Tuscan Diet - Bread, Pasta, Grains

As I've mentioned before, the ancient Etruscans developed farms across the fertile land of Tuscany (or, rather, Etruria, as it was known back then) and along with vegetables and fruit, planted many forms of grains, such as farro and millet.  The land was so fertile, as a matter of fact, that the Etruscans were able to supply grain on the occasion that Rome was suffering from famine!

Today, grains remain an important part of the Tuscan diet.  For example, farro, a nutty flavored grain high in fiber and vitamin B3 and zinc, can be found in soups, salads and a multitude of other dishes.

Fresh bread baked in a wood burning oven
 at a bread bakery in Poggio a Caiano

Pane toscano, Tuscan bread, is as basic of a bread as you can get:  flour, yeast and water.  No salt at all.  Why no salt?  Blame the Pisans.  According to legend, around the year 1100, Pisa (a port city) blocked the shipment of salt from reaching Florence, attempting to force the Florentine troops to surrender in battle (Pisa and Florence were enemies for centuries).  However, their plan didn't work...the Florentines simply made their bread without salt!  To this day, traditional Tuscan bread does not have salt in its recipe.  This may not seem palatable to some (and on its own, it does taste rather bland), but when eaten with Tuscan dishes, it is quite complementary and goes very well with the types of food eaten in Tuscany, since the bread does not overpower the taste of the food.  Tuscans seem to put bread in everything.  It's in their soups and it's the biggest ingredient in panzanella, a bread salad!

Fresh pane toscano and prosciutto - best sandwich ever!

When you think of Italian food, I'm sure pasta is one of the first things that come to mind.  Pasta has been around Tuscany since the time of the Etruscans.  Archaeologists discovered proof that around 3000 years ago, Etruscans prepared a wheat and egg pasta-type food.

Fresh pasta at the local supermarket

There are well over 300 different pasta shapes...wide, narrow, flat, round, shapes, filled...you could have pasta for months without having the same shape twice!  Don't think that pasta is off limits if you are "on a diet".  Simone has a personal rule for us that we only eat pasta for lunch and not for dinner, since you tend to burn off more energy during the day than in the evening, especially since we may not eat dinner until 8pm in Italy.

Fusilli con cozze (fusilli pasta with mussels)