Tuscany Things to Do

The key to Tuscan food is simplicity. Fresh, seasonal produce is prepared to bring out the flavor and lose none of the natural goodness.

The region is blessed with a soil and climate that favors farming and one of the joys of traveling through Tuscany is stopping in any village and finding the market or the little local restaurant. Another reason people flock here to take cooking classes is that many of the most flavorful dishes are so easy to prepare, having only a few ingredients—the key is the quality of the raw food you use.

Tuscany is so famed for its food and wine that you can almost taste the flavors just by saying the name. So it’s no surprise that they love to celebrate every fruit and vegetable, meat and fish that comes into season.

When you’re traveling around Tuscany watch for signs advertising a Festa or a Sagra – a festival or a fair. Very often they’re food or wine-based and you’ll be in for a treat. The main food and wine festival season begins in April or May, and reaches a peak around October with mushrooms, chestnuts, chocolate, and truffles.

White truffles are the most expensive foodstuff in the world and October is the beginning of white truffle season in Italy. The weather conditions during summer determine the abundance or scarcity of truffles and thus the price. This can vary from around 2000 euro (US$ 2500) per kilo to 7000 euro (US$ 9400) per kilo for the best quality in the scarcest years. This means that truffles are not a food to be eaten casually.