Tradition matters. It matters a lot in the case of Valeria Piccini, who has been creating dishes at Caino restaurant (2 Michelin Stars) for the Menichetti Family in Montemerano, just a few kilometers from the Saturnia hot springs, for the past forty years. Her skilled hands and creativity are dedicated to recipes and dishes that dare to go beyond Tuscan tradition without ever forgetting it, offering flavorful and succulent dishes that "you eat all of," as is customary in rural habits, playing on contrasts and aromas. She is a "neo-rural cook," as she has been recently described, and it would be an understatement to call her "self-taught" because her life has been enriched by travels, gastronomic pilgrimages, and teachings from restaurateurs and professionals in her region, the same region from which she draws inspiration and to which she returns her creations. In other words, cooking is in her blood. As she herself says, "It will be this way until it stops being fun, until it stops stimulating me to be in the kitchen among young people to experiment and create. As long as I like what is produced, I will continue to do it." We hope this will be for many, many more years.
