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Shopping In A Tuscan Market
arket day is the high salt. You can buy a packet of
point of the week in a slices by weight (100g is called
Tuscan town. Each town has an etto) or purchase a panino, a
its regular market day, a very crusty roll, filled with slices
small town maybe hosting just a of porchetta to munch on there
few stalls of fruit and and then. Ask for some of the
vegetables, bigger ones filling stuffing to be added if you like
several streets with all the strong flavours.
goods under the sun. One of the
joys of being on holiday in Italy Wander around browsing the other
is having the leisure time to stalls as you munch on your
explore its tastes and flavours, porchetta panino. You'll find
by wandering the small food shops vans selling cheeses, some will
and observing what the locals just have two varieties of
buy. Food is taken seriously and pecorino cheese, the sheep's milk
the buying of it is a social cheese that is a Tuscan
activity, market day more so than speciality, others a huge
ever, with people flocking from selection of cheeses from all
the countryside around to buy and over Italy. Every area produces
sell. cheese with different
characteristics, depending on the
Whenever there is a market of any pasture that the sheep graze on.
size in Tuscany, you will find a Pienza in Southern Tuscany is
stall selling porchetta. This is famed for its creamy pecorino,
a favourite market snack and the fresh ones mild and the
treat - a whole young pig, stagionato (aged) ones smooth and
spit-roasted and stuffed with an gentle on the tongue. Pecorino
aromatic mixture of herbs and from around Rome has a stronger
salt. The meat is tender and the flavour, and is the cheese used
stuffing tangy with the herby there instead of parmesan to
grate on pasta and in cooking. autumn, you are all set for a
picnic lunch in an olive grove.
Taste the cheese before you buy. You just need to search out the
If you ask about a certain cheese Forno, the bakery, follow your
you'll be offered a sliver, to nose into a side street, it will
help you decide, then you can be baking up a storm for the
decide how much you'd like to market, with crusty loaves of
buy. A whole round of a bread, trays of focaccia, pizza
stagionato cheese to keep or just bread, local speciality cookies.
a quarter for your picnic today.
You could of course continue to
The fruit and vegetable stalls wander the market, examining
will be loaded with fresh stalls of everything from white
produce, whatever is in season. embroidered linen, ironmongery
In spring and autumn juicy bulbs selling barbeque grids and tongs,
of fennel, finocchio, make a to cheap shoes and clothes,
wonderful salad to accompany your wooden household implements and
pecorino cheese, sliced thinly plastic wares. The bars will be
and tossed with some salad bustling with coffee drinkers.
leaves, or layered with dramatic Then with a swish of a broom by
red blood oranges, arancie 12.30 the market stalls will be
sanguinie, in spring when there packed up and gone, over till
are still some left over from next week, leaving the Tuscan
Sicily's winter harvest. Once you town to the serious matter of
have chosen your fruit, lunch followed by a siesta.
strawberries, apricots and
peaches in early summer, luscious Copyright 2007 Kit Heathcock
grapes, figs and pears in early
About the Author:
Kit Heathcock has worked and travelled in Italy for many years, is passionate about food and is now lucky enough to work from home and still have time to cook and write. She is currently writing and copyediting for a major new travel website Just the Planet
Read more articles by: Kit Heathcock
Article Source: www.iSnare.com |
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