This is the second and final post on traditional Tuscan first courses, so stay tuned for the second courses. Dripdrip, there’ll be meat and game in this post.

For info on what DOCG and DOC mean, go to the bottom of the post.

Spaghetti al Chianti

If you’re a wine enthusiast/aficionado, this is the dish for you. The sauce calls for Chianti DOCG (one of Tuscany’s most renowned red wines), pancetta (cured pork belly), leek, butter, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Dishes like this aren’t a novelty in Italian cuisine and are commonly called ubriachi (drunken).

Pici al Ragù di Cinta Senese

Regular readers of this series will know that pici is a type of fresh pasta shaped into long, thick cylinders. Ragù per se is a sauce made with minced meat and soffritto (sautéed diced vegetables). What’s left is Cinta Senese. I’ll give you a few clues: it grunts, squeals and rolls in the mud. Yes, it’s a piiiig, but not just any pig! The Cinta Senese is an ancient and prized breed of black pig native to the province of Siena, hence the Senese bit. The pigs are reared in wild or semi-wild conditions, where they’re allowed to roam freely in the Tuscan wooded hills; no more than ten adult pigs can occupy one hectare of land (2.5 acres). The result is a small, healthy pig with lean, tender meat. The breed almost became extinct in the 60s, but a state-run program has stabilised the situation. For all these reasons, Cinta Senese meat is protected by DOP status.

Back to the recipe. The ragù is made with Cinta Senese pork loin, carrots, onions, herbs, white wine, broth, olive oil and pepper. Yes, it’s a white ragù. For future reference, when I say ragù without specifying, I mean a red ragù.

Is free-range the same as semi-wild? Is intensive farming the opposite? If so, how would you say the pigs are reared? Please, post your answers in the comments below.

Tagliatelle al Ragù di Cinghiale

Tagliatelle is served with a ragù made with wild boar meat. You either love it or hate it; there’s no middle ground.

Pappardelle sulla Lepre

You know the drill. Lepre means hare, so the dish calls for a hare ragù. Pappardelle is a type of egg pasta from Tuscany, similar to tagliatelle but wider. If you know Italian, you may have noticed the preposition sulla. That’s how the locals say it.

DOCG and DOP are food labels given to historically valuable food products to protect consumers. If you want to buy a product with DOP or DOCG status, you can be sure you’re buying the real thing by looking at the label on the packaging. Of course, this is an oversimplification.