3 Traditional Foods
You Have To Try in Prato

These hard almond biscuits visually resemble tiny slices of bread, or cantellus in Latin, which is how they gained the name cantuccini, though they are also known as biscotti, meaning twice-baked. Cantuccini supposedly originated in the Tuscan city of Prato in the 16th century, and they were even served at the Medici court. However, according to some historical records, they did not contain any almonds, being similar to the already famed biscuits from Pisa and Genova. Almonds were added to the recipe towards the end of the 19th century, after which Tuscan bakers started using butter and leavening agents to give the cantuccini a longer shelf life and make them suitable for export. Cantuccini are an excellent after-meal snack, and they are typically accompanied by a glass of Vin Santo, a popular Italian dessert wine, though they are also often enjoyed for breakfast, dipped in milk, coffee, or tea.Expand

Named after Salome's dance to make Herod crazy with lust, torta setteveli (cake of the seven veils) unsurprisingly achieves more or less the same results. This traditional Sicilian birthday cake consists of an alternating combination of chocolate and hazelnut layers. From bottom to top: chocolate sponge, praline crunch, hazelnut Bavarian cream, chocolate sponge, hazelnut Bavarian cream, chocolate mousse, and finally, a layer of chocolate glaze on top. It is still unclear who had created this delicious cake, so some credit Capello of Pasticceria Capello in Palermo, while others claim that Luca Mannori from Prato made it first (and won the 1997 Pastry World Cup in France).Expand

Torta Mantovana is a traditional cake originating from Prato. It's made with a combination of eggs, egg yolks, butter, sugar, lemon rind, flour, almonds, and pine nuts. The eggs are mixed with sugar, flour, and butter in order to make a base. The base is then topped with pieces of almonds and pine nuts. After it has been baked, torta Mantovana is traditionally decorated with icing sugar. It's recommended to serve it with a glass of dessert wine on the side.Expand