precious world.

But in the activity we only use materials not used, easy to be recognized by the large amount of “sarda”. We do not treat used linen, though beautiful.

Also we like to contrast the rustic beauty of the fabrics with linear designs in the name of practicality of maintenance: items that go in the washing machine for the most part and suitable for every type of furniture”.

Characterized by the natural colors of white, ivory, ecru, brown and gray, the linens used were woven with hand looms from the early twentieth century until the seventies. They are natural, healthy, not colored in line with the respect for the health and enhancement of the Tuscan territory and its resources and traditions.

Discover the real “Made in Tuscany” brand and download the famous App for tablets and smartphones  “Made in Tuscany” on Google Play and on Apple Store . The best one for the traveler who wants to discover the real and authentic Tuscany.

Cantuccini biscuit new recipes

Cantuccini biscuit new recipes: flavour, fragrance, crumbliness are the characteristics of the new line of cantuccini biscuits by Biscottificio Dogliani. They are a variation from the original recipe for the cantuccio with almonds (biscotto).

This is how they are born, from Dogliani’s mind, and they differ from the classic recipe because almonds have been replaced with chocolate chips, figs, lemon, anise seeds and hazelnuts to obtain tasty specialties and to give a new guise to the products.

It is a deep relationship which unites the Tuscan Biscottifico Dogliani with Tuscany and its flavours.

Angelo and Bartolomeo Dogliani took over a small pastry workshop in Carrara, at the foot of the Apuan Alps, in the 40s. Angelo, together with his brother Bartolomeo, left his homeland and his work as the production manager for a prestigious Piedmont company, but he brought with him a part of “sourdough” and the secrets to keep it through time, the gifts from his affectionate employer and master.

Nowadays, the company development has rewarded the effort and skills of Angelo and the ability of his son Franco to inherit the secrets of the ancient process to renovate the “sourdough” daily. That is why Dogliani products derive from old recipes, but the natural yeasts guarantee their genuineness and fragrance as the daily production guarantees their freshness.

For the design, the graphic creation of the packaging and the photographic campaign of the new gourmet line of the cantucci biscuits and other products such as the panettone, pandoro and focaccia dolce, Biscottificio Dogliani has trusted the Tuscan communication agency Danae Project srl.

Margherita Dogliani tells “We wanted to use the new packaging to tell some of the architecture wonders of historical centres among the most famous ones of Tuscany. Why is that? Maybe because our cantucci biscuits have us think of small bricks for their shape and consistency and also because we want to give those who buy them the chance of bringing back home a small piece of Tuscany…not only to eat.”

Discover more about the traditional “Made in Tuscany” products and download the famous “Made in Tuscany” App for tablets and smart phones which is available on Google Play and Apple Store . For those who want to know the authentic Tuscany.

Tuscan Olive Oil

Tuscany is worldwide known today for the production of tuscan olive oil.
This has been possible thanks to the tenacity, commitment and Intelligence of those who, over the centuries, have carried forward olive cultivation and oil production with the same enthusiasm, passion and creativity of their predecessors.
The olive tree and its products are very old elements which, coupled with wine and wheat, go back to the beginning and evolution of Mediterranean and Tuscan civilization.
The Tuscany landscape and its olive trees are unique in character and appreciated worldwide.
To comply with the organoleptic character of oil and maintain the freshness of the fruit, olives are picked directly by hand from the tree and processed within a few days after harvesting.
Furthermore, the Tuscany oil, in order not to be altered, must solely be obtained through traditional mechanical processing, which consists of washing, decantation, centrifugation and filtration.
The Tuscany olive oil has a dark green color, but it can also assume golden reflections. The oil has a characteristic fragrance – of a fruit, of herbs, of artichoke, etc.
This distinctive flavor, with spicy and bitter aftertaste, makes it ideal for use with vegetables, soups, meat and fish.

The indication of “Tuscany Olive Oil” is met by one of the following additional geographic names: “Seggiano”, “Colline Lucchesi”, “Colline di Lunigiana”, “Colline di Arezzo,” Colline Senesi “,” Colline di Firenze”, “Montalbano”, “Monti Pisani”. These indications are reserved to oil meeting the conditions and requirements established by the production rules of Olive Oil of Tuscany, PGI.

The trees, which cling to the sides of the hills of Tuscany, are a perfect combination between nature and man: they support embankments, mitigate erosion, and help maintain the balance of an ecosystem made of dry stone walls, ditches, and steep slopes that match with iris, alternating between cypress trees and vineyards.

Discover the real “Made in Tuscany” brand and download the famous App for tablets and smartphones  “Made in Tuscany” on Google Play and on Apple Store . The best one for the traveler who wants to discover the real and authentic Tuscany.

Tuscan knives of Scarperia

The knives of Scarperia – Not far from Florence, along the river Sieve, is the territory known as Mugello. In the wonderful places dear to the Medici family, among ancient churches, monasteries and water mills, located in Scarperia, rises the small Italian capital of cutlery of centuries-old tradition.
Ever since its founding in 1306, the people of Scarperia manifested a strong vocation for the craft of cutting tools, as originally these craftsmen were gunsmiths before specializing in knives making. At the end of 1800 the production of knives in Scarperia lived a moment of great expansion, although penalized by the Giolitti Law of 1908 which limited the blades length of the knives.

Today the craft shops in Scarperia are specialized in reinterpretation of local and regional models and count a wide range of traditional and exclusive  knives, including the elegant zuava, the palmerino, the tre pianelle, the mozzetta and many hunting knives as the Mugellano.
Practical and hard, designed to serve hunters or those who work in the woods and in the countryside, the Mugellano is a typical knife production of Scarperia. Characterized by a blade in broad outline, it is equipped with a spring and internal structure railway. It has in fact, unlike the other Italian knives, two plates in which the spring sits in between and serve to house the blade when it is in folded position. In the earliest examples the blade is worked in tiles, a feature lost in the most recent projects. The handle is preferably of bovine horn even if you can find mugellani of considerable value with the grips of deer antler.
In 1999 the Museum of Knives was open in the fifteenth century ancient mansion Palazzo de ‘Vicars in the heart of the country.

Discover the real “Made in Tuscany” brand and download the famous App for tablets and smartphones  “Made in Tuscany” on Google Play and on Apple Store . The best one for the traveler who wants to discover the real and authentic Tuscany.

Want to know where to sleep, what and where to buy the best handicrafts of traditional Tuscan, please  see here.