Monastery, Siena & White Wine

San Galgano
Siena
Colle di Val d´Elsa
San Gimignano

After a stop at the Abbey of San Galgano, we head to Siena to experience the beautiful city with its sights and shopping opportunities. We take a cappuccino at Naninis and stock up on paneforte and all sorts of other sweets like Cantucci. In the afternoon we drive over Colle the Val d’Elsa to San Gimigniano, the town with its many towers and its excellent white wine, the Vernaccia di San Gimignano. If there is still time left, we stop off in Volterra (the city of the almost forgotten alabaster) For dinner, we return to a restaurant on the way back, grilling the meat specialties of Tuscany at fair prices from the wood-burning fireplace. We recommend the Bistecca Fiorentina or the other grilled chops. Then we drive home to Guarda Mare.

Siena has a long culinary tradition due to the richness of the Middle Ages and the presence of numerous inns and hospitality along the via Francigena. In recent decades there has been a reflection on the ancient medieval food, as in many parts of central Italy.

Crostini di Milza, made with veal spleen, chicken liver, capers, wine and anchovies,
Pici, a kind of handmade spaghetti from the area of Val d ‘Orcia and Val di Chiana usually served with meat sauce or “all’aglione”
Ribollita, a vegetable and bean soup, served on roasted slices of bread rubbed with garlic, the ingredient of which is also kale in winter, is so called because when heated several times, its flavor is further refined
Acquacotta, a soup with a variety of herbs complemented by eggs, spinach, mushrooms, toast and cheese.
Panzanella – salad consisting of simply old soaked bread, basil, tomatoes, onions and a little celery.
Griglata Mista – a grilled plate usually made of salsicce (sausage), “Costoleccio” chops of pork and veal of beef or veal
Fagioli all’uccelletto – stew of baked beans, tomatoes and sausage stew
Fagioli al fiasco – beans cooked in the embers of the fire with a wine bottle
Chiocciole alla senese – snails cooked in the Sienese in tomato sauce, wine, onions, garlic, bacon and tarragon,
Fegatelli – pork liver cut into pieces and mixed with the addition of fennel seeds, salt and pepper in a net
Insaccati – various sausages as buristo, salami, finocchiona, capocollo or bacon.
Cacciagione – a hunter’s pot in which all local species (especially wild boar, hare and pheasant) are roasted or grilled
Scottiglia – (cooked with pork, chicken, beef …) with tomato, wine, hot peppers and flour
Pinzimonio – various seasonal raw food with olive oil – dip (best directly after the olive harvest)
Panforte – gingerbread type with different compositions with nuts and fruits
Many other sweets like: Ricciarelli, Copate, Berricuocoli and Cavallucci, frittelle di riso di San Giuseppe (fried rice balls of Saint Joseph (without egg, unlike in other recipes of Umbria and Tuscany) etc.

The wines produced here, produced throughout the province are known worldwide: Chianti, Chianti Classico, Chianti Colli Senesi, Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, Brunello di Montalcino, Moscadello di Montalcino, Sant’Antimo, Orcia, Vernaccia di San Gimignano and Val d ‘Arbia.