In Castiglione D’Orcia, another fortress in the Val D’Orcia area, the festival takes place with two typical products of the Tuscan tradition, crostini and pici.
Pici are a type of handmade pasta, similar to spaghetti but wider, typical of southern Tuscany, in particular Siena, and the Val d’Orcia.
The traditional recipe involves the use of water, flour and salt, eggs are traditionally absent, but are added in more recent variations which makes them more similar to other egg pastas such as tonnarelli. The preparation consists of “appiciare”, that is, working the pasta by hand, pulling it until it creates a long, full-bodied spaghetti.
The classic condiments of the Tuscan tradition that accompany the pici are the Aglione sauce (a tomato and garlic sauce), the “nana” or “ocio” sauce, the meat ragù “alla Chiantigiana” (prepared with meat ragù, usually Chianina, blended with Chianti), ragù based on game (boar and hare), “alle crumble” (seasoned with Tuscan bread crumbs fried in olive oil) and finally the “cacio e pepe”.
