Respecting the seasonality of products and raw materials and considering that traveling often also happens at the table, why not do it in Siena too? A city full of typical dishes and ingredients to taste and enjoy to discover another important and decidedly pleasant side of a city that has a lot to offer.
Siena is, in fact, also an emblem of good food. Capable of capturing the gaze as well as the palate with dishes that tell its story in a “taste journey” that draws from Tuscan tradition but also from typically Sienese cuisine.
FIRST DISHES
Ribollita, a dish of peasant origin and a true autumnal delight whose main ingredients are seasonal vegetables: black cabbage, cabbage and chard. A simple but tasty dish, well structured and balanced. Continuing in the wake of seasonality and always following the Sienese cuisine which focuses heavily on game and game, there are pappardelle with wild boar. Still talking about pasta, also pici, originating from the Crete Senesi, but with a Siena sauce: tarragon pesto. Or the pici with crumbs in which once again bread flavored with anchovy fillets is used.
SECOND COURSES
Even for the second courses, game and game play a leading role in Sienese cuisine. The wild boar in sweet and strong, for example. Where meat mixes with chocolate, almonds, pine nuts and spices in a harmonious balance of contrasts. For those who prefer less strong flavors, make way for pigeon either roasted or stuffed . There is also no shortage of innards in the doc tradition: the use of offal is a legacy of peasant life in which once the animal was killed, everything was used. This practice occurred and still occurs today in the colder months, before the end of the year (October-December). Any dish ideas? Sienese tripe or livers (or even the Tuscan black crostino made with chicken livers), and then magare sliced meats and sausages from Cinta senese.
Not to be missed, considering the season, is a nice slice of Tuscan bread with olio novo: the so-called bruschetta . And for the more sophisticated palates, even a taste of white truffle!
SWEETS
Although not exactly the ideal dessert to end a meal, Pan co’ Santi is the dessert, par excellence, of autumn in Siena. A bread filled with raisins, walnuts, and spices . The latter are also found in other Siena sweets such aspanforte created in honor of Queen Margherita, who visited Siena with her husband Umberto I in 1887. A more modern version of gingerbread produced according to the oldest records, as early as the 13th century. Plus ricciarelli and cavallucci: typical Sienese sweets of the Christmas season.
At this point, enjoy your journey to discover Siena to eat with the dishes and ingredients of its cuisine rich in history, taste and charm.
