Food and Wine

05 Jan Five Hidden Gems of the Veneto

Posted at 07:12h in Architecture, Destinations, Food and Wine, Travel Tips by Italian Tours

The Veneto boasts some of Italy’s most popular tourist attractions, like Venice and Verona, but it also contains hidden gems that are often overlooked and underestimated. You can discover these treasures that lie off the usual tourist path, even in popular destinations. Whether it’s the tranquil trattorias and the serene lagoon at Torcello in Venice or the symmetrical and breathtaking Giardino Giusti in Verona, there’s something to captivate everyone.

Here are five lesser-known places you should consider if you visit this extraordinary corner of Italy. We include each location on our The Lands of the Serenissima tour of the Veneto in June this year.

1. The Scrovegni Chapel: A Frescoed Masterpiece

Padova’s Scrovegni Chapel is an artistic jewel housing a series of breathtaking frescoes by Giotto. The chapel was consecrated in 1305 and is renowned for its narrative cycle depicting the lives of the Virgin Mary and Christ. The artist’s masterful use of perspective and emotional depth was celebrated at the time; it revolutionised art and influenced the newly emerging style, which would later be known as the Renaissance. The meticulous preservation of the chapel and its enormous cultural significance make it a must-visit location. Even for those less excited about art, the experience of being part of a small group walking into this space where vivid colours surround you is spellbinding.

2. Prosecco Hills: A Toast to Tranquility

The Prosecco Hills is a stunning landscape of soft green contours in the foothills of the Dolomites. Part of the area features the vine-covered slopes that make its much-appreciated wine. But it’s also an area for cultivating chestnuts, corn and cheese. It has castles, abbeys, and hilltop churches with impressive views and thousands of years of history. At Follina, the Abbey is a quiet witness to the passing years. The Molinetto della Croda, a nearby watermill, was built in the 1700s. Not far off, the Pieve di San Pietro, a historic church, adds its presence to the unmistakable charm of the surroundings. In the Prosecco Hills, the muted atmosphere lets the heritage of the land speak for itself.

3. Marostica: Living Chess and Medieval Charms

Marostica is a small town with a charming medieval feel. It is famous for its twice-a-year chess game, which takes place on a giant chessboard in the town square and is played with live actors in pageant costumes. The town has meandering cobblestone streets and mediaeval walls watched over by the Lower and Upper Castles. It is not on the regular tourist trail, and the atmosphere resembles a typical provincial town, albeit with impressive attractions.

4. Cittadella: A Fortress Frozen in Time

Cittadella is a small walled city. It was built in the 13th century, and its walls remain largely intact, making it a fascinating spot to visit. You can walk along the walls and explore the city’s many towers, gates and other architectural features. The town also boasts several beautiful churches, museums and galleries, and restaurants and cafes serving local cuisine. Cittadella is a charming and picturesque town that offers a glimpse into medieval Italian life.

5. Vicenza: Palladian Elegance

Vicenza holds a remarkable collection of architectural wonders and a deep cultural heritage. The city is an ideal destination for architecture enthusiasts, who can marvel at the Palladian Basilica and the Teatro Olimpico, among other notable landmarks. The charming streets offer plenty of opportunities to take a leisurely stroll and soak up the local atmosphere. Surrounding the city is the natural beauty of the Berici Hills, which is perfect for outdoor activities.

Discover these hidden gems and others on our Veneto tour, Lands of the Serenissima, which aims to reveal Veneto’s unique secrets by including a mixture of culture, scenery, food, personal time and fun.

14 Aug HOW TO EAT PARMIGIANO REGGIANO – LET ME COUNT THE WAYS!

Posted at 02:26h in Destinations, Food and Wine by Italian Tours

Sitting at the Trattoria Corrieri in Parma we are presented with a plate piled high with golden, crumbling wedges of Parmigiano Reggiano, and a knife and fork. This is how they do it in Parma. At Luca’s mother’s house we spoon great clouds of the golden cheese onto our pasta. At our friend Theo’s place, we drizzle the best balsamic vinegar over hunks of Parmigiano and eat it with pears. Luca simmers Parmigiano rinds in his winter broth.

Parmigiano is perhaps the best known, the best loved and the most versatile of Italian cheeses. Italians have been making it since the thirteenth century, mainly in the region that takes in Bologna, Parma, Reggio Emilia and Modena.

As part of our Unexpected Riches – Discovering Emilia Romagna tour we travel up into the lower part of the Apennine Mountains above Bologna to visit a caseificio or cheese maker. This is a cooperative of milk producers who raise the original Bruna Alpina cows, the breed that has traditionally produced the milk used for Parmigiano in this area. While other producers have switched to the more productive Friesian style cow, the milk the Bruna Alpina produces has a unique nutty taste and a much higher content of cream.

The cooperative aims to compete with larger companies on the basis of the quality of their cheese. As a group they can combine their technologies and reduce production costs to make this type of process financially viable. They are passionate about their cattle and the quality of the type of cheese produced in the mountain. They belong to a new group called the Consortium of Mountain Producers that is promoting traditional food production.

We make a day trip of this, heading out of Bologna early so that we’re at the caseificio in time to see the cheese being made. If we’re lucky we can see the Bruna Alpina cattle grazing in fields along the way. And of course, the highlight of all this for many people is a tasting of this very special cheese.

Above is a short clip from our visit to Caseificio Pieve Roffeno last year, showing the cheesemakers shaping the soft cheese into what will become a wheel of Parmigiano Reggiano. It’s just one step in a very long process that has been done like this for centuries and strictly regulated by the Italian Parmigiano Consortium for many years.

We’re planning to run our Unexpected Riches – Discovering Emilia Romagna tour again in mid-2021. Please get in touch for more details.

25 Jul 5 REASONS TO VISIT TURIN

Posted at 09:04h in Destinations, Food and Wine by Italian Tours

Turin was the first capital of a united Italy in the nineteenth century and it has the feel of an important city, regal in its nature and set out to impress. The Roman town was founded in 28BC and although it became an important centre in the empire, it was never as important as Aosta up the road. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Turin was forgotten and existed as a large agricultural borough. It wasn’t until 1563 when Duke Emanuele Filiberto chose it as his capital that it was really put on the map.

Turin doesn’t have the same crowds of tourists as Rome, Florence and Milan, and that’s what makes it a great city to visit if you want to get off the beaten track!

1. The urban architecture
The ruling Savoy family wanted a capital city that was fit for their Duchy and in the 1700s, court architect Filippo Juvarra’s vision was turned into an urban environment to rival the more established European capitals. The Renaissance had already finished, so the period of refurbishment coincided with the Mannerist and Baroque period, which the town made its own — Turin is known as the baroque capital of Northern Italy. Think elegant piazze, splendid palaces and lovely churches.

The historic centre is very pleasant to wander around, well ordered and on a manageable scale. Don’t miss Palazzo Reale and Palazzo Madama on Piazza Castello and make sure you sit for an aperitivo at one of the cafes on the elegant Piazza San Carlo

2. The Mole Antonelliana and the Cinema Museum
The Mole Antonelliana is one of the enduring symbols of Turin, an oddly shaped building that was conceived as a synagogue, taken over by the Savoys as a museum of the Risorgimento and today houses the fascinating museum of cinema.

Most people know that Italians have a history and a fascination with cinema, but not many know that it all started here in Turin. It was here that the country’s first studios were set up and where the first feature length movie was produced in 1914.

If you’re a cinema buff, the museum is a must-see, if you’re not, the building itself is still worth a visit. The roof has the best vantage point of the city and on a clear day the views out towards the Alps are breathtaking.

3. The Lingotto
At the beginning of the 1900s, Fiat, Italy’s largest automotive industry, was growing and it needed a new plant. In 1916, in an area that was still farmland, they opened the Lingotto. It was considered innovative and modern and had the whole world watching. After more than 60 years of operation the plant was closed in the 1980s and the famous architect Renzo Piano was invited to convert the factory into a multipurpose centre. It’s possible to see the famous roof-top test track (as featured in the original 1969 version of The Italian Job) and the Giovanni and Marella Agnelli Art Gallery, which houses the couple’s exquisite private collection, with works by Canaletto, Tiepolo, Canova, Manet, Renoir, Matisse, Picasso and Modigliani.

Finally, the Lingotto is the home to the flagship Eataly store – the chain of upmarket providores that has taken Italy, and the world by storm. Which brings me to reason #4 …

4. The food
Food is especially important in Piedmont and the capital Turin will have foodies at its mercy. The people of Turin love their food and many follow the philosophy of the Slow Food Movement which has its headquarters just outside in the small town of Bra. The number of quality restaurants in the city and the enormous Porta Palazzo food markets are further evidence of the city’s love of food. It’s well worth spending a morning wandering through the markets and marvelling at the fresh produce — piles of aubergines, ripe tomatoes and porcini mushrooms, meat, fish, cheeses, herbs and spices and much more!

Lastly, we need to mention the Torinese obsession with both chocolate and coffee, which they have combined masterfully in the classic local drink Il Bicerin – a delicious, layered concoction of chocolate, coffee and hot milk, not to be shaken – or stirred! Try it at the historical Il Bicerin cafe where it was invented and where they have been making it since 1763.

5. The Egyptian museum
Most people haven’t heard of it, but the Museo Egizio is the second largest collection of Egyptian archaeology, anthropology and artefacts in the world, only surpassed by the museum in Cairo. It was re-opened after an extensive renovation in 2015, and now displays the collection in chronological order, from the 4th century BC to the 3rd century AD. There are numerous highlights in the collection including a spectacular tomb from 3500BC and an extensive Papyrus collection. If you’re an Egyptophile, it’s a must see and even if you’re only mildly interested in Egypt, it’s still a fascinating and well curated collection.

We adore Turin and have included it as our first base in our Tastes Tour of Piedmont and Valle d’Aosta. Contact us today!

12 Apr 5 REASONS TO VISIT THE VALLE D’AOSTA

Posted at 06:19h in Destinations, Food and Wine by Italian Tours

Valle d’Aosta is the most mountainous region in Italy and is tucked away in the northwest corner of the country. Its capital is Aosta, known as the Rome of the Alps because of its archaeological heritage, and it lies midway between the Italian city of Turin and the Swiss city of Lausanne on Lake Leman. The area has become a glamorous ski resort in winter and an unparalleled walking destination in summer.

This beautiful area is off the beaten track for most tourists, however, we feel it’s certainly a region that bears some serious investigation for a number of reasons:

1. Roman ruins
Aosta was once a principal town on the main Roman trade route between the Italian peninsula and northern Europe. Wagons bearing cereals, wine and olive oil moved northwards while precious metals, marble and other building materials travelled south. The roads and bridges that the Romans constructed are still visible today.

Aosta itself was founded in the 1st century BC and retains an archaeological treasure trove from that time including its Roman theatre, the Arch of Augustus and a recently excavated cryptoportico (a covered portico or passageway). The bridge at Pont-Saint-Martin in the valley below was built in the same period and used for traffic right up until the 19th century. Visitors can still walk across this beautiful structure.

2. The Gran Paradiso National Park.
This was Italy’s first national park, established in 1922 on land donated by King Victor Emmanuel III that was originally part of his hunting preserve. The park measures 703 square kilometers and provides a protected area for the alpine ibex, which can sometimes be seen grazing on the lower reaches of the mountains, big-horned sheep, marmot, chamois, and the occasional rare bird such as the golden eagle.

With fifty-seven glaciers, dense forests and lovely alpine meadows, the park also offers visitors beautiful alpine scenery and excellent remote, high altitude walking with the opportunity to witness an abundance of wildlife. A small section is still used for agriculture and pasture and can also be extremely picturesque.

Combined with the neighbouring French Vanoise National Park, it represents the largest protected area in Western Europe.

3. Castles, castles, castles!
A stupendous eighty-two fortresses line the main road from the entrance of the valley at Port-Saint-Martin to Courmayeur in the far northwest at the foot of Monte Bianco – or Mont Blanc depending on where you are looking from! Many of these fortresses and castles are open to visitors and provide an insight into the lives of the aristocratic families who once controlled the territory.

Two particularly interesting sites are Fénis Castle, a mediaeval building dating back to 1242 and built by the Viscounts of Aosta, and Issogne Castle, a Renaissance castle built by different generations of the same family. Visitors can hire a car and a tour guide to visit these sites.

4. Monte Bianco/Mont Blanc
This is the highest peak in Europe and not to be missed, especially on a clear day when the views are utterly spectacular into France, Switzerland and Italy. From Courmayeur it’s possible to take a brand new cable car up through various stages to close to the summit. Adventurers can even alight and walk down onto the glacier.

5. The wines of Valle d’Aosta
There are more than twenty varieties of grapes native to the Valle d’Aosta and the real challenge is to find and sample the wine from them all! Travellers can visit dozens of small family run vineyards to sample their products and of course enjoy the unique taste of Valle d’Aosta wines at lunch and dinner. Our favourites are the Blanc de Morgex et de La Salle and the Valle d’Aosta Petite Arvine.

We spend 3 wonderful days exploring all the highlights of the Valle d’Aosta in our Tastes Tour which runs from the 1st to the 15th October 2017. The tour also takes in Turin, the Langhe wine region and beautiful Lake Maggiore. We still have a couple of places available for 2017 – enquire now!

07 Feb TIME, TRADITION & PASSION – WHAT’S IN YOUR BOTTLE OF BALSAMIC VINEGAR

Posted at 03:41h in Food and Wine by Italian Tours

A passion for balsamic vinegar is nothing new – in 1046 the Holy Roman Emperor Henry III was presented with a silver bottle of this precious nectar on the way to his coronation!

While these days balsamic is a lot more accessible, it continues to be a rare and wonderful condiment. Proper balsamic can only be made in the provinces of Modena and Reggio Emilia, and its production is the result of techniques passed down through generations of balsamic-making families. Every lot must be submitted to a Consortium for tasting and approval before it can be sold and it must then be bottled in the approved 100ml uniquely shaped bottles, labeled Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena DOP.

So how is this very special liquid made? Well, you won’t find a factory churning out litres of traditional balsamic vinegar.

The process begins with the juice of the white Trebbiano grapes or the red Lambrusco grapes. The producer boils the juice of these grapes in large vats over an open fire for 24 hours before starting the process of natural fermentation and maturation that lasts a minimum of 12 years!

While this sounds straightforward, the process is actually much more complicated, time consuming and highly regulated. The fermentation takes place in a battery (or series) of five to eight barrels of diminishing sizes, the smallest usually being about 15 litres. These barrels can only be made of one of six types of wood: oak, chestnut, mulberry, cherry, juniper or ash. The barrels have a small opening on the top, allowing some evaporation and are kept in the loft where they are subject to the highs and lows of temperature that are essential for a good final product.

Davide explaining the production process at Villa San Donino

Davide Lonardi explaining the production process at Villa San Donnino

Once a year, usually in winter, the producer completes the complicated process of topping up and transferring liquid between the barrels. Starting with the smallest barrel in the battery, the producer tops up the liquid that has evaporated throughout the year with liquid taken from the second smallest barrel. Then in turn, the liquid that has been lost from that barrel (via evaporation and transfer to the first barrel) is replaced with liquid from the third barrel and so on. Finally, the largest barrel in the battery is topped up with the boiled grape juice of that year’s harvest.

Only after the battery has been in operation for a minimum of twelve years is the producer allowed to take just one tenth of the very smallest barrel in each battery to the Consortium for tasting and approval. A medium producer might expect to produce about 350 litres of balsamic a year.

There are two grades of Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena: tradizionale that is aged for a minimum of twelve years and extra vecchio that is aged for a minimum of twenty five years.

You won’t find Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena at your local supermarket nor is it normally used as a salad dressing; to appreciate the taste of this very special condiment try it drizzled over meat, Parmesan cheese, fruit or – Philippa’s favourite – vanilla gelato!

We visit third generation balsamic vinegar producer Davide Lonardi at Villa San Donnino just outside Modena as part of our Milan and the Italian Lakes tour. In 2017 the Milan and the Italian Lakes tour runs from 2-16 June and we still have a couple of places available!