We are cyclists: we spend a lot of time on our bikes. So, which could be the best way to celebrate the end of a long ride, if not with a great meal?

In a fast paced world, where eating has become something you do in less than 15 minutes heating a frozen chicken in a microwave, in Italy, our culinary tradition is revolutionary.

In many houses you will still be able to find a grandma making fresh pasta at least once a week.

Simple and tasty is what you will find: very good quality products that make all the difference. Sitting around a table is still luckily a tradition that brings people together no matter the time of the year.

The Tuscan cuisine reflects the Mediterranean one, based on simple and fresh ingredients but also a strong agricultural tradition.

Though if in people’s imagination, the typical landscape they expect to see in Tuscany is the one with rolling hills and vineyards, we also need to remember the presence of a vast amount of forested areas present in the territory, where hunting is a common practice since centuries ago, with venison’s based dishes being very popular during winter times.

Recipes like Pappardelle alla Lepre (pasta with a rabbit sauce) or Cinghiale in Umido (Wild boar stew), are still very typical and characteristic from this region. If we go towards Siena, then we can find many products made with a specific type of pig, the Cinta Senese. Capocollo, Soppressata and a few more cold cuts are obtained from the meat of this animal, which during all his life follows a specific diet. For the lovers of meat a traditional Fiorentina beef steak is a classic that you can find pretty much in every restaurant across Tuscany.

And how can we forget the delicious "Olio novello", the year’s very first olive oil. On the table of every family in Tuscany you can find a bottle of this very tasty extra virgin olive oil from our hills, produced from the olive harvest in October every year.

The extra virgin olive oil is also the protagonist of the Mediterranean diet, and easily accompanies every local dish, adding flavor and freshness to Tuscan cuisine.

As previously mentioned, the peasant tradition is very strong here, so that simple dishes such as "la ribollita di pane" (a homemade winter soup, made with stale bread and seasonal vegetables) and "la panzanella" (a light bread based salad with celery and fresh tomatoes, to eat in summer) are as simple to make as they are common to find on the menus of our restaurants depending on the period.

As for the sweet part of the Tuscan recipe book, certainly worthy of note are the Castagnaccio, a typical dessert from the Pistoia hills made with chestnut flour and rosemary. As well, the Cantuccini biscuits, made with eggs and almonds are easy to find everywhere and great to be accompanied with an excellent Vin Santo, a sweet grape based liquor obtained with a special procedure used as dessert wine. 

Finally, we couldn’t not mention the Chianti. Tuscany is certainly one of the most prolific regions in Europe when it comes to wine production.

In fact, many of you have probably heard of Chianti, an area that extends between the Southern hills of Florence and North of Siena, from where this wine obtains its name.

The Sangiovese, a dry red wine, is the most popular of the region. And how can we forget the Brunello, produced in the surrounding area of ​​Montalcino, or the Nobile from Montepulciano.

If we look a little bit further south, near the coast, in Bolgheri we can find another well-known wine, the famous Sassicaia, this time not made from Sangiovese grapes but from a blend between Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc.

Apart from all the red ones mentioned above, it is worth remembering the Vernaccia, a white dry wine produced from the area around the hill town of San Gimignano.

And last but not least: coffee. Although coffee is not originally from Italy, something very interesting happened with it, as it became an intrinsic part of our daily social life. Italian’s have mastered the espresso and if you add a freshly baked pastry to it then you have the perfect stop on a bike ride.

Keeping such a strong culinary tradition is not only a fashionable thing, but it’s good for our health. Cooking from scratch, with fresh and local ingredients, and enjoying a meal with people you love, will benefit not only your body but your mental health. It will help you to stay more present. 

So when it comes to that, riding a bike and eating in Italy seem to share some qualities. Riding a bike in Tuscany while enjoying a culinary experience is having the best of both worlds.