Tuscan Diet - Dairy

Tuscany produces a wonderful array of cheeses, so there is no doubt that like all of the other elements of their diet, Tuscans take their dairy seriously.

A light supper of pecorino cheese, multicereale bread,
cinghiale sausage and walnuts

Many cheeses in Tuscany are made from sheep or goat's milk, such as caprino, and my personal favorite, pecorino.  Fresh ricotta can be made with sheep, goat or cow milk and is delightfully smooth and creamy.  Other typical Tuscan produced cheeses include raviggiolo (a soft, fresh cheese) and caciotta (a soft crust cheese).

A wonderful etruscan pecorino

Of course another very famous dairy concoction that can be found in Tuscany is gelato!  Gelato was created by Bernardo Buontalenti, a Florentine cook who created the delicious dessert for Catherine de'Medici....and the rest is history!  Florence has tons of gelaterie (gelato shops) serving up mounds of creamy gelato year-round.  Gelato is similar to ice cream found in the US, but believe me...gelato is much better!  It's wonderful dense creaminess is due to it being churned at a slower pace, which causes less air to be incorporated into the dessert.  It also has less fat in it than US ice cream, which helps to intensify the flavor and not coat the mouth like ice cream does.

Caffè (coffee) , fiordilatte (a plain "flower of milk" flavor),
and nocciola (hazelnut) gelato at GROM in Florence

As wonderful as their cheese and gelato are, dairy is much more minor element in the Tuscan diet.  Personally, we enjoy an occasional glass of milk and yogurt (Italian yogurt is fabulous!), but for the most part, a very small percentage of our diet consists of dairy products.  Olive oil is preferred over butter, and we don't use a lot of cream in our recipes like some other folks do, simply because we prefer to eat in a more health-conscious way.  

A variety of Italian  yogurt

Occasionally we will make what Simone calls a "cake" with yogurt.  Simone created the recipe and it's very simple.  He lines a casserole dish with savoiardi biscuits (ladyfinger cookies) and then spoons a layer of yogurt on top.  He keeps layering the cookies and yogurt until it is almost to the top of the dish, then he places it into the refrigerator overnight.  By the time morning arrives, the yogurt has softened the crisp svoiardi and he spoons it up to serve.  We eat it for breakfast occasionally or as a dessert.  You can make it with whatever flavor of yogurt you prefer, or do like Simone does sometimes and use a different flavor for each layer.