For 4 servings:

8 slices of stale home-made bread, 4 sliced tomatoes, 4 deboned anchovies, 2 white onions sliced, minced basil and parsley, 200 grs canned tuna, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, 2 sliced hard-boiled eggs.

Soak, the bread slices in cold water, lightly squeeze and put in a tureen in layers with tomatoes, anchovies, onions, basil, parsley and crushed tuna. Spray with oil and vinegar, add salt and pepper and “decorate” with the eggs; serve cool.

Younger acidic local reds are recommended like the Parrina rosso or a Fivizzano rosso or a Rosso dei colli Lucchesi

Triglie alla livornese (Red mullets Livorno style)

For 4 servings:

1 kg of red mullets, 7 tablespoons olive ol, 2 garlic cloves, 50 grs. minced parsley, 1 red chilli, 500 grs peeled tomatoes, flour, salt.

Clean, scale, empty and wash the mullets; put inside each fish some minced parsley and garlic. Warm in a pan the olive oil with chilli, put the mullets lightly floured, and golden fry on both sides. Add the crushed tomatoes, the remaining parsley and garlic and cook on a brisk fire until thickening the sauce.
Serve in the cooking pan, taking out the chilli.

The suggested wines are dry whites like a Montecarlo bianco or the Vernaccia di San Gimignano or a Candia dei Colli Apuani.

Panforte (Spicy bread cake)

For 4 servings:

300 grs flour, 300 grs sugar, 300 grs water, 25 grs whole almonds, 25 grs minced almonds, 5 grs cinnamon powder, 1 nutmeg, 200 grs candied orange pieces, 200 grs candied citrus pieces.

Boil in the water for 5 minutes the sugar, the whole and the minced almonds and the grated nutmeg, then add the candied fruits pieces, boiling for further 5 minutes. Always cooking, add gradually the flour always stirring until completely amalgamated. Pour everything in a tray having a wafer on the bottom, spread homogeneously and sprinkle with icing sugar. Cool before serving.

The spicy taste will be better matched by a sweet wine like a Vinsanto della Valdinievole or a Moscato dell’Elba or the Aleatico di Portoferraio.