Inviting guests for your wedding means taking responsibility for their pastime. Apart from choosing the best time to get married in Tuscany, you will have to choose the served food carefully. A pleasant family reunion is always accompanied by a food reception, and you need to try to meet everyone’s gastronomic preferences. We are all different and you can never be sure about all the guests: who is vegan, who is allergic – all the “I do not eat” could be difficult to bear in mind. Anyway, we are here to help you! As the experienced wedding planners and as the Italians ourselves, we would like to propose you five ideas of typically Tuscan dishes, that you can serve at your wedding reception.
Perhaps the most famous product of this area is the world-famous wine. Its deep, soft and rich taste carries a piece of the gentle sun of Tuscany, the warmth of green fields and hills. In addition to wine, Tuscany will show you all the great variety of dishes for your wedding reception! There are many pieces of traditional cuisine to surprise even experienced gourmets. This region has many traditional snacks and appetizers. In addition, Tuscany will please vegetarians with a great variety of non-meat dishes, as there is no monoculture and there are vineyards, olive trees, cereals, and potatoes. Let’s have a look!
Known as the holiest of holies of Italian cuisine, the Florentine-style beef steak is prepared exclusively with dry-aged beef from the Chianina cattle, which is particularly prized for its tenderness. Even though bistecca alla Fiorentina is often described as a T-bone steak, it is much closer to a porterhouse – since it is cut closer to the centre, the tenderloin is much larger than the one on a regular T-bone. Make your meat-lover guests happy by offering them the traditional variety of meat that can be served in a few different ways.
Pappardelle is a famous Tuscan pasta variety. When paired with ragù di cinghiale (made with wild boar), they become one of the region’s best gastronomic experiences. Unlike classic ragù, the one prepared with wild boar has an intense, much stronger flavour achieved by long, slow simmering in a rich sauce of tomatoes and red wine.
Also if you organize your wedding in autumn, you have a unique opportunity to try fresh handmade pappardelle with truffles, and if you are in Tuscany during the last three weekends in November, the White Truffle Festival in San Miniato is a must-visit!
Cacciucco is a Tuscan fish stew that has a history that stretches back to at least 500 years ago. Hold off refusing to serve this dish, thinking that stew is not appropriate for a wedding reception. Its rich taste will impress everyone, as the stew is flavoured with tomatoes, white wine, olive oil, lots of garlic, fresh sage, and dried red chilli peppers. For a more substantial meal, cacciucco is most often served over toasted, garlic-rubbed bread like pane campagnolo, a Tuscan favourite.
Traditionally, cacciucco is said to have five different types of fish and seafood in it – one for each “C” in its name – octopus and squid or cuttlefish go in first, while the tender-fleshed fish, mussels, and prawns are added toward the end of cooking.
Italy in general does really wonderful fried things. We do recommend you to try fried zucchini flowers and other seasonal vegetables, fried rabbit, fried polenta, coccoli with stracchino and prosciutto (fried dough balls slathered in the middle with fresh cheese and salty prosciutto – so good!) fried polpette meatballs, frittelle di mela (which are battered and fried apple rings!) fish fry-ups and so much more. As you can see, Tuscany does not joke around with frying!
You can experiment with fried dishes a lot, especially if you know that there are many vegetarians among your guests. Tell your preferences to our chef and let the wedding cookery show begins!
When it comes to dessert, it is now up to surprise your guests. We suggest you prepare a very traditional dessert, which will satisfy all gastronomic preferences of you and your guests by its richness and simplicity at the same time.
Panforte di Siena is a traditional Italian dessert also known as Siena cake. The modern panforte variety is made with nuts, dried fruit, and a generous amount of spices such as cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves. All of the ingredients are combined with a sugary syrup, usually made with butter, sugar, and honey, and the cake is generously dusted with powdered sugar.
This mixture of ingredients forms an unusual and dense cake with a firm structure and an interesting flavour combination. Believed to have originated in the 13th century in Siena, a city in central Tuscany, it has become an indispensable part of traditional Italian confectionery production.
Any dishes you prefer, we want to tell you that you chose the right place to make a gastronomic paradise at your wedding! These five dishes are only an introduction to a wonderful world of Tuscan cuisine. Share your ideas of how your wedding menu looks like and we give you much more food tips to follow! And if you have any doubts left, we are here to help you with the article about the tips for a perfect wedding in Tuscany.
