If you’re visiting Tuscany we invite you to enjoy the variety and excellence of Tuscan food! You will love the traditional Tuscan cuisine, a tasty combination of simplicity and great taste.
In every Tuscan town, including Pisa, you will discover a rich local food tradition based on simple dishes prepared with delicious local ingredients: seasonal vegetables, excellent extra virgin olive oil, tasty cold cuts, olives, pecorino cheese, meat and bread, obviously accompanied with delicious wines.
Spending one day in Pisa, don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy the city like a local, discovering the tastiest typical recipes: you will learn that food and wine are an important part of the Pisan culture and identity! Pisa offers you a tour into local taste with its typical specialties, from the seafood menu or the meat dishes to the salty pie called Cecina to the Torta coi bischeri, a delicious cake made with the precious pine nuts.
For the most demanding foodies we recommend the pasta dishes with game sauce which are typical of the area, such as hare or wild boar, and the Ravioli with ragout sauce made with the local cow meat called “mucco pisano”.
The identity of Pisa has always been connected with the sea and among the most popular dishes based on fish you will find the Spaghetti con le arselle (with clams), the stuffed mussels in Pisan styles, mussels with a filling of shrimps, squids and eggs flavoured with parsley and garlic and cooked in tomato sauce, Grilled salt cod with leeks and the so called poor man’s Anchovie, fresh anchovies marinated in white vinegar and served with sliced onion, parsley, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil.
While visiting Pisa an unmissable stop are the Pisan pizzerias, where you can enjoy two specialties that have many fans among locals: the Cecina and the Pizza Pisana.
The Cecina is a delicious salty pie made with chickpeas flour mixed with water, extra virgin olive oil and salt. It is served in slices, alone or as the filling of a focaccina, a round small focaccia. It is a simple, healthy food also suitable for vegetarians.
The pizza Pisana is our traditional Pisan pizza made with tomato sauce, anchovies, capers and parmesan cheese and it is ideal for a quick tasty snack during your visit of Pisa!
Pisa is a city to admire not only for its beautiful monuments, but also for the shop windows of its traditional pastry shops scattered in the narrow streets of the historic center. Here you will find a wide choice of typical pastries and enjoy a slice of our delicious Torta coi bischeri, a typical Pisan cake made with chocolate, rise, raisins and delicious organic pine nuts which are a very famous and appreciated traditional product of the Pisan territory. The word “bischeri” belongs to the Tuscan dialect and in Pisa it is used to indicate the tips on the edges of the cake, but there is a funny history behind.
What we have written is just a brief introduction to the delicious local recipes that you can taste in Pisa. We are really very happy to have introduced you to the Tuscan passion for good food and we invite you to take a look at our food tours, conceived to let you discover the local taste of Pisa!
Blog created by our tour guide Antonella Bertolani!