"Panforte" Room
First floor
"Panforte” is decorated in the happy tone of pink and has a beautiful view of the tuscan hills and the surrounding woods.
Panforte was originally a delicacy of Siena, in Tuscany, and now enjoys wide popularity throughout Italy. It too is shrouded in legend. One tells that in 1205, serfs and tenants of the Montecellesi nunnery were compelled to bring the nuns spice and honey cakes as a measure of the census. So delicious were these cakes that they soon came into laymen's hands. In those days, nunneries prepared medicinal mixtures of herbs and spices; and later, the concocting of these was assumed by the speziali (chemists), and along with it, the preparation of Panforte. Thus, some of the most famous brands of Panforte today bear the names of ancient pharmacists' families. Round in shape, Panforte's basic ingredients are fresh almonds, candied fruit (primarily citrus), spices and honey. The most widely sold Panforte today is Panforte Margherita, named in honor of Queen Margherita, wife of the Italian king Umberto I, and based on a recipe which gave the cake a more delicate taste.
