Lucca
What to eat
Lucca cuisine is linked to Tuscan traditions and is expressed in its typical dishes ranging from soups to vegetable flans. Flavours and fragrances encapsulate the variety of a territory, a perfect balance of sea and hillside joins.
GARMUGIA
Garmugia is an ancient noble dish made with spring vegetables and meat. This dish is rooted in the territory and has a long history, it was the Marquise Incontri Lotteringhi della Stufa who made it famous as she included the recipe in her book ‘Pranzi e Conviti’. The book recommended the dish as a restorative food for the sick, actually today it is a delicacy because of the ingredients available for a limited period of the year. The origin of its name derives from ‘germiglio’ which means ‘sprout’ in Tuscan because of the use of the fresh vegetables with their prized flavour.
TORDELLI
Tordelli are a popular traditional dish from Lucca. They have a characteristic half-moon shape and are filled with stale Tuscan bread, minced meat and vegetables. They are the Tuscan Sunday dish par excellence. Their origins date back to the Middle Ages, when every ingredient was used in the past so as not to waste anything. A very rich and tasty dish with a full-bodied texture and shape that is seasoned with meat sauce. Beautiful to look at but above all good to eat, they represent the most intense expression of Lucca’s conviviality and tradition.
BUCCELLATO
Buccellato is the traditional sweet of Lucca. A sweet with very ancient origins, its name derives from ‘bucella’ and was a kind of biscuit widespread among the poorer classes and distributed to soldiers at the time of Roman colonisation. The original recipe is made from a few ingredients such as flour, water, sugar, aniseed, brewer’s yeast and sultanas. A simple and tasty cake that delights all palates, a famous saying goes ‘Whoever comes to Lucca and does not eat buccellato is like never having been there’ to say that it is impossible to miss such goodness.