Chianti: Traditional Foods and "Hidden" Sights

From our balcony in Soriano nel Cimino, we chat about the famous wine country of Chianti: We'll talk about some of our favorite foods to be found there, explain why a rooster determined the borders of the region; and point you to a few of our treasured off-the-beaten-track activities and sightseeing. 

Want to know more about us and our travel services? Find us at:

www.LittleRoadsEurope.com

www.facebook.com/LittleRoadsEurope

We craft small-town driving itineraries for travelers to Italy, Ireland and Scotland.

And our "alter-egos" as musicians:

www.OrsiniVirtuosi.it

Transcript

CHIANTI notes for podcast

Note: This is not a proper transcript, but rather the show notes we wrote in advance to prepare for the episode.

Welcome to Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond

Today we’re talking about Chianti - not just the wine, but also a rooster, alpacas, and wild boar - and we’ll tell you which one to pet, which one to eat, and which one determined the borders of this famous part of Tuscany.

[ROLL MUSIC]

[fade music to 20%]

This is Matt Walker

…and I’m Zeneba Bowers - 

We’re recording this from our terrace, in our little town of Soriano nel Cimino - so you’ll get a sense of the sounds of life here - rather than a scripted studio session, this will be more like we’re just sitting here having a casual conversation together - you’ll hear church bells, cats meowing, kids playing, motor scooters and trains and dogs and the town’s daily siren, and maybe our drinks clinking occasionally. 

“ …in today’s unedited chat we’re talking about Chianti - the wine, and the place - here on Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond.”

[Music up then fade out]

For those of you who don’t know us: We are professional musicians and also travel writers and consultants, living and working here in Italy for the past 6 years. 

If you want to learn more about us and our lives, you can find us on our website LittleRoadsEurope..com, on our socials, and now here on our new podcast, which we’re going to do unedited, as if you’re sitting here chatting with us - 

…and by the way, we hope you like our intro music - that was us! Since we’re musicians working here in Italy, and Matt is also a composer and arranger, we thought it would make sense to arrange and perform all the music ourselves. 

So let’s get to talking a bit about Chianti. This is a region we have visited more times than we can count. We’ve even stayed there with our cats – a few times, actually. Each summer we usually have several gigs in Chianti, and it is just easier to move there with our fur herd. We have a little apartment we have rented there a few times, one of several places we have stayed in that, crazily, accepts cats. 

But I digress… Let’s get on to Chianti. 

First of all, where is Chianti? It’s in Tuscany, but it’s not an admin or gov area like a region or province, so there are no exact borders. 

Generally the land between Florence and Siena 

ROOSTER legend - we’ve heard a couple of different versions

- 2 cities fought bloody battles for centuries in medieval era, wanted to finally settle territory 

Chianti wine has rooster label, symbol of Chianti 

Rooster makes for better statues - than footmen being gored by a pike

Landscape, driving around SI-FI, winding roads, google drive times being ludicrous. 

STORY: Delivery guy who led us to the right highway. 

- Carabinieri leading us to the castle — this was before smartphones. 

- “Moral” of story:  

Informed my thinking about how to help people in the US who were not fluent in English, always offer a helping hand, pay it forward

You would think GPS would make it super easy, but it is still worth it to do a little looking in advance. Google street view, or just looking over maps in general. Reception not being too great outside of towns 

This is why not to plan your trip out to the millisecond. Not a hardship to make a wrong turn! 

Brown signing it

Mezzadria; system of sharecropping that involved the farmer (mezzadro) and landowner “padrone”. In place until the 1970s

Much of Tuscany is quite wealthy now, but in the recent past … 

Landscape still looks more or less the same - thanks to strict regulations 

A lot of clients tell us they want to go to Tuscany for food; when we ask why, they name foods from other regions (Parmigiano reggiano prosciutto etc)

FOOD: 

Ribollita 

(using old bread: panzanella, pappa al pom) 

Pappardelle (one of many pastas) we look in every restaurant for thinnest 

- Cinghiale, stuffed heads, butcher’s TED talk 

- Ragu bianco - rabbit or pork

Fagioli …. Tuscans are famous for eating lots of beans. 

Cannellini 

Fagioli uccelletto (tomato, sage)

Zolfino beans

Bistecca Fiorentina - worth sorting out best place to get it

Chianina cows

Biscotti (cantuccini) & Vin Santo

Things to do:

Scooter ride, you can rent scooters  hands lost all feeling after 3 hours

Etruscan tombs Castellina

Alpacas  - Valle degli Alpaca

Luca Carfagna - local artists

STORY: Monteriggioni weaver, Matt fixed scarf after trying on helmet

We send our clients to places where you can buy locally made goods, which can still be affordable - 

- this is a way to interact with locals, which is often a goal of our clients

OUTRO: 

I think that’s a good place to wrap it up here - we hope you enjoyed joining us for our little Chianti Chat!

We’ll be talking about a wide variety of topics here on this podcast, from travel tips to slice-of-life stories - we’ll post a new episode every Tuesday. 

So catch us next time - we’ll see you down the Little Roads — 

Ciao !