Siena is a difficult city to come to grips with. It’s known for a twice a year horse race called the Palio, a race that, for Americans, has elements in it that a reasonable person would ascribe to insanity. It’s what attracts us to the city, mostly.

And yet to ignore Siena outside the frenzy the Palio brings is to ignore a noble part of Tuscany and Tuscan tradition. Siena is a city to savor slowly. It is a “darker” city. Think scorched earth, “burnt Sienna”, Siena Brown, the deep rich brown of the panforte.