The fish in the Pisan cuisine reigns supreme.
But there is no lack of food "land" the best country tradition.
Territory varied and full of contrasts that of the province of Pisa.
Even in the kitchen you feel this duality, so that live in it two souls: a "land", a simple matrix and peasant, the other "fish", which focuses on products that smell like the sea.
Pisa is not only the city crossed by the Arno, the Leaning Tower and the famous universities in its DNA is still the legacy of maritime republic.
The culinary soul of this city is so strong "sea", although there are on the whole territory of Pisa a series of very fine layers of earth, including you remember the bread Montegemoli (round in shape, color and yellow ocher fragrant, is a bread baked in wood used to prepare bruschetta, soups and goes with Tuscan salami), eye beans, cherries of Lari and extra virgin olive oil, expressed very well in dishes great culinary interest.
Last but not least, from the hills scattered throughout the province start arriving excellent wines.
However, the fish to reign supreme in the kitchen of Pisa, one of the dishes were the "cee to Pisa", the dialect in which it indicated the fry of eels caught in the hive.
The recipe provided that these tiny, tasty fish were blown up in a pan with garlic, olive oil, sage and Parmesan. Today the "cee" are no longer available (fishing is prohibited) and are replaced by whitebait. Rather surprising and unexpected is the use of cod and the cod, which according to local tradition is cooked with leeks, or with chickpeas or sweet and sour or accompanied by onion or tomato.
The chickpeas are quite popular in Pisa, so that there is a specialty called "Cecina" (which they contend the record is either with Genoa Livorno), a sort of squashed close relative of Genovese porridge, made with chickpea flour cooked in copper pans in the oven. Since this part of Tuscany lapped by a mild climate, abundant vegetables, mainly used for the preparation of tasty pies.
Widespread but are legumes, which anticipate the flavors of the hinterland, such as bean soup of St. Michael, the bordatino (a soup made of red beans, black cabbage and corn flour) and beans in a flask.
Noteworthy are the first courses of pasta, seasoned with robust sauces with game and poultry as a wild boar, rabbit and duck.
The traditional country emerges from some recipes such as "fallow", based Pisa pork shoulder accompanied by diced cheese, mousse, or as the pork cheek of San Miniato, good spread on toast hot, or the "Testiccioli at Pisa ", calf’s head or lamb cooked in water with spices, herbs, boned and seasoned with capers, anchovies, pickles, salt, pepper and oil. Interesting example of a country kitchen "poor" is the "soup on shoo", typical of Volterra, prepared with sauteed garlic, extra virgin olive oil of Pisa Hills, rosemary, tomatoes and water. In this soup are baked bricks and homemade noodles.
The "soup on Shoo" is served hot, sprinkled with plenty of grated cheese.
Moving to the hills of Mount Pisano at the Metalliferous Hills offers nature reserves precious scent of the forest such as mushrooms (the good pioppini and tasty sauce made with these fungi) and especially truffles near San Miniato, a town that every year celebrating the precious tuber dedicating a festival (the last three weekends in November).
Turning to an overview of the sweetness of the land of Pisa, famous is the "cake with pegs," a cake made of puff pastry, which is strewn on a rich filling made of rice cooked in milk, spiced with lemon zest, vanilla, candy, chocolate, raisins, maraschino liqueur, pine nuts and some grated nutmeg. Finally let’s not forget that the territory of Pisa, in its diversity also includes a thriving area of wine production: at the top we have the typical Pisan Hills Chianti DOCG, Bianco Pisano di San Torpè, Colli Etruria Centrale, while close to the province Livorno have the production of Montescudaio.
Davide Paolini, "gastronaut"