We made a special trip to enjoy Market Day in Siena, which is always held on Wednesday mornings, and continues until early afternoon. Be aware that streets and parking lots can be particularly crowded on Market Day, and it takes a little patience, or a willingness to walk, to find a good parking spot. The market begins at the foot of Siena's

Fotezza Medicea, which sits high atop the town. Actually, if you're looking for the market stalls, just head straight up! The Fortezza and the market are both at the very top of hilly Siena.

Like many large markets, Siena's rambles on, up the foot of the hill outside the Fortezza, and then it branches out along the promenade at the top, both to the left and right. At the top of the promenade, just about everything one can think of is for sale. We have purchased clothing, scarves, garden containers and tools, plants, cosmetics, and more! There are stalls selling lovely ceramics, and others featuring kitchen supplies, and just about every household item imaginable. But it is the food portion of the market that we like best.

As mentioned above, the food stalls sit at the bottom of the 16th century Fortezza, and run up hill a bit of the way. The food stalls sell all manner of fresh, seasonal fruits and vegetables. There are fish mongers, and stalls with fresh meat and poultry. Olives and pickled vegetables of every variety are for sale, as well as the best condiments, fine vinegars, mostardo, spices, and of course, extra virgin Tuscan olive oil. We especially love the cheese merchants, and the mobile salumneria. Why do we love them? Why, because they plied us with loads of wonderful samples, of course!

After shopping to our hearts' contentment, we settled in to a huge cafe at the top of the Fortezza promenade. Cappuccini and pastries refreshed us before we headed down into the town proper, for a visit to the Duomo, Il Campo, and more food shops. Along the way, we stopped at the National Wine Institute, the Enoteca Italiana, where we tasted some excellent Tuscans.

A favorite treat of anyone who has been near Siena are Ricciarelli, those chewy, boat shaped almond cookies that, for me, symbolize culinary Siena. Interestingly, these hugely popular treats are said not to be native to Siena, but are thought to have been brought here by a returning Crusader, Senese noble Ricciardetto della Gherardesca. Gherardesca wrote of marzipan based sweetmeats that were turned up at one end, it a effort to resemble the Sultan's slippers. Today, the Ricciarelli are baked flat, but they are still made with almond paste, just as they were centuries ago.

Sienese cuisine has its roots in Etruscan and Roman cooking, but it was in Medieval times that the ancient dishes gained new life through the importation of spices. Spicy Panforte and the vanilla that flavors the Ricciarelli are examples of the way the new spices were used in Senese cooking. Today's cooks in Siena rely more on high quality local ingredients, as well as the aromatic herbs grown in the countryside that surrounds Siena. Among the favorite herbs used in Siena are wild tarragon and calamint.

Many dishes in Siena, such as beans and grain, require slow cooking, and the tradition of leisurely dining that follows is strong here. Chianina cattle are raised locally, and their excellence is part of the delight of eating in Siena. The local pigs, the Cinta Senese, or Sienese Saddleback had once almost disappeared from the local farms, but today the breed has been reinforced and thrives on farmlands in Chianti and in Montagnola area west of Siena. Add to that the very freshest Extra Virgin Tuscan Olive Oil, and you have a hearty Tuscan cuisine that traces itself back to the earliest times.

Siena's culinary traditions have spread because of the city's once powerful position in the old world. Senese cooks were the first to preserve pork with pepper and garlic, and then smoke it, as a way to carry meat in the ships of King Frederic II's navy. Caterina de' Medici took chefs from Siena with her when she married the future king of France, Henri d'Orléan.

Those ancient culinary traditions can still be experienced in Siena. Visitors should seek out the crostini di milza, topped with a hearty meat sauce made from spleen (much better than it sounds), and zuppa di fagioli, pappardelle con la lepre, pan-cooked chicken or squab known as arrosto mortoor, and grilled rare Chianina beef steaks. Pair these with fabulous local wines to create memorable meals. Siena is at the center of a spectacular wine producing region that is home to no less that 5 DOCG and 12 DOC wines.

Of all the foods of Siena, perhaps the sweets are the most well known. No one who passes through here can ignore the tempting pasticcerias, and the large number of shops that sell Panforte. Riccarelli and Cavallucci are both made with almond paste, and have a crunch and inner softness that is addictive. I love them both. In bakeries, it is easy to find Pan coi Santi and Schiacciata di Pasquaare, with used to be confined to holiday times, but are now readily obtainable.

Among Siena's most popular places to try her traditional foods is the Trattoria La Torre, located at 32 Via Casato di Sotto. This small trattoria has excellent food, and is quite popular with visitors and locals alike; the risotto here comes highly recommended. I suggest reserving :

Tel.: 0577.41.16.5

Closed Wednesday (Market Day!)

Other good choices are listed below:

• Antica Trattoria Botteganova Strada per Montevarchi, 29
  
• Ristorante Trattoria Fori Porta Tolomei Claudio (Via), 1
  
• Trattoria Da Dino Via Casato di Sopra, 71
  
• Trattoria di Fonte Nuova Ovile (piazza d'), 9
  
• Trattoria Garibaldi Via Duprè, 18
  
• Trattoria Il Giuggiolo Massetana (strada), 30
  
• Trattoria La Tellina Via delle Terme, 52
  
• Trattoria Papei Piazza del Mercato, 6
  
  

Ricciarelli

12 ounces of peeled, toasted almonds. To peel, toast first, then rub in clean dish cloth until most of the skin is removed.

• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup confectioner's or icing sugar
• 1 TBS. grated orange peel
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 egg whites, beaten
• 2 dozen rounds of rice paper

Ground the almonds to a powder, then add all of the granulated sugar, and half the confectioner's sugar. Add the orange peel and vanilla, mix, and then gently fold in the beaten egg whites, just a bit at a time to avoid deflating them. Your mixture should be a smooth, soft paste.

Place approximately a largish teaspoon of the mixture on each rice paper round, and shape it into a boat or diamond shape. Dust with the remaining powdered sugar and leave the Ricciarelli overnight.

Bake in a slow oven, set around 300 degrees F, for 15 to 20 minutes. You actually want to dry the cookies, rather than really bake them. Remove them before they brown, place on a wire rack, and dust with a little more confectioner's sugar.

Pappardelle with hare sauce

Note: this is a typical dish from Tuscany. Pappardelle are dressed with a sauce made with hare. This meat must be cooked for a long time.

• 1 large rabbit, can frozen, cleaned and cut into serving pieces
  
• Flour for dusting the rabbit pieces
  
• 1 1/2 pounds pappardelle
  
• Plenty of Tuscan Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  
• 2 ounces bacon, Italian or otherwise
  
• 1 onion, finely chopped
  
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
  
• 1/2 cup fresh chopped parsley
  
• 1 bay leaf
  
• a little fresh thyme, finely chopped
  
  1 cups Tuscan dry red wine (some cooks use white)
  
• 2 cups beef stock
  
• salt and pepper

For the rabbit: I like to cook the rabbit before boning it; I find it makes the process easier. I also begin by marinating the rabbit, thawed, of course, overnight in a mixture of water and a 1/3 cup or so white vinegar. This takes care of any gamey taste, and also helps to tenderize the meat. Pat dry and dust with flour before cooking.

Gently saute the bacon, onions and celery. Add the hare, season with salt and freshly ground pepper, sprinkle with the thyme, and brown well. Add the wine, and cook gently until nearly reduced. Add the stock, cover, and cook gently on the stove top for 2 hours. After this, I remove the rabbit pieces from the sauce, bone and chop the meat, and put the chopped meat back into the sauce.

Reduce if necessary, or even add a little more stock. Serve over the cooked pappardelle, and serve with lots of Parmigiano cheese. This is worth the effort!