The meeting between the Ligurian culinary tradition and the Tuscan one gives birth to a culinary rich in old tasting strongly bound to the earth which they belong to, a richness and a variety unique in their genre. The Ligurian culinary was contaminated by the places and the people which the Ligurian and the Genovesi came into contact with, within the centuries; above all for their trades and conquests; as a result inside this culinary we can find precious contaminations: history and ancient Fastis. It's enough to think about the spices, they were commonly used during the past in Liguria while in the other regions were quite rare. As for its history and its roots it is said that the Ligurian culinary is the real Mediterranean culinary, quite poor in appearance because of its simple and common nourishments, it is founded on the respect of the sweet smells and the primary tastes of its ingredients. It is not only the sailors' culinary, who came back home during the public holidays, but also the powerful people and the sea conquerors' culinary. Among the typical dishes we can remember the trofie, made with wheat or chestnut flour, they recall the first footsteps toward the most sophisticated forms of pasta, the seasoning is typically Ligurian: the Pesto. The cakes of vegetables or herbs are also typical. The Gattafins are an old recipe going back to the IV century: they are ravioli filled with vegetables whose taste can be exalted if they are fried in oil of olive very hot. Finally the recipe of the Sgabei that has its roots in the Val di Magra: a savoury crispy "fried bread" to eat with the cured meats or the cheeses. The white flour is mixed with the yellow one to make them crispier and drier. The Tuscan culinary is made up of some dishes belonging to a strong tradition, the first typical product, that hasn't equal or similar in Italy, is certainly the Tuscan bread, characterized by the lack of salt. It seems that this usage goes back to the XII century, when the conflict between Pisa and Florence was at its peak so the Pisani stopped trading it. In Tuscany the importance of the bread is still testified by a long series of old and diffused recipes such as: the panzanella, the fettunta, the ribollita, the acquacotta, the pasta with tomato sauce and the soup of vegetable. Another characteristic is the excellent use of white and red meats. The poultry and above all the game such as the hare, the pheasant and the boar constituted for a long time the food of the great parties. The pork is also used a lot, it is enough to think about the famous Tuscan salami, the ham preserved under salt and the sausages. The choice and the tradition of the Tuscan cheeses is very large, among these the pecorino, the most famous ones: those of Pienza and Maremma. We can find the ricotta and the rovaggiolo among the soft cheeses. In Tuscany near the Ligurian border we have to mention the Lard of Colonnata, a salami I:G.P. (protected geographic indication) born in the homonym hamlet in the Apuane Alps, in the province of Mass Carrara. The Lard of Colonnata is produced with the lard of the pork seasoned in basins of Carrara marble that was also used to preserve food during the centuries. Inside the marble made basins we put the pork lard, alterating the thick bitts of the lard with the salt and the spices: pepper, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, sage, rosemary. The basins, rubbed with garlic, have temperatures and particular humidity so the finished product has unique characteristics. The full basin is covered and periodically checked and then reopened around 6-10 months later to complete the seasoning. Some typical Tuscan dishes are: salt cod fritters, dried cod and polenta, tripe Carrarina style, the rice cake and the "Fugaza" (sweet flat bread with raisins and pine nuts).
THE WINES
The principal wine productions of the province of La Spezia are certainly: the Sciacchetrà excellent and famous liquor-like wine and the Cinque Terre CAO. and then the Vernaccia in Levanto, the Vermentino of the Luni and Arcola hills in the Spezzina coast. As for Tuscany we can certainly quote, among the many good labels, the Chianti wines produced in the provinces of Arezzo, Firenze, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato and Siena, the plural prize-winner Brunello of Montalcino, the Vernaccia of St. Gimignano and the Noble Wine of Montepulciano all of them produced in the province in Siena, the Parrina produced in the province of Grosseto and finally the Vin Santo a sweet liquor-like wine.
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