Here Lyne talks about one of our latest exclusive readers’ travel offer the Italian Treasures tour in May next year.
Talk’n Tours
Like stepping through a window in time back to centuries long ago the magnificent Monferrato area seems untouched by modern influences.
Draped with rows of grapevines and orchards the dramatic hills fill the landscape. In the distance small villages with terracotta rootops worn over time lay peacefully on the hillsides. Dramatic high towers standing tall seem to watch over this precious, timeless land.
Langhe-Roero and Monferrato were granted UNESCO world heritage status in 2014 protecting the magnificence.
For nearly one thousand years, generations of families residing in this area of Northern Italy have created a mecca of culinary delights including truffles, chocolates and sparkling white wines.
Wine connoisseurs worldwide will recognize Piemonte wines such as Barolo, Barbera and Barbaresco, while food enthusiasts know that Piedmont was the birth place of Italy’s Slow Food Movement an alternative to fast-food which was introduced to help preserve traditional cuisines in this area known as home to a rich food culture.
An experience not to be missed is the art of hunting for truffles. Truffles are a lumpy fungi that sprout from the roots of trees in the moistly forested hills of Piedmont. You can venture into the woods with a local trifolau or truffle hunter and their dogs to learn the age-old secrets of truffle hunting. For centuries this skill was part of peasant life in Piedmont, as the villagers collected truffles to sell at the local village markets. Their very clever dogs are trained from puppies to shuffle through the leaves, noses to the ground in search of these very expensive mushrooms worth hundreds of dollars.
During the Middle Ages these mysterious mushrooms were thought to be the food of witches laced with deadly poisons. But it was a brief fall from favour as its amazing flavour won over kings, popes and other nobility alike.
In this charming corner of Italy the truffles sprout most months of the year. The white truffles are found between September and January, there are also black winter truffles, pale bianchetti, and summer truffles.
White truffles can be very ugly, like bunions or warts knobbly and malformed, especially in the hills where the fungus struggles to find space in the dense clay soil. On the banks of the river in the sandy soil, the truffles are more uniform and rounded. The two kinds of soil determine the consistency of the truffle, those from the hills have a more intense aroma, and are more precious and expensive
Dresses in a vest or coat with many pockets the truffle hunters carry only a stick and a zappino, a mattock-like tool for breaking up the earth, very simple tools indeed.
During our Italian treasures tour departing on the 19th of May 2017 we will visit these magnificent woodlands to experience truffle hunting, wine tasting and the finest local cuisine.
With a maximum number of 24 people in this small group you are assured the best experiences while enjoying luxury all the way.
Collette tours and The Senior Newspaper have put together this exclusive 20 day tour. If you would like to have a chat with the friendly staff at Collette tours or to receive more information or make a booking call 1300 792 195.