Casentino Valley - Cuisine
Casentino cuisine, like Tuscan cuisine in general, consists in simple dishes, mainly bread and legums soups.
Cured ham,
soprassata (a dry-cured salami),
pecorino (hard cheese made from sheep`s milk) and Cetica
red potato are some of the most famous products of the Casentino valley.
Casentino Ham Presidium
The Presidium has recovered an ancient tradition starting from a testing on the primary product. In fact, the use of two old autochthonous breeds (Cinta Senese and Mora Romagnola hybrids) is taking place. These animals are reared through the traditional open-air system, so that feeding can be prevalently formed by grazing made of natural vegetable products. The ham was traditionally hung in the kitchen: that is why a light flavour of natural smoke is allowed.
Chianina Classica Presidium
Chianina
It is one of the most ancient and important breeds of Italy. Initially, it was reared in Valdichiana (its name derives from it); it was especially used as "working breed". Since the second postwar it has been nearly abandoned till we risked its disappearance. Only the passion of some breeders has saved such genetic, economic and cultural heritage. The Chianina is rustic and fit for grazing; little by little, it moved from the sheds on the plain to the mountain, changing from the permanent breeding to the wild or semi-wild one.
Old Casentino Fruit Varieties` Protection Project
The Comunità Montana of Casentino has begun gathering some information in the farms of the valley about the presence of some "ancient" fruit plants, especially about apple and pear trees, 110 varieties of which have been located. In order not to lose such genetic heritage, a "collection" orchard has been realized: about 30 varieties of apple, pear and cherry trees have already been grafted on it.
Cetica Red Potato
In Cetica, a little village in Castel San Niccolò, the Di.S.A.T. (Department of Agronomic Sciences and Agroforest Territory Management) of Florence University, with the financial contribution and collaboration of bodies such as Provincia di Arezzo, Comune di San Niccolò, Comunità Montana del Casentino and ARSIA, carries on tests on such ancient local variety of very tasty red tubers.
... from
Casentino Sviluppo e Turismo
