Siena Food Culture

Hand-rolled pasta the thickness of electrical wire, served with a sauce that reduces 20 cloves of garlic, San Marzano tomatoes, and enough olive oil to make cardiologists nervous. The texture is chewy in that way only pasta made without eggs achieves.

Chicken liver pâté spread on toasted bread that's been rubbed with raw garlic until it squeaks. The smell hits first - iron-rich liver, sweet wine, and sage. At Antica Trattoria Papei, they serve it warm, the edges caramelized from the broiler.

A soup so thick your spoon stands upright, made from yesterday's bread, cannellini beans, and whatever vegetables are going soft in the kitchen. The texture alternates between silky bean broth and chunks of bread that have dissolved into something approaching pudding. Trattoria La Torre makes it with cavolo nero that's been massaged until it's almost black.

Medieval fruitcake that tastes good. Dense, chewy, packed with honey, nuts, and dried fruit so heavily spiced it clears your sinuses. The version from Pasticceria Nannini on Via Banchi di Sopra has been made since 1911 using the same 13th-century recipe.

The Rolls-Royce of pork. These black-and-white pigs roam oak forests eating acorns, giving their meat a nutty sweetness that lingers on your tongue like good whiskey. The fat melts at room temperature, coating your mouth with a texture that's almost creamy.

Almond cookies so hard they threaten dental work, served with amber dessert wine made from dried grapes. The trick is letting the cookie soak until it's just soft enough to bite through without disintegrating. Osteria Il Carroccio serves it with their own Vin Santo aged five years in chestnut barrels.

Wide noodles dressed in wild boar ragu that's been simmering since dawn. The meat falls apart into threads that taste of rosemary, juniper, and red wine reduced until it's almost black. At Trattoria Da Divo, they use boar hunted in the Maremma hills.

Almond paste cookies that dissolve on your tongue like snow. The texture is somewhere between marzipan and meringue, with a perfume of orange zest and vanilla. They're traditionally eaten at Christmas but available year-round.

Tripe sandwich that's better than it sounds. The fourth stomach of the cow simmered with tomatoes and celery until it's tender enough to cut with a plastic fork. The sauce has that funky, iron-rich taste that serious eaters learn to crave.

Orange-scented flatbread dusted with vanilla sugar. The texture is pillowy-soft, with a crust that crackles like creme brûlée. Despite the name, Siena's version uses more orange zest and less vanilla than Florence's.