I’ve just returned from quite the holiday in Italy. It was my longest vacation in 14 years, and one of the best, in terms of all the amazing places I got to see, the yoga retreat I attended, and spending precious time with friends who’d travelled half way across the world to join me on this adventure. As I write this post, I realise just how lucky I was to be able to take the trip.
From the sweltering hustle and bustle of Florence…
The Duomo & Ponte Vecchio Bridge, Florence
to the dramatic coastline of Cinque Terra (Liguria)…
Vernazza & Monterosso al Mare, Cinque Terra
…to the subdued streets of Lucca, the hill top haven of Volterra and the medieval grandeur of Siena…
Volterra & Siena
…middle Italy was undeniably enchanting, and for 12 days – gloriously mine.
I have family further north in Liguria, so I’ve spent more time in Italy than most, but have never visited Tuscany. With only the images of the opening scene from Kenneth Branagh’s 1993 adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing to go on, I arrived with huge anticipation of ancient villas and rolling hills, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The beginnings of sunset from Borgo Pignano
All this trekking (= driving in a hire car) around Tuscany included a yoga retreat set in beautiful Borgo Pignano. The retreat was taught by Pete Guinosso, a Forrest inspired vinyasa yoga teacher I studied with when I lived in Berkeley, California. It was hosted by Exotic Yoga Retreats
Pignano is a stunning place, a biodynamic farm and villa where sunsets and horseflies reside in perfect harmony. We stayed in a restored Tuscan farmhouse, enjoyed twice daily yoga sessions, and ate like kings. Onsite chef Lenny consistently produced amazing food inspired by local Tuscan produce, mostly grown on the estate.
View from the Yoga Farmhouse
Enough about rolling Tuscan hills and yoga – on to the food! For this post I have picked out a number of treats I tried and I encourage you to seek out – either by visiting Tuscany (lucky you) or recreating at home. These are all dishes that are naturally conceived without gluten, rather than being adapted with gluten free replacements.
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5 Tuscan Gluten Free Treats
1. Torta di Ceci or Farinata
Torta di Ceci in Volterra
This is a pancake-flatbread type dish made solely from chickpea (ceci in Italian) flour. It seems to vary in name from each region in Italy, and my Italian aunt assures me it’s the same dish wherever you go. In Liguria (The Italian Riviera), look for Farinata and in Tuscany look for Torta di Ceci. I was thrilled to discover a slice of Ceci in the hilltop town of Volterra, and immediately claimed my slice even though it wasn’t lunchtime and I’d just eaten a gelato…
Have a go yourself with this recipe from Tuscan local Juls Kitchen
2. Riciarelli
Riciarelli from Siena – Photo credit Wikipedia
We stumbled across these cookies, a Sienese specialty, in a bakery in the backstreets of Siena. Made mostly of almonds, they can be found in plain or chocolate form (Riciarelli al Cioccolato) and taste a little marzipany. These are loaded with white sugar, so one for a treat!
3. Osso da Mordere
Ossa Da Mordere in Lucca
On a lazy Sunday morning stroll around Lucca, my friends and I were drawn to a window display of baked delights. In my best Italian (better than you might imagine!) I asked if any food was ‘senza glutine’ and was delighted to discover these particular cookies were made from egg whites, sugar, hazelnuts and chocolate. Almost meringue-like in their crunch, they made a tasty morning snack.
On my return home to London I decided to find out what the translation meant and was amazed to discover it means ‘bones of the dead’, for these biscuits are usually enjoyed on November 2nd (after Halloween and All Saint’s Day). These aren’t always gluten free so check before consuming. I haven’t found a recipe I’m happy to share as yet. I’ll keep looking!
4. Castagnaccio
I have been making Tuscan Chestnut Cake at home for a couple of years, so it was no surprise that I made it my mission to ask for it everywhere I went. I was utterly disappointed to discover it wasn’t available anywhere except in Volterra in the Ceci place – and they’d run out! I asked our host at the farm about chestnut flour and she informed me that the nuts (in this region neccio della garfagnana) are only grown on high ground, and aren’t so readily available as I thought. I did find a couple of stockists of chestnut flour along my travels, but not at a good enough price to warrant importing it home. Disappointment all round!
If you can get hold of chestnut flour try this recipe of mine for Castagnaccio. I’ll be teaching this recipe in my next Cooking class!
5. Chocolate covered dried figs (fichi)
Chocolate Covered Figs in Lucca
I’m not sure if these are particularly unique to Tuscany (found in Lucca), but oh my. They’re easy to recreate at home with melted dark chocolate and I certainly will be!
For the adventurous whole foodies confident with adapting traditional recipes to be gluten free,
Cantucci (biscotti) & Panforte are local specialties not to be missed – especially when washed down with a glass of vin santo..
Thank goodness for 16ish hours of yoga to work all this off!
In my next post I’ll be sharing my secret Tuscan foodie address book but in the meantime I should get to work cooking one of these sweet recipes. I haven’t quite chosen which of these recipes to work on recreating first. Any requests??
The post Tales from my trip to Tuscany & my 5 top naturally gluten free Tuscan treats appeared first on Natural Kitchen Adventures.