Gin & Food

Tuscan cuisine thrives on a handful of bold ingredients. Among them: Pecorino Toscano DOP, a sheep's milk cheese with protected designation of origin, and Finocchiona IGP, a pork salami flavored with fennel seeds or fennel flowers that give it its signature anise character. Both belong, alongside unsalted Pane Toscano, on any regional bread board.

The fennel note in Finocchiona is exactly why it pairs so well with gin from the same landscape. Sabatini Gin itself contains wild fennel among its nine botanicals, so the flavors of salami and gin pick each other up in the glass rather than clashing. A piece of Pecorino Toscano works well alongside too, its faintly nutty, salty edge rounding out the gin's resinous herbal notes.

Peter in Florence, with its floral iris note, suits lighter fare better, think grilled vegetables with olive oil or a simple salad topped with shaved pecorino. There, the gin's floral side can shine without being overwhelmed by heavier meat. Paired with something as robust as Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the thick Chianina beef chop, the delicate iris would simply get lost.

One thing to remember: here, gin is a companion, not an ingredient. Neither distillery pushes recipes or exact measurements. Instead, both carry the idea that a gin grown from the same earth as the cheese or salami on the plate makes for a particularly fitting pairing. In the end, both tell the story of the same herbs and the same soil, just through different means.