Cantucci and Vin Santo: This Tuscan dessert is known worldwide
Posted on 23. Aug, 2010 by admin in Archive, Food & Wine
Among the numerous delicacies in the traditional enogastronomy of Siena, “Cantucci and Vin Santo” deserve a special mention.
In Siena it is traditional to serve a glass of Vin Santo or sweet dessert wine with a typical Tuscan “cantuccio”. The best way to savour this is to dip the cantuccio into the wine to exalt its flavour.
Vinsanto or Vin Santo is the traditional Tuscan dessert wine considered as being a sign of hospitality and courtesy. At harvest-time, the best bunches of grapes from varieties like Trebbiano and Malvasia are gathered. A local legend recounts that in 1348 a Franciscan Friar cured victims of the plague with a wine with was used by the confraternity to celebrate mass. Thus, the legend of a miraculous wine was born and hence, the use of the word sacred in its name but the name is undoubtedly related to the fact that this wine was used to celebrate Holy Mass.
Vinsanto is traditionally made from the best grapes which are placed on rush mats or even hung from hooks in well-aired spaces to dry. The drying process can last several months before the grapes are pressed and the must (unfermented grape juice) is collected in wooden barrels. Due to the long drying period, the must has a very high concentration of sugar and this gives rise to the distinctive characteristic of the wine which can have an alcohol content up to 19% for the drier varieties.
The grapes are pressed as near as possible to Holy Week. During this operation, great care is taken in keeping the dregs of last years production because if this is emptied from the barrels then it is believed that the Vinsanto might not ferment well. This is called the mother ferment. Traditionally, the barrels are sealed and kept in the attics of peoples’ homes. A period of three years of fermentation is sufficient to produce a good quality Vinsanto but more scrupulous winemakers consider 10 years as the ideal period for a quality wine. Still today, true connoisseurs of Vinsanto add a little of the mother ferment to recreate that authentic and traditional taste.
The typical colour of Vinsanto is a brilliant amber-yellow with an intense, fine bouquet. The ideal accompaniment to savour the fragrance of Vinsanto is the Tuscan Cantuccini or Cantucci. Cantuccini are erroneously called biscotti di Prato but this is due to the high quality of production throughout Tuscany.
In Siena, “canto” means corner and Cantucci represent little diagonal shaped pieces of pastry cut when still warm. The pastry is made of flour, sugar, egg, almonds, pine nuts, butter and milk and the almonds should neither be toasted nor peeled. A popular belief regarding the origin of the name “Cantuccio” is that in the past, poor people who had no money to by biscuits would ask for the “heel-end” of the loaf which in Tuscany is known as the “cantuccio”.
This dessert has fairly recent origins dating from the mid-XIX century. The renowned writer Herman Hesse was one of the great connoisseurs of Cantuccini. In a letter from his book “From Italy” he tells of little dry biscuits which were so good that they were even able to bring bad his good humour!
