Field Notes | Tuscany, Italy
When was the last time you visited four different shops just to prepare one meal?
Not four aisles in a supermarket. Four entirely different shops.
That was how our Saturday morning began in Tuscany.
Exploring the streets of Terricciola, Tuscany
While the men in our group were preparing to tackle 135 kilometers (84 miles) on the legendary white gravel roads of L'Eroica on their vintage bicycles, my friends Heidi and Jamie and I were preparing for a rather different Italian adventure: shopping for ingredients and learning to cook a traditional Tuscan lunch.
Our experience with Arianna & Friends began in the small village of Terricciola, where we set off to gather everything we would need for the afternoon.
I expected beautiful ingredients and a charming little Italian village.
I didn't expect the grocery shopping itself to become one of the most memorable parts of the day.
Four Shops. One Lunch.
Shopping for fresh bread at a neighborhood Italian bakery
First, the bakery. Then the butcher. Next, the fruit and vegetable shop. And finally, a small grocery store for the remaining essentials.
Four separate stops to prepare one meal.
What fascinated me wasn't just the existence of these little specialty shops. It was watching the locals shop exactly as we were.
This wasn't a deserted collection of picturesque storefronts preserved for tourists. People were genuinely shopping.
At the butcher shop, the line stretched out the door!
Inside a traditional Tuscan butcher shop.
Now, I'm not generally someone who gets excited about waiting in line. But seeing that many people patiently waiting for their turn made me curious about what kept bringing them back.
I loved the idea of visiting someone who specializes in a particular food rather than navigating a giant supermarket where everything, from bread to laundry detergent, lives under one roof.
And there was something wonderfully personal about the process.
We weren't rushing through aisles trying to complete a week's worth of shopping. We were gathering the ingredients for a meal we were about to prepare together. And connecting with each other and the locals in the process.
The Case of the Single Celery Rib
Fresh, seasonal ingredients outside a village shop
Perhaps my favorite little discovery was buying one rib of celery.
One!
Not a whole bunch. Not an oversized package. Just the single rib we needed for our ragù.
As someone accustomed to buying whatever quantity the supermarket decides to package, and often in bulk sizes, I found that fascinating.
How often have I bought an entire bunch of herbs or vegetables for a recipe, only to watch the leftovers slowly deteriorate in the refrigerator?
Here, we were buying what we needed for the meal we actually intended to make.
It was such a tiny detail, but it stayed with me. And that connection was part of the experience.
From the Shops to the Kitchen
With our ingredients gathered, we headed to Rita's Farm in Montefoscoli, where we would transform our purchases into a traditional Tuscan lunch.
On the menu?
Three varieties of bruschetta in the colors of the Italian flag, handmade tagliatelle with Tuscan ragù, and orange tiramisu. And of course organic white and red wine.
I had opinions about several of these dishes before we even started.
For starters, I wasn't particularly excited about the bruschetta.
I know. Who goes to Italy and complains about bread and tomatoes?
But I don't eat much bread when I'm home in the US, and I assumed we'd be making the familiar combination of toasted bread and chopped tomatoes.
As it turns out, I had quite a bit to learn.
Not just about bruschetta, either.
From four little village shops to three colorful bruschettas and a glass of Tuscan wine. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday!
By the end of our cooking lesson, I was questioning techniques I'd used in my own kitchen for years and even some recipes I'd published in my bestselling cookbook. Now THAT was quite a revelation!
But that's another story, and it's a good one!
More Than a Shopping List: Convenience Isn't the Same as Connection
As a functional medicine doctor, I spend a lot of time talking about food quality, ingredients, and the importance of knowing what we're putting into our bodies.
But this morning reminded me of something that's easy to overlook when we focus exclusively on nutrition.
Food isn't just a collection of proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
It's also about people, traditions, and relationships.
The baker who makes the bread. The butcher who prepares the meat. The farmer gathering the vegetables. The person selling them. The cook who brings everything together.
Of course, shopping in four different places isn't practical for everyone. It takes time, access, and more planning than a quick supermarket run. And I'm certainly not suggesting that shopping this way automatically makes someone healthier.
I appreciate convenience as much as anyone.
But I do wonder whether we've become so focused on making food shopping quick and effortless that we've lost some of the enjoyment of the process.
That morning, shopping wasn't an inconvenient errand standing between us and lunch.
It was part of lunch.
Bringing a Little Tuscany Home
I don't expect to visit four specialty shops every time I make dinner.
But I did come away with a few ideas I want to hold on to.
Buy ingredients with a particular meal in mind. Seek out local producers when possible. Pay attention to what's seasonal. And occasionally, allow shopping and cooking to be something enjoyable rather than another item on the to-do list.
Later, when I tried to recreate our Tuscan meal in our kitchen in Hungary, I discovered just how much the ingredients and techniques mattered.
The tomatoes weren't quite right. I couldn't find fresh sage. My attempts to finely chop the vegetables sent pieces flying across the kitchen floor. Mylo, naturally, was delighted by this development.
And that was before I even got to the pasta.
But for now, I'll remember the village shops, the line outside the butcher, and that single rib of celery.
Sometimes the most memorable travel experiences aren't the grand landmarks or the spectacular views.
Sometimes they're the everyday rituals that show us another way of living.
And sometimes, they begin with a simple shopping list.
Dr. Anya Szigeti, DC, DABCI, MBA
Travel + Wellness Writer | The Szigeti Method
Follow my Field Notes and travels IG @anya_szigeti
This experience was arranged through Arianna & Friends during a trip involving an in-kind partnership with The Bike Lab.