Ask the Splendid Table: Cantuccini are a Tuscan specialty

Q In September in Tuscany, we ate these really hard, crisp little almond biscotti. They weren't too sweet, they practically crackled, and you are supposed to dunk them in sweet wine and coffee. Do you have a recipe? I bought a bag of them and tried to translate the ingredients. It looked like there was no fat in them, but the biscotti recipes we've found here all have butter.

THE BISCOTTI HUNTERS in Dallas

A You are talking about a specialty of the area where my family comes from; I know them well.

Called Cantuccini, these little biscotti come from northern Tuscany, the area around Prado and west from there into my family's territory, Lucca. They will keep for weeks in a sealed tin, making them fine gifts.

Biscotto (biscotti is the plural) means twice cooked. It is the second baking that gives them their crispness. For a Tuscan, these cookies are the Italian version of "Mom and apple pie." The citrus zests and black pepper in this recipe are a holdover from Tuscany's past. Unlike those you may be familiar with, today's recipe becomes more of a thick batter than dough. Handle it with a pastry scraper for greater ease.

Foods for rich wines

Q We are a bunch of wannabe wine geeks who do semi-serious wine tastings. The big thing right now is which foods to serve with fairly rich wines, such as chardonnay and viogner. Can you come up with some ideas?

A Cheese with wine is a classic pairing, yet there is this old saying, "When you buy wine, always taste it with bread; when you sell wine, have the buyer taste it with cheese." The proteins in the cheese make wine taste better.

If you've already done cheese, consider teasing out the main character of the wine with a specific food. It's easy once you think about it.

For instance, the nutty, buttery qualities of a California chardonnay make it a natural for popcorn (the discovery of wine writer Andrea Immer Robinson) or salted almonds, especially the Spanish Marconas found in specialty food shops. Viogner, with its creaminess and tastes of rich fruit, is good with the richness of sea scallops in tarragon cream, pork cooked with dried fruits, or spicy Thai chicken. Bold, complex reds pair beautifully with bite-size pieces of grilled, medium-rare beef or lamb. You get the idea. Just keep the food simple, and the wine will shine.