Signora Detti believes that Acquacotta [literally ‘cooked water’) began when itinerant carbonari or charcoal-burners worked through the winters in the Maremma. They were so poor that they lived in igloos of twigs built around their ever-burning charcoal fires, and over each of these fires hung a pot of simmering water. Any food that could be scrounged or exchanged for charcoal was put in this pot-usually garlic, stale bread and onions, but as times got better, tomatoes, cel
