556419 Wed Sep 10 19:49:57 -0700 2008 15 58 Italy 0 4025363 I'm at the beginning stages of planning a culinary tour of Italy and would love suggestions from folks who have done this. What regions to hit? Specific tour companies you'd recommend? Bring on the advice! Thank you. Wed Sep 10 19:49:57 -0700 2008 202225 BrynVA 1 4025697 Are you looking for cookery classes or touring the country visiting vineyards, dairies etc? Wed Sep 10 23:45:01 -0700 2008 4025363 96052 coombe 2 4059800 Be sure to get the Slow Food "Locande et Osteria d'Italia" guidebook in English for all of Italy - absolutely the best guide for foodies and road trippers. Thanks ever so much to Chowhound for putting me on to this book. Right now for authenticity of the Italian experience away from most tourists and international chains with robust cuisine I would head to Naples and Apulia (Lecce and surroundings). But sit down with the SlowFood's guide and take notes to your hearts content with a map at yourside and I am sure no matter what you choose, you will be very happy. Certainly Emilia-Romagna is the culinary heart of Italy and below the US radar still and the castles from Parma to Piacenza are worthy of exploration along the way. How can you go wrong in Parma when it is home to both the best cheese and the best ham in the world. Please report back -- I am hungry in anticipation. We found treasures in the Slow Foods guide. I know you will too. Wed Sep 24 20:35:42 -0700 2008 4025697 12522 glbtrtr 2 4870400 VERY delayed in responding - sorry! More interested in touring and visiting vineyards, dairies, great restaurants, etc. Wouldn't mind incorporating some hiking to justify the calories... And thanks for the suggestion of Slow Food - off to the bookstore! Sat Jul 18 14:10:54 -0700 2009 4025697 202225 BrynVA 3 4870560 Decide first if you want butter and rice (North) or tomato and olive oil (South). Sounds like you need to stay around Milan/Modena/Parma axis for both dining and wines. You could not do worse that staying in my little former hometown of Desenzano on Lake Garda, on the Milan-Venice train route and renting a car or doing day trips from that base by train. There are some pretty wonderful restaurants right in that town and SlowFoods recommends a charming hotel there too. I know. That is also where I stay when I go back. http://www.hotelpiroscafo.it/en/hotel.php Sat Jul 18 15:36:07 -0700 2009 4870400 12522 glbtrtr 3 4871230 Is suggest looking at Fred Plotkin's guide to the foods of italy also or Faith Willinger's similar book which covers only the north. they will give you a very good idea of the extremely different different food cultures in the different regions. You could go almost anywhere and their will be a distinct and delicious cuisine to explore. I particularly recommend the refined and rich cuisine of Emilia-Romagna (visit the lowlands around Bussetto to see the culture around cured meats especially culatello, Arnaldo's Clinica Gastronomica near Modena or Giusti in Modena or the finest of the region, balsamic producers, parmigiano produducers, etc) or Campania (lovely veg-cheese-fish oriented cuisine, light sauces full of wonderful flavor), but you could equally go to Piemonte, the Veneto, Sicily, Marche, etc for your dose of Italian cuisine. Sun Jul 19 04:59:06 -0700 2009 4870400 11130 jen kalb 4 4871324 The time of the year you're planning on going may influence your destination. Some things to consider in no particular order: o Truffles will be available in the fall. In fact, you'll find truffle festivals throughout Piedmont and Umbria in the fall. o The rich cuisine of Emilia-Romagna is better suited to cool weather than to hot weather. o If you want to buy 25-year aged balsamic, the oldest DOC designation, the annual supply tends to sell out by early summer and won't be available until the fall. o During Lent, fish and shellfish will make their appearance on menus in regions not typically associated with fish (e.g. inland Tuscany -- which wouldn't be my first choice for a food-based tour) Sun Jul 19 06:22:40 -0700 2009 4871230 61567 Indy 67 5 4873042 Puglia in the very tip of the heel of the boot of Italy is positioning itself as the new culinary destination with cooking schools and all the basic southern Italy food resources such as olives, tomatoes and wine. Lecce is a gorgeous baroque city to use as a base. Wealthy Neapolitans use this area as their country retreat so one dines exceptionally well here. And the mysterious Trulli district has scenery galore. Lots going for this area including not being over-run with tourism. Sun Jul 19 21:57:10 -0700 2009 4871324 12522 glbtrtr 1 4036608 Hmm... Emilia-Romagna (though I may be biased) but everything I hear and have read says this is the food soul of Italy. Parma, Modena, and lot's of places in between. The wine is.... meh. But the food. Bellisima! Then it's just a quick jot over to Tuscany and Florence for the wine... After that, however, I'm at a loss. :) Mon Sep 15 12:06:04 -0700 2008 4025363 226334 MichelleinItaly 2 4038990 But why, Michelle ?!?! Also wine is great in Emilia-Romagna ! Sorry, but what about Albana di Romagna DOCG, in its three versions, secco, dolce, passito ?! And what about the great and not yet well known wines from Colli Piacentini as Gutturnio and Ortugo ? And, the two big and very nice red ? Sangiovese in Romagna and Lambrusco, a bit sparkling, in Emilia ? I love our wines and all together do not forget that several of the best Tuscany wines are made using sangiovese grapes. You're lucky to live in Modena, ciao ! Tue Sep 16 08:57:23 -0700 2008 4036608 206606 vidanto 3 4043874 I'm sorry Vidanto!! There is certainly no offense intended when I say I didn't enjoy the wines of Emilia-Romagna as much as the Tuscan. Perhaps it was just the one's I have had. I don't much care for Lambrusco though. Molto dispiace!! There are so many things that the people of Emilia-Romagna do better than everyone else; balsamico, cheese, ham... the list goes on and on! Anyway Bryn, you should definitely visit an acetaia, where you can see how balsamico is made and even have a nice little tasting so that you can really see and taste the difference of years. I found my leaflet to Acetaia Bompana, from when I went there earlier this year. If you would like to check them out, you can go to www.bompana.com. I don't know if they speak english there, but the leaflet I have is in english (if that's important to you). Thu Sep 18 03:47:22 -0700 2008 4038990 226334 MichelleinItaly 4 4054012 I agree that Emilia Romagna is a great stop on a culinary tour - for example, we loved Arnaldo's Clinica Gastronomica in Rubiera (close to you, Michelle), which has a format which allows you to taste through many regional specialties - lovely service, very relaxing and reasonable for what it is. An acetaia which I would consider would be Pedroni's, linked to the famous Osteria di Rubbiara, in the country on the other side of Modena. They make liqueurs, in addition to their balsamicos. Slowfood-listed, we would have been their if we had not run out of days and appetite. I wrote on another thread about the delicious culatello and other dishes at the Spigaroli restaurant, Il Bianco Cavallino, in Polesine Parmense. vidanto has posted about this place (part of the Antico Corte Pallavicino estate) also. they also make delicious homemade liqueurs and offer fish from the Po as well as courtyard animals, pig, duck, etc. You can visit their meat curing facilities as well. visits to parmesan cheese and parma ham facilities are also available (I loved our cheese visit, arranged through our b+B near Parma, Leoni, but parmagolosi also arranges. More on research sources later - there are good books which will give you more ideas than you can use. Mon Sep 22 21:01:13 -0700 2008 4043874 11130 jen kalb 5 4875794 Jen, just read your trip report from last year. What great detail! We seem to have similar interests/tates (minus the tounge) so pls keep sending advice. Also looking for unique, boutique-y places to stay. Thanks! Mon Jul 20 18:34:56 -0700 2009 4054012 202225 BrynVA 1 4053846 I want to go! Wish I could afford it right now. Mon Sep 22 19:36:41 -0700 2008 4025363 227826 Ronda 1 4065368 I think one of the hidden gems is the Tyrol that you should include in your Itinerary. The food there is unique due to the changes in nationality of the centuries - its a mix of Italian food cooked with German precision, with wine to boot. You'll need a car with GPS. Hiking there is also wonderful. The Piedmont is also an excellent place food-wise. The advice given in the discussion is excellent - that Slow Food guide is a must-have. Sat Sep 27 00:39:10 -0700 2008 4025363 224157 girobike 1 4874122 What great advice everyone has sent - thank you! I've ordered my copy of Slow Food and can't wait to get it. We'll probably be traveling in mid to late September 2010 for about 10 days and based on the feedback here, will probably start in Emilia-Romagna and go into other Northern areas from there. We're meeting with our travel partners next weekend to nail down some of these basics. Please keep sending the great advice. I sincerely appreciate it! Mon Jul 20 10:10:29 -0700 2009 4025363 202225 BrynVA