What to Eat in Siena: Pici, Ribollita, and Sienese Sweets

Siena’s food culture is rooted in Tuscan tradition but with distinctive local products that are harder to find elsewhere. The city’s medieval prosperity created a sophisticated food culture that persists in the panforte, the hand-rolled pasta, and the wine production of the surrounding territory.

What to Eat

Pici — the Sienese pasta. Thick, hand-rolled spaghetti made from flour and water (no egg). Peasant food in origin; now a fine-dining staple. Served all’aglione (with garlic and tomato), al ragù (meat sauce), or cacio e pepe. Easier to find in Siena than almost anywhere else in Tuscany.

Wild boar (cinghiale) — braised into ragù for pasta or served as a main course. Boar is hunted extensively in the Crete Senesi and Chianti hills. The best version is slow-cooked until it shreds.

Ribollita — the twice-cooked bread and vegetable soup, made with black kale (cavolo nero), cannellini beans, and stale bread. Thick enough to stand a spoon in. Better in autumn and winter.

Pappardelle al lepre — wide egg pasta with braised hare. A Sienese and Maremman specialty. Slower cooking, more intense flavour than cinghiale.

Panforte — a dense, spiced cake of honey, almonds, candied orange peel, and spices pressed into a disc and dusted with icing sugar. Made in Siena since the 13th century. The original (panforte nero) is spicier and darker; panforte margherita (created for the queen’s visit in 1879) is lighter.

Ricciarelli — almond biscuits with icing sugar, chewy and intensely aromatic. Siena’s defining pastry. IGP-protected. Available year-round but most abundant at Christmas.

Cavallucci — spiced biscuits with anise, walnuts, and candied citrus. Dipped in vin santo or eaten as they are. Ancient origin (the name references medieval horse couriers who carried them as provisions).

Wine

The surrounding territory produces some of Tuscany’s greatest wine: Chianti Classico (Sangiovese, aged minimum 12 months), Brunello di Montalcino (Sangiovese, aged 5 years before release), Vino Nobile di Montepulciano, and the white Vernaccia di San Gimignano. Local wine lists in Siena’s better restaurants are excellent.

Vin santo — the amber dessert wine made from dried Malvasia grapes — is the traditional accompaniment to ricciarelli and cantucci.

Where to Eat

The streets behind the Piazza del Campo (away from the main piazza) have the best trattoria options. The Campo itself has tourist pricing. The Terzo di Camollia district (north of the cathedral) has several good neighbourhood restaurants used by locals rather than visitors.

The covered market (Mercato di Piazza del Mercato, behind the Palazzo Pubblico) is the best source of local produce.