The document describes the Tuscan food pyramid and the different foods that are included in each level. The pyramid is made up of 11 levels, with fruits and vegetables at the bottom as the most important group. It then progresses up through groups focused on legumes and nuts, chicken and fish, cured meats, red meats, cheese, bread and potatoes, and olive oil at the top. Each level provides details on traditional Tuscan foods found in that category, including descriptions of their characteristics, origins, and uses in local cuisine.

1. Our area food pyramid

2. The 6th group

3. Red meats
● Chianina: It's one of the most ancient and
important Italian cow races. It comes from
“Valdichiana” and it is appreciated for its
savoury and tender meat
⑥

4. Red meats
● Cinta senese: it is different from the other
dark furred pigs because of a white strip
around the chest, the shoulder and the
legs. Its meat is quite lean and with a strong
flavour
⑥

5. Cured meat
● Finocchiona: It is a Tuscan cured meat
made with minced lean and fat pork meat
aromatized with fennel seeds and red wine.
⑥

6. •Cured meat
Tuscan ham: it is one of the finest and best
known hams. It's made with pork
gammon, salted and spiced.
⑥

7. Cured meat
● Soprassata: it is made with boiled pork
head and neck aromatised with
spices, lemon zest chopped parsley and
garlic. This mixture is stuffed in a canvas or a
silk dag. It has a round shape, a dark grey
colour and an intense scent.
⑥

8. Cured meat
● Sausages: They are made with minced
pork meat expecially shoulder and gammon
combined with natural flavours such as sage
and rosemary and stuffed in a gut.
⑥

9. The 5th group

10. Cheese
● Pecorino cheese from Siena hills: It has a
straw colour. It's a soft and fresh cheese
which becomes crunchy with ageing.
⑤

11. Cheese
● Chianti Marzolino: it's made with sheep
milk and is produced exclusively in Tuscan
Chianti. It's oval or round in shape.
⑤

12. The 4th group

13. •Chicken and fish
Valdarno chicken: it is a chicken raised freely.
It's strong and vigorous. It has a delicate
flavour.
④

14. Chicken and fish
● Brown trout: it is dark with red and black
spots. This kind of trout can live in rivers
brooks and lakes and has a delicate flavour
④

15. The 3rd group

16. Legumes and nuts
•Monte Amiata chestnut: it is an Italian IGP. It's
big and has a particular flavour and scent.
③

17. Legumes and nuts
● Valdarno chickpea: it has a subtle skin, a
tender flesh and a distinct flavour. It has a
dark colour.
③

18. Legumes and nuts
● Maremma chickpea: it has a small seed, a
subtle skin and can be cooked quickly. It can
be also digested easily
③

19. Legumes and nuts
● Zolfino bean:it is typical of some areas of
Tuscany. It has a light yellow colour, a thick
skin and can be easily digested.
③

20. The 2nd group

21. Oil, bread and potatoes
● Tuscan extravirgin olive oil: It's produced on
Tuscan hills. It is the most authentic
expression of an area devoted to olive. It is
lean and with a distinct flavour
②

22. Oil, bread and potatoes
● Red Cetica potato: It is a variety of potato grown in
Cetica, on Pratomagno hills above 500 metres in Tuscany. It
has a red skin, a strong texture and a compact flesh.
②

23. Oil, bread and potatoes
•Tuscan bread: It is typical of Tuscan culture. It's
unsalted but savoury due to a special kind of
natural raising made with acid , yeast and milk
bacteria.
②

24. The1st group

25. Fruit and vegetables
● Black cabbage: it is without a central
flower, it has dark green leaves similar to
spades with an unsmooth surface. Its
flavour is quite bitter and distinct. It’s
used in Tuscan cuisine as an ingredient of
a typical soup called “Ribollita”.
①

26. Fruit and vegetables
● Florentine long courgette: it has a light
green colour with several shadows. It’s
harvested with the flower. It is watery and
delicate.
①

27. Fruit and vegetables
● Tuscan red onion:it has a dark red skin and a
white flesh. It has a spicy flavour, expecially
when cooked. It’s used for sauces, soups or
omelettes.
①

28. Fruit and vegetables
● Florentine costoluto tomato: it has a
savoury taste and a compact flesh. It’s
consumed fresh , in salads or as a puree.
①

29. Fruit and vegetables
● Montevarchi celery: it is not frost resistant
and not gentle. It is attacked by parassites.
The stalk is appreciated for its tenderness
and used in “pinzimonio”
①

30. Fruit and vegetables
● Tuscan cotogna peach: it has a dark yellow
colour, it’s round but not big. It has a
particular scent and an excellent flavour.
①

31. Fruit and vegetables
● Valdichiana rusty apple: it has a yellow-rusty
skin and a yellowish flesh.it’s particularly
savoury and fleshy.
①

32. Fruit and vegetables
●Valcornia melon: it has particular organoleptic
features due to the climate and the soil of
Valcornia. It’s particularly sugary
①

33. Fruit and vegetables
●Lari cherry: it’s a fleshy and sugary cherry, with
an intense red colour and flavour. It’s typical of
Pisa area.
①

34. Fruit and vegetables
●Sangiovese Montanino vine: it is not a so
vigorous vine, its red grapes are harvested quite
early. It has a high sugar level.
①