With summer around the corner, we turn the spotlight on Tuscany. This two-part series begins with a tantalizing topic: the treats that make Siena “Sweet-Tooth Central”.
Siena, Tuscany’s “Sweet-Tooth Central”
If you have ever visited Siena, you know that its Medieval splendour has few rivals. Some say it is the most beautiful city in Tuscany.
Besides its many architectural treasures, Siena is famous for its crazy annual horse race, the Palio di Siena, and for its legendary patron saint, Catherine of Siena, all of which attract masses of visitors to the city every year. But Siena is also celebrated for something much smaller and (literally) sweeter than these other attractions: Panforte, Cavallucci, and Ricciarelli, its trio of traditional dolci.
The word “dolci” means “sweets” or “desserts” in Italian. With three distinctive delicacies defining the dessert scene, Siena easily qualifies as Sweet-Tooth Central (in Tuscany, at least). When you eat these treats, you are tasting history. The origins of Panforte, Cavallucci, and Ricciarelli go back to Medieval times, which gives them their shared characteristics of simplicity and naturally long shelf life.
Besides being totally habit-forming, Siena’s classic sweets may also leave you in a tough spot over which you love best. We've included links to recipes so you can do all the required taste-testing for yourself.
In our next issue, we’ll focus on saints and sprinting horses, right at the time that the first of the two Palio races is run each summer, so stay tuned for that!
Panforte
Panforte literally means “strong bread” in Italian, but it is more like a super-dense, fruit-studded caramel than any sort of bread.
Traditionally, Panforte did not even contain any flour. Made from almonds, candied fruit, honey, and spices, these disk-shaped carbohydrate bombs are said to have helped Siena win the 1260 battle of Montaperti against the Florentines, whose rations were not nearly so energy-giving.
Recipe: https://anitalianinmykitchen.com/homemade-panforte/
Cavallucci
They might look a bit like rocks but Cavallucci are aromatic cookies whose story goes back about 600 years.
Where the name Cavallucci (which means “little horses”) came from is the subject of some debate, but horses are always the theme. In centuries long past, these cookies were a snack of servants who worked in the stables of wealthy Sienese families. They were also a sort of Medieval energy bar for travelers and couriers on long, horse-powered journeys. The most obvious origin of the name is that the cookies were, at one time, stamped with the image of a horse or its hoof.
Regardless of where their name came from, Cavallucci are a stick-to-your-ribs kind of cookie, their dense dough laden with almonds, walnuts, and candied fruit, and fragrant with anise and coriander.
Recipe: https://orderisda.org/culture/our-recipes/cavallucci-sienese-a-tuscan-cookie-with-renaissance-roots/
Ricciarelli
Ricciarelli are perhaps the most elegant of all Siena’s famous sweets. Made from marzipan, egg whites, sugar, and honey, and encrusted with powdered sugar, they are delicate, scrumptious, AND gluten-free!
The origins of this cookie and its name are also uncertain but connections to the Middle East are a possibility, either because Ricciardetto della Gherardesca brought them back when he returned from the Crusades, or because of their lozenge shape, which at one time was curled up at one end, resembling slippers from the Arab world.
Recipe: https://www.tasteatlas.com/ricciarelli-di-siena/recipe
Siena is located in central Italy, about an hour south of Florence and 2.5 hours north of Rome. DriverInRome would be pleased to take you on a day trip to Siena from Rome or as a stopover on a transfer to or from Florence.
