Author: Samuele Sodini

European cooking travels visiting Italy

The Tuscan Chef offers a selection of cooking courses and wine experiences throughout the year.

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Join the Tuscan Chef on a 6 day residential cooking course at a luxury 17th century Lucchese villa (groups of between 8-12) during the Spring and Autumn each year.
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Hands-on cooking lessons with The Tuscan Chef at the Gazebo restaurant of the Napoleonic villa hotel Locanda L’Elisa.
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For small, unique and individually designed courses of one day or a weekend, wine and dine with the Tuscan Chef “at home”; an olive press dating back to the 16th century.
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Take the Tuscan Chef home with you to your rental villa where he can prepare lunch and/or dinner as well as offer hands-on cooking lessons
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Tour with the Tuscan Chef on a sensory journey exploring hidden towns and villages, Chianti and Bolgheri vineyards, markets and specialist food suppliers.

Courses are hands-on under the guidance of professional Italian chef, Valter Roman, and also feature guest chefs from around the world including Alvaro Maccioni of La Famiglia restaurant in London. Alvaro is a passionate advocate of using fresh, seasonal produce and traditional methods of cooking. He believes that ‘if a chef cooks like his mother, he is a great chef. If he cooks like his grandmother, he is even greater!’ Valter believes cooking is not just a matter of weights and measures and following a recipe but of feeling and instinct and hands-on experience.

Tuscany Review

Dear Friends,

I found this nice post around the web and I decide to publish it here on PlunningaTour because in my opinion reading it you can taste the true way to visit Tuscany.

Tuscany is well known for many things. Florence, being the largest city, is the main attraction, but by no means the only draw in a region that, above most in Italy, has a reputation beyond its means.

Of course, there is Florence, but there is time enough devoted to her, and the beauty and uniqueness of that city. Pisa as well, has her fans and detractors, but is a worthy enough diversion, and the Tower really is a must-see (as well as the Cathedral which can hold a torch to any in Florence).

To get a true taste of Tuscany in her entirity it is necessary to head for the hills, so to speak.

The overwhelming sight that will greet you as you head south from Florence, is (depending on the time of year) the verdant countryside. The green-ness is overwhelming, and the lines and lines of vineyards and olive trees around Chianti lead to the famous landscapes often alluded to, in Tuscany.

The hills are larger than their English equivalents, for the most part, and intermittently, a hill town will appear, as if from nowhere, and ‘just popping in for a visit’ can lead to finding the a great little trattoria which will far outstrip anything in Florence. Although that can possibly be said for any Italian countryside.

Tuscany is full of small towns. San Gimignano is a perfectly preserved medieval town which did a lot more from me than San Marino (in Romagna), because although it is very touristy, it doesn’t seem to have sold-out to the tourist influx. Vinci (Leonardo’s famous birthplace) is worth a diversion, sitting on a hill, with its own Leonardo museum, although if you go to his actual birthplace (a little way out of the town itself) there isn’t very much in there to see.

Lucca as well, is a great spot to while away a day, and although I never got as far south as Siena, I’m told it’s a treat.

The Tuscan countryside cannot really be appreciated on the train from Pisa Airport into
Florence, and is it as well to take a day trip from Florence, if you can, to Siena or San Gimignano, or even to Fiesole if you are short of time, because it is good to set off the artistry of Florence against the natural beauty that inspired so many of her famous sons.

There are always a lot of expats in this area, but that can be quite comforting in a way, and the Tuscans are very proud of their own little corner of Italy, they are helpful to a fault, if a little particular. The wine is superb and the food is plentiful and excellent, and in my eyes, that makes it a good enough reason to stop, regardless of the countryside.

There are many particular cities to see within Tuscany, not all of which I could mention, and any number of which would have numerous treasures – stopping an a random church in a small village will uncover art pieces which would be the centre of any gallery in London – and that is more the pleasure of exploring this particular area of Italy. The joy is as much in the travelling as in the arriving.

Tuscany and Lucca’s Luminara

The picture on the front cover is very meaningful for everyone who claims to be Lucchese.
It was taken last year just before the procession of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross started to arrive in the Cathedral of San Martino.
The procession leaves from the Church of San Frediano and retraces the steps of all of the other processions which have traditionally taken place on the 13th of September every year – Piazza San Frediano, Via Fillungo, Via Roma, Piazza San Michele, Piazza Grande, Piazza del Giglio, Piazza del Duomo and Piazza San Martino to arrive at its destination.
When the head of the procession arrives in the cathedral, the last part of it is still waiting to leave San Frediano so this may help you to realise just how many people take part in it.
It begins with archbishops, bishops, parish priests and parishioners carrying banners to announce where they are from, with brass bands playing liturgical music and choirs singing hymns in praise of the Holy Cross, each person holding a candle.
The local councils are well represented as are all voluntary organisations, with local politicians, mayors from the province of Lucca and, of course, the mayor of Lucca.
They are followed by representatives of the Lucchesi nel Mondo Association who are so proud and happy to be present in Lucca on this special evening as a tribute to their Lucchese roots. Last but not least come the historical figures in beautiful, colourful medieval costumes – lords, ladies, children, militia and archers.
So great are the number of participants that I’ve probably not even mentioned everybody.
Seeing is believing, however, because if I hadn’t seen this procession I could never have imagined the greatness of it all.
Although there are hundreds, thousands of onlookers, there always appears to be space for everybody. Along the route, the architecture of the buildings, shops and houses is outlined with countless numbers of little glass holders containing lit candles illuminating the procession, adorning Lucca with an unforgettable sight. The front cover is only a taste of what is to come on the 13th of September.
When the whole procession has entered the doors of the cathedral, the mottettone is sung.
This is a piece of polyphonic sacred church music. In the past it was composed for two organs and two choirs.
In fact the mottettone has always been a characteristic of the Feast of the Holy Cross, so much so that it attracted a great number of music lovers, contributing to the international fame of this event.
After the mottettone, people start moving towards the Walls to position themselves for a great view of the spectacular fireworks that conclude a wonderful evening.

Lucca comics & games 2008

Comics & Games Lucca

Lucca Comics & Games 2008 is a great cultural event which attracts each year thousands of visitors from all over the world. From a couple of years, the event is more interesting and suggestive as it takes place within the city walls of Lucca. In 2007 about four hundred exhibitors from all over the world tooks part in Lucca Comics and Games, on over 16,000 square metres with over 100,000 visitors. During these days (from the middle of October to the 4th of November) Lucca also organizes forums and cinema and comics exhibitions.

Comics & Games Edition 2008 – Program

30 october – 02 november
» MARKET SHOW

18 october – 02 november
» EXPO

Competition Comics and Games for Lucca Junior 2008

Dedicated to Giacomo Puccini: Princesses, Emperors and Mandarins The competition for Lucca Junior 2008 of comics and games of this year is dedicated to Giacomo Puccini, the title is: Princesses, emperors and mandarins. The illustrators and cartoonists can download on-line the competition notice in PDF format dedicated to Princess Turandot.
[file PDF 892,32 KB]

Lucca Games 2008 – Competition for the best unpublished game

Lucca Games, the section dedicated to the smart games and to the fantasy of Lucca Comics & Games, and DaVinci Publishing propose also this year the Competion for the best unpublished game… read more

Puccini and Lucca by the international exhibition of games in Norimberga Lucca Games and DaVinci Publishing present the competitio for the best UNPUBLISHED GAME 2008!… read more

Lucca Cosplay 2008

Lucca Cosplay 2008 is the exhibition of Comics and Games of Lucca that offer the chance to the partecipants to simulate in the appeareance, with the costumes, in the make-up, often in avery detailed way their favourite comics characters. Every partecipant or group on a stage from 1 to 8 minutes (according to the n° of people). The winners will be rewarded the last day of comics and games. Every partecipant has to sign up and respect all the rules. You can find more info on the official web site of Lucca Cosplay.

September the month of the Vendemia: Grape harvest in Tuscany

September: The grape harvest in Tuscany

September: The grape harvest in TuscanyHere we’re talking about wine, because September is the month of the grape harvest and of the celebrations dedicated to it.

In some areas of the south, grapes are ready for harvesting in August, and towards the more Northern regions, it can take up until November for the grapes to be ready – it all comes down to ripening of the grape, it must have the right level of sweetness. In Tuscany, the grape harvest happens in September, and is therefore big on the agenda for a region to which wine is very important.

It’s not just about Chianti, a wine which everyone knows, but least we forget about the fantastic wines from Montepulciano; Brunello di Montalcino, Carmignano, and Morellino di Scansano, to name but a few. Being such an important part of life, there are many celebrations and festivities dedicated to the grape, and of course its final product.

The first organised celebration started in 1926 in a town named Impruneta, in the Chianti area. It was during the Fascist period, a time when the Government wanted to celebrate local traditions and products with fairs, and most of these have been maintained to the present day. The celebrations in Impruneta are on the last Sunday of September (the 24th, this year) but the town is busy beforehand, buzzing with the preparations for the parade which goes through Piazza Buondelmonti. There is a competition between the four districts of the area, to see who can create the most beautiful carnival float. The parade is accompanied by dancing and music and it’s a lively affair.

Siena also has its own Festa dell’uva from September 20 through 24 in Castelnuovo Berardenga. There are also events in Gaiole, Chianti from the 16th to the 18th of September, and in Panzano, with its Vino al Vino celebration at the end of the third week of September (15th, to the 17th during 2006).

In Rufina, on the northern border of the Chianti area, there will be a series of fairs and festivals called the Bacco Artigiano. Concerts, wine tasting, and products made by local artisans will enliven the magnificent Medicean villas and village squares of Rufina and Pomino from September 28th to October 1st.

The celebrations move to Florence on the 30th of September, wine is blessed and offered to the Lordship of Florence, in a ritual which started in the 13th century when the consul of Arte dei Vinattieri – the wine maker’s guild, offered the wine to the seat of government – the Palazzo della Signoria for use in the refectory.

For more than twenty years this tradition has been revived, celebrating the ancient ties between the city and the countryside. The Matto float gets blessed in the churchyard of Piazza del Duomo. A large float made from a mountain of Fiaschi wine, and then, the historical parade of the Republic of Florence and the Countrymen of Rufina march toward Piazza della Signoria, where a whirl of music and flag bearers bring an end to the party.

The island of Elba, where the Moscato and Aleatico varieties are produced, also has its own grape festivities on September 25th in Capoliveri. Named the “the island of many wines” by the Greeks and the Romans, today Elba produces seven DOC wines exclusive to the area. Moving inland the area of Scansano in Grossetto opens its wine cellars to showcase the excellent local red wine Morellino di Scansano, and other delicious local products in the Morellino e Sapori DOC festival. People dress for the events in medieval costume and the events include archery. If you’re really enthusiastic about learning more with regards to the history of wine, then for a small fee you can go to the Museum of Wine, in Carmignano, where you can learn everything from the harvesting of the grape, to the final production stages of making the wine.

Museum of Grape and Wine
P.za Vittorio Emanuele, 2 – Carmignano
Tel: 055 8712468 – 055 8750265

Hours:
From October 1 – March 31
Tues – Sun 9.30-12.00, 15-17.30 and the first Sunday of each month the museum is open all afternoon

From April 1 to May 14 & from August 1 – September 30:
Tues – Sun 9.30-12.00, 16.00-18.30.

From May 15 to July 31:
Tues-Sun 9.30-12.30, 16.00-19.00