Lumache con Lardo Toscano in Umido
Tuscany — Lunigiana e Mugello
Tuscany's stewed snails — Helix pomatia or Helix aspersa purged and blanched, then stewed for 2 hours in a soffritto of lard (lardo di Colonnata for the Lunigiana version), garlic, tomato, wine, and rosemary. Snails are not a rustic afterthought in Tuscan cooking — they are a delicacy of the late summer and autumn, eaten as a secondo with bread. The lardo provides both cooking fat and flavour; when it renders into the tomato-wine braise, the combination of pork fat and snail juices produces an extraordinary unified sauce.