I can say with confidence that almost all of our recipes, excluding those for sweets (and even there, there are exceptions) call for the use of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil. It was truly difficult for me to decide on recipes for our special olive oil section, based on the fact that nearly every recipe we feature uses liberal amounts of Tuscan EVOO!

However, I decided on two special recipes for this newsletter, based on their seasonal appropriateness and popularity here in Tuscany. Please enjoy our recipes for Tuscan Ragu, and Pollo alla Cacciatora.

Ragu alla Toscana

This delicious and meaty sauce features three different meat products: ground beef, ground pork, and delicious pancetta. This is a rich sauce, and a meal that features this can be easily completed with a fresh green salad. We like a ragu served over a hearty, rather than a delicate, pasta.

• 1/2 cup Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 ounces pancetta, diced
• 1 medium white onion, chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 medium stalk celery, chopped
• 2 medium cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup flat leaf Italian parsley, minced
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 pound lean ground pork
• 3/4 cup Tuscan red wine
• 3 one pound cans chopped plum tomatoes
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Cook the pancetta in the olive oil for a few minutes to begin to melt some of its fat; add the carrot, onion and celery and cook until soft, about 10 minutes to 15 minutes over medium low heat. Add the beef and pork, and raise the heat a bit to get some color on the meats. As they begin to brown, add the garlic and parsley and cook for just a few minutes more.

At this point, the heat can be lowered and it is time to add the wine, stirring well to loosen all the browned bits of meat from the pan. Continue cooking until the wine is nearly evaporated, then add the tomatoes. Season to taste, and simmer the sauce for at least one hour. A ragu is a complex and deeply flavored sauce, and its taste should be as deep and layered as its cooking method. This recipe serves 8 people with a hearty pasta, such as fettucine, gnocchi, or penne. We especially like meaty ragu with thick, curly mafalda noodles.

Pollo alla Cacciatora

What could be more delightful during the cold days of December, than to serve a steaming platter of Pollo Cacciatora, or Tuscan Hunter's Chicken? We love this recipe, and we think you will, also. Enjoy!

• 1/3 cup Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 3 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 or 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, leaves roughly chopped
• 2 sprigs fresh sage, leaves roughly chopped
• 8 to 10 chicken pieces, totaling 3 to 4 pounds with bones
• salt, pepper and red pepper flakes for seasoning the chicken
• 2/3 cup Tuscan red wine
• 3 tablespoons good quality tomato paste
• 2/3 cup hot chicken stock or broth

Heat the olive oil in a heavy skillet or Dutch oven and add the chicken pieces that have been liberally seasoned with salt and pepper. Cook the chicken over medium high heat until brown. This should take about 15 minutes. When the chicken is almost a golden brown, add the garlic, rosemary and sage, and cook for a few minutes more, until the garlic and herbs wilt. Add the red pepper flakes just before the chicken is ready for the wine. (We like to have some heat in this dish, but you can cut back on the red pepper if you prefer).

Lower the heat a bit, and deglaze the pan with the red wine; simmer about 10 minutes, or until the wine is nearly evaporated. Add the tomato paste and chicken stock, and cover. Simmer the dish for about 30 minutes. Let the dish rest for a few minutes before removing the chicken pieces to a platter. At this point, you can skim the sauce of any fat that might be on the top, and reduce it a bit if necessary. Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve. A salad and a loaf of crusty bread are all the accompaniments needed!

Nearly a thousand years after Rome lost power, the cultivation of olive groves began to flourish again in Italy. Tuscany, as a powerful region with sophisticated legal and social structures, came to the forefront in the production of olive oil, and in setting standards for such production. As early as 1400, Tuscany became known as the center for olive oil production, which indeed was flourishing throughout Italy.

According to the editors of Journey Through Tuscany to Discover Its Products, "Revolutionary and wise Medicean agricultural policies made a real change in the landscape of Tuscany, encouraging the rental, under advantageous conditions, of vast uncultivated lands to peasant families. These new farmers were required to respect a single obligation. The had to clear the forests and plant olive trees."

When missionaries left Europe for the New World, olive oil was one of the products that they took with them. However, it wasn't until the great immigration waves of the late 19th and early 20th centuries that olive oil made its way into the culinary consciousness, outside of the Mediterranean.

For Tuscany, after the great Medicean land reforms, the most important advance in olive oil agriculture and economics came in 1997 when the European Union recognized a geographical identity for the olive oil of Tuscany, which was already the most famous olive oil in the world. Again, according to the editors of Journey Through Tuscany to Discover Its Products, previous to 1997, "On the market, at that time, we found half a million quintals of 'Tuscan' olive oil, when production was less that 20 thousand!

Today, the mark of Protected Geographic Indication (an olive branch against the background of a map of the region) insures that every single olive that is used in the production of Tuscan olive oil is grown in Tuscany. Further, every olive mill that crushes those olives, and every stage of processing and packaging Tuscan olive oil are all right inside the geographic borders of Tuscany.

There are 70,000 small producers of Tuscan olive oil, and they cultivate four main types of olives, and many other lesser known varieties (all grown in Tuscany) are used to insure the complexity of the flavor of the oil. The four main types are Frantoio, Maoraiolo, Leccino, and the Pendolino, which is used as a pollinator tree.

Our fresh oil is bright green, has a spicy and slightly bitter taste, and is as healthy as it is delicious. Extra Virgin (first pressing) olive oil is good for digestion, prevents ulcers and gastric upsets, and favors the absorption of vitamin E. And it is widely known that the so-called Mediterranean Diet is high in "good" cholesterol and prevents heart disease.

In our last issue, we made a special request to all of our readers to share their memories of holidays spent in Tuscany, and also to share any of their Christmas recipes and traditions that originated here in Tuscany. We are planning to feature your letters in our next issue, so if you have been thinking about writing to us on this subject, now is the time.

Perhaps a part of your holiday celebrations includes a special Tuscan wine, or a recipe that has been handed down from your Tuscan ancestors. Maybe you spent a Christmas or New Year here with us. If so, won't you please write and share your stories with all of our readers who love things Tuscan as much as we do?

Please send your letters to Tuscanlifeedit@verizon.net

We look forward to hearing from you, and sharing all of your messages with our readers in our Christmas newsletter.

Florence: An Antiques Fair is held each year at the Fortezza in mid-December. This year, the dates are December 17 and 18. Piazza SS. Annunziata celebrates the Fair of the Virgin Mary on December 8.

Greve in Chianti: A Crafts Fair is a yearly event. This year's fair will be held on December 5.

Prato: The city holds a Christmas Fair in the Piazza San Francesco. The dates for 2004 are December 17 - 23. Additionally, they celebrate the Festival Natale '04; Capodanno '05 from the 12th of December through the 6th of January.

Fiesole: Fiesole hosts a Medieval Christmas Market on December 12. A small Christmas fair will be held in the main piazza on December 19.

Marradi: Marradi is hosting a Christmas Market from December 5 through December 12.

Scarperia: An outdoor collectibles market will be held this year from December 5 through December 19.

Pietrasanta: A Crafts Fair will be held this year on December 12.

Arezzo: Arezzo celebrates the Fiera di Natale in Piazza Sant'Agostino from December 12 - 19.

Fivizzano: Fivizzano celebrates the Fiera di Santa Lucia on December 14.

Cascina: the town holds the Fiera di San Benedetto on December 13.

Montespertoli: The town celebrates Christmas at Montespertoli with entertainment in the town center from December 12 - 25.

Stazzema: This village features a traditional Live Nativity scene on Christmas Eve.

Cantagallo di Prato: This small town holds a Chestnut Pancake Fair this year on December 23.