Prato

Prato is a province that made itself. Squeezed between Firenze and the Apennines, crossed by the Bisenzio and the Ombrone, it has turned its geographical limits into a competitive advantage. One hundred and seventy-five square kilometres for seven municipalities — Prato, Carmignano, Poggio a Caiano, Cantagallo, Vaiano, Vernio, Montemurlo — which together make up the oldest textile district in Europe and one of the largest in the world.

The waters of the Bisenzio drove the first medieval fulling mills, the ones that beat woollen cloth to thicken it. From there, an unbroken chain of gestures: spinning, weaving, dyeing, regenerating. The vocation has not changed in eight hundred years, but it has evolved. Today Prato produces fabrics for haute couture, for designer furnishing, for the most sophisticated technical uses — automotive, sportswear, insulation, filtration.

The Macrolotto Industriale of Prato is one of the largest production districts in Italy: thousands of firms, tens of thousands of workers, a supply chain that goes from bales of rags to finished cloth without ever leaving the territory. It is the Italian model par excellence — apparent fragmentation, real integration.

And then there is the thing that makes Prato unique in the world: regeneration. For at least two centuries, used cloth has been turned into new cloth here. Rags that become carded wool, carded wool that becomes yarn, yarn that becomes fabric. A circular economy ante litteram, when nobody yet called it that. Prato invented textile recycling before the world realised it needed it.

Prato at the table speaks more quietly than other Tuscan provinces, but it has its own precise glories.

Cantucci. The biscotti di Prato are among the best-known Tuscan sweets in the world. Whole almonds, dry dough, double baking — the recipe codified by Antonio Mattei in 1858 is still the benchmark. They are dipped in Vin Santo, always, as a rule.

Mortadella di Prato IGP. Pork, salt, spices, but above all Alkermes — the red liqueur that gives it its colour and its scent. A medieval speciality, one of the few Italian mortadellas that are not Emilian.

Finocchiona. A cured meat with wild fennel seeds, a historic product of the Prato and Firenze area. The Prato finocchiona stands apart for its ageing and its mix.

Sedano di Prato. Grown on the alluvial soils of the Bisenzio, this celery is one of the province's historic market-garden products. Crisp and fragrant, eaten raw or boiled in bagna cauda.

The wine of Carmignano. Carmignano DOCG is one of the oldest denominations in Italy: the Medici recognised it as early as 1716. Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon — one of the rare traditional Tuscan Bordeaux blends.

The lesser sweets. Pesche di Prato (a filled cake, like small buns stuffed with cream), zuccherini di Vernio, brutti ma buoni from the Apennines.