Blog

Spring in Tuscany

Submitted by admin on 19 May 2013

As winter comes to Australia spring has sprung here in Italy and we have finished our first tour in the beautiful Maremma region of Tuscany. We have been enjoying all the wonderful green spring vegetables along the way: blanched asparagus drizzled with olive oil and parmesan shavings, wonderful agretti greens with olive oil and lemon juice, fresh fava beans with a nibble of soft pecorino cheese, crunchy green beans with garlic and rosemary, nettle gnocchi, risotto with baby artichokes ....  the list goes on and on!

    

At this time of year we also eat lots of lovely blood oranges here in Italy, and the first cherries, strawberries and apricots are starting to appear at the markets. We've had lots of great shopping opportunities on the tour and we've enjoyed everything from porchetta to pecorino tasting at a cheese farm in the Val di Cecina, from wild boar stews to wine tasting with our friend Massimo at Enoteca Scala in the heart of historic Volterra.  We ate beautiful sea bream and spaghetti vongole in Bolgheri near the sea and mouth-watering Cinta Senese pork in Massa Marittima cooked on the fire and served with a surprising early spring crop of funghi porcini.

    

Our group from Perth seemed to really love the walking, the incredible landsape of Tuscany at this time of year which is so lush and green and the huge selection of local specialities which we tasted along the way. We dined in Slow Food restaurants and ancient tavernas and enjoyed picnics in poppy fields, olive groves and waving wheat fields. All in all it was a fabulous start to our 2013 season here in La Bella Italia, and we are really looking forward to our new trip next week in Wild Abruzzo ...