Cooking & Culture in Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Trip Date: Ongoing
Price:
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You may join this culinary experience as an individual, or book a week as a private experience for families, couples, or groups of friends. Contact Valise to enquire about creating a Private Experience during dates of your choosing.
A one week food and culture experience in the heart of the Italian food valley
The Experience
Learn the art of Italian cuisine from a Master Chef and explore the gastronomy of the world-renowned Emilia-Romagna region. Enjoy cooking, touring and relaxing in a region recognized by Unesco for the quality of its food.
Your home base for this exceptional experience is a beautifully renovated 8-bedroom country villa on the estate of Tabiano Castle, a privately owned medieval castle, farm and village.
The villa, formerly a farmer’s home and now beautifully restored by the family, is surrounded by a working organic farm. Most of the produce and meat for your cooking sessions is sourced on site.
Your hosts for the week are the owners of the estate, Alessandro and Giacomo Cavazza de Altamer. Your Chef for the week is an Italian culinary master.
The week will end with an elegant evening inside the private apartments of Tabiano, where you will dine among the family's collection of exquisite artwork and antiques.
Each morning you will have a cooking session in the villa with your Master Chef, who will instruct you in the art of Italian cuisine.
In the afternoons you will have the opportunity to explore the beautiful Emilia-Romagna region with Alessandro or Giacomo, or one of their trusted guides. Learn about the renowned cheese-making and ham production of the Parma region, tour architecturally significant buildings, and visit important art collections during your week of cooking and culture in the heart of the Italian Food Valley.
Cooking & Culture in Emilia-Romagna
Includes: Private accommodations, Cooking Instruction, Private dining experiences, Private tastings, Private touring experiences, Private transfers, All meals as specified
Excludes: Airfare, Alcoholic beverages (unless specified), Gratuities
Day 1
D
International arrival to Milan airport
Private transfer to the villa
Free Afternoon to relax by the pool, schedule a massage, or take a walk on the castle grounds
Dinner at the villa
Overnight stay in Villa Finetta, Tabiano
Day 2
B/L/D
Breakfast in the villa
Free morning to relax at the villa’s garden and pool, take a local walk, practice yoga, bike or horseback ride
Lunch at a notable restaurant in a nearby village
Afternoon Cooking Class
Dinner at the villa
Overnight stay in Villa Finetta, Tabiano
Day 3
B/L/D
Breakfast and cooking class at the villa
Lunch at the villa
Afternoon visit to the Masone maze and art collection, the house of a dreamer
Visit to the town of Fontanellato
Dinner at a notable restaurant in Fontanellato
Overnight stay in Villa Finetta, Tabiano
Day 4
B/L/D
Breakfast and cooking class at the villa
Lunch at the villa
Afternoon visit to learn about the production of Parmigiano Reggiano and Parma ham
Visit to the beautiful medieval villages of Castell’Arquato and Vigoleno
Dinner at a notable restaurant in Vigoleno
Overnight stay in Villa Finetta, Tabiano
Day 5
B/L/D
Breakfast and cooking class at the villa
Lunch at the villa
Afternoon visit to Sabbioneta, the quintessential city of the Renaissance
Dinner at a notable local restaurant
Overnight stay in Villa Finetta, Tabiano
Day 6
B/L/D
Breakfast and cooking class at the villa
Lunch at the villa
Afternoon
Visit to the city of Parma to see a selection of art masterpieces, including works by Leonardo da Vinci
Dinner at a notable restaurant in Parma
Overnight stay in Villa Finetta, Tabiano
Day 7
B/L/D
Breakfast and cooking class at the villa
Lunch at the villa
Free afternoon to relax at the villa, shop in a nearby city, schedule a massage
Visit to the private family apartments inside the castle
Elegant farewell dinner in the family's private dining room at Tabiano Castle
Overnight stay in Villa Finetta, Tabiano
Day 8
B
Breakfast at the villa
Private transfers to airport for international flights
Note: Itinerary is subject to change
Don't miss this opportunity to expand your culinary abilities and to experience the cultural, geographic and gastronomic diversity that make Emilia-Romagna the perfect destination for those in search of natural beauty, history, and exceptional local cuisine.
The Cuisine of Emilia-Romagna
As Stanley Tucci showed the world, the foods of Emilia-Romagna are some of Italy's most exquisite.
This experience offers you the opportunity to sample a wide array of regional foods and preparation methods, all containing the freshest local ingredients. From traditional and rustic, to sophisticated and artistic, each meal and tasting on this trip will bring you closer to understanding why this region is so celebrated.
Here are the seven essential foods of Emilia Romagna.
1. Mortadella Bologna
Among the most popular cured meats in Italy, the PGI-protected Mortadella Bologna has an enveloping and spicy flavor. It's a sausage cooked with lean pork cuts, mostly shoulder, throat, and fat, then flavored with salt, pepper, spices, and sometimes pistachios.
2. Parmigiano Reggiano
Nearly 4 million wheels of this Parmiggiano Reggiano are produced annually. A hard-paste cow's milk cheese originated in the Middle Ages in the Benedictine abbeys of Emilia, each wheel weighs between 66 and 88 pounds (30 and 40 kilos). Producing one requires 550 liters of milk. The regulations call for a minimum maturation of 12 months, lasting up to a few years.
3. Prosciutto di Parma
Prosciutto di Parma dates back to Roman times. In the second century BC, Cato the Elder wrote about the skilled production technique of the Parma artisans. It was practically identical to that of today, the only difference being that salt is now added as a preservative. A DOP product, the ham has a sweet and intense flavor. In the region, it's also worth trying in the rosa di Parma, or rose of Parma, a meat fillet that's been rolled with prosciutto, roasted and flavored with Parmigiano and Lambrusco. It's named for its rose-like shape.
4. Traditional Balsamic Vinegar of Modena and Reggio Emilia
This PDO product is one of Italy's most exported. With production dating back to 1046, balsamic vinegar is made with cooked, acetified musts, and aged in barrels of different woods for about ten years – those labeled extra vecchio are aged up to 25. Dense, dark, and sweet, it packs tremendous flavor. A few drops are enough on meat and fish, but also cheeses, fruit, desserts, and even cocktails.
5. Borgotaro Mushroom
The trade for harvesting local porcini mushrooms is mentioned in documents dating back to the 17th century. Today, they have PGI protection. They grow in the woods of the Apennines within the province of Parma. The specification identifies four types: Boletus edulis, Boletus pinophilus,
the Boletus aestivalis and the Boletus aereus. They are excellent both cooked and raw and can also be preserved in oil.
6. Zampone and Cotechino di Modena
Still packaged according to a recipe from 1511, both of these products are made with lean pork meat and fat, then minced and combined with finely chopped pork rind and then seasoned with pepper, nutmeg, cloves, or other ingredients, depending on the pork butcher. What distinguishes them is the casing: the zampone is stuffed into the front leg of the pig, the cotechino is packed into the intestine.
7. Culatello di Zibello
A PDO salami from the province of Parma, Culatello di Zibello is obtained from the finest part of the pork leg. They're salted and left to mature for at least ten months in the countries of the Bassa. It's first mentioned in 1735, but it's believed to have been on the tables of the nobility as early as the 14th century. Sweet and fragrant, culatello is is more delicate than prosciutto crudo.
About Your Hosts
For this Culinary experience, Valise is excited to partner with Beyond the Gates, a luxury experience company founded in 2018 by two brothers, Alessandro and Giacomo Cavazza de Altamer.
The mission of Beyond the Gates is to actively support the owners of historic houses and the extraordinary network of architects, masons, craftsmen, decorators, restorers, gardeners and collaborators, who preserve and transmit Italy’s unique world heritage to future generations.
Alessandro, an architect, inherited his love for Italy’s history and architecture from his grandfather Novello, an engineer and expert in historic houses.
Giacomo, a hotelier, manages one of the family's historic estates, Tabiano Castle.
Alessandro and Giacomo are your hosts for the week and will open their extraordinary heritage property to you.
Tabiano is located 1h 15min south of Milan, close to both Milan international airports.
Please contact Valise with any questions about flights.
A non-refundable 30% deposit, per person, is required to confirm a reservation. The full balance is due 6 (six) weeks prior to the start date of the trip, this amount is non-refundable upon payment.
Cancellations less than six weeks prior to arrival are non- refundable
Shared accommodations can be arranged for a reduced cost. Please enquire.
This is a 7-night trip. Alcoholic beverages other than those specifically stated, Airfare, and Gratuities are not included in the price of this trip.