Arista is a classic Tuscan dish of roast pork. It's made with lean pork loin, finely chopped rosemary, extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. The meat is rubbed with a mix of rosemary, garlic, salt, and pepper before it's tied tightly with twine.

It is then placed into a baking pan with olive oil and cooked while turning the meat every so often. Once roasted, the arista is cut into thin slices and served, either hot or cold, and the delicious gravy is poured over the meat. It's believed that the dish got its name in 1430, when the Byzantine Patriarch Bessarion came to Florence for the ecumenical council, and when he'd tasted the roast he exclaimed ''Aristos!'', the greek word meaning best or excellent.

However, there's also a theory that the name comes from the latin arista, meaning upper part, possibly referring to the pork shank in this case.