UMBRIAN APPETITES

 

A Gastronomic and Oenological exploration of Umbria.

Staying in Montefalco, with four cooking classes in private homes, villas and farms, using our local network of families, restaurants and chefs. In addition you will visit local towns, including Norcia, famous for its salamis and cheeses, Deruta with over 300 ceramics outlets and an ancient weaving industry in Perugia as well as prize winning wine cellars in and around Montefalco.

 

 

DURATION:              8 days/7 nights

DEPARTURES:         January to October – Sunday’s

COMMENCES:         Foligno Railway Station at 11.00 am or Foligno hotel

FINISHES:                 Foligno Railway Station.       

 

 

Umbrian Appetites Detailed Itinerary

This is a preliminary itinerary and will be altered to accommodate seasonal activities, the weather, local festivals or the availability of guides or restaurants. However the essential content of the itinerary will remain the same. B L D means that breakfast, lunch and/or dinner will be included that day.

 

Day 1 Sunday              Foligno to Montefalco, Wine Tasting                    L D

You will be met outside the main entrance of Foligno railway station at 11.00 am and transferred to your accommodation near Montefalco arriving at approximately 12.00 noon. After lunch on the estate we travel up to the medieval town of Montefalco where you will be introduced to the food, wine and artisan traditions of the town including a wine tasting. Montefalco reds have won prestigious awards for the best red wine in Italy. Welcome drinks and dinner at the family run enoteca in the town's delightful piazza.

Day 2  Monday             Markets & Villa Cooking Class 1,  Foligno         B L D

Today is market day in Montefalco so there is a walk around the town to experience the atmosphere. The cooking class is at a local villa just near the marketplace. You will develop skills in making a complete Umbrian meal from antipasti, through to dolci, including fresh pasta in its local variation, 'strangozzi' with its interesting definition as 'priest strangler. In the afternoon we visit Foligno with a focus on the kitchenware shop. After dinner at the accommodation we have an introductory talk on the food and wine of Umbria.


 

 

 

 

Day 3  Tuesday           Ancient Traditions  & Cellar visits                    B L D
A short drive to a nearby farmhouse and we visit a ‘carbonaio’  or charcoal kiln that once provided the local area with wood coal. They will show us the ancient techniques and we have lunch on the property. The afternoon is taken up with visits to various local wine cellars where you can try Montefalco's award winning Sagrantino wine.


Day 4  Wednesday       Olive oil tasting, Cooking class 2                      B L D 

We visit a local oil mill and walk through the field of olives which will include a field lecture on growing techniques and a detailed tasting and comparison some of the area's excellent extra virgin olive oils. The whole of Umbria beneath 600 metres in altitude has a climate and geography particularly suited to the cultivation of the olive. The oil is an essential ingredient of Umbrian cooking and the landscape displays evidence of years of tradition in the area's principal agricultural activity. Lunch back at the accommodation. We travel on to a nearby farmhouse where we explore the ancient estate, its traditions and its biological grain farm, cooking lunch by the enormous fireplace in the original family kitchen using produce from the fields outside.

Day 5 Thursday        Truffle hunt, Cooking class 3                                         B L D  
This morning we travel to a mountain forest where we will accompany a professional truffle hunter and his trained dogs into the forest on his daily quest for 'black gold'. We enjoy a simple meal of wine, bruschetta, pasta and truffles in the hunter's home in the mountain village. In the afternoon another cooking lesson on a property nearby.

Day 6  Friday          Cooking Class 4,  Norcia                                           (B L D)

Cooking class at a local farmhouse based on characteristic regional food. The class is followed by lunch.  In the afternoon we drive through the Valley of the river Nera to Norcia, the sausage and salami capitol of Italy.  The walled roman town has been historically famous for its delicious cheeses and salamis and almost every Italian town has a Norcineria selling its produce. We stock up on produce to include at dinner this evening back at the accommodation.


Day 7  Saturday         Deruta Ceramics, Weaving Perugia                        (B D)  

Our culinary explorations are enhanced today by ventures into eating's decorative accessories. In Deruta, a ceramics centre since medieval times, you will be shown through a selection of some of the 300 outlets selling brightly enameled plates, and bowls. We then travel on to Perugia to a workshop of traditional fabric weavers still using ancient hand built wooden looms in a beautifully restored gothic church.  The afternoon in the town is free for shopping or individual sightseeing.


Day 8  Sunday
On the last day of the tour you will be transferred to Foligno Station leaving the accommodation at 9.15am in time for the 10.12am train from Foligno Station to Rome Termini

 

 

 

 

 

Inclusions:

 

  • Foligno station or Foligno hotel transfers
  • All land travel by air-conditioned coach
  • Accommodation for 7 nights.   5 days full board and 2 days half board
  • 4 cooking classes of characteristic regional recipes, including lunch
  • A truffle hunt and truffle lunch in a mountain village
  • A visit and lunch at a traditional charcoal maker
  • Visits to cellars with tasting of Montefalco’s award winning Sagrantino wines
  • An olive oil tasting;  Cheese and prosciutto tastings
  • Visit to the mamous ceramics centre of Deruta
  • Short informative talks on food and wine
  • Tour leader throughout the tour

 

 

Departures:   Jan 10;  Mar 21;   Apr 18;   May 16, 30;   June 20;  July 11;  Sep 12; 

                     Oct 10.

 

 

PRICE PER PERSON:                      Twin Share:                 Single Supplement:

                                                            $3,362                         $622

 

CODE:  ICOOKU