Spending a holiday in Italy is first of all experiencing its excellent food and wine. Each region of Italy expresses unique nuances and flavors through its cuisine. In fact, it is more correct to speak of local cuisine because even within the Regions themselves there are peculiar differences between traditions and typical products. Both in Tuscany and Umbria, there are significant differences from a food and wine point of view between one village and another.
There are many variations of quality food that can be experienced during a Great Stays stay and here you will find a selection of the most peculiar and authentic food and wine experiences that you can enjoy in Umbria and Tuscany.
- Home chef: organize dinners and events with genuine dishes prepared by local cuisine experts in your property;
- Cooking class: learn tasty traditional recipes such as homemade pasta and pizza;
- Truffle hunting: a truffle hunt with local experts in the beautiful woods between Umbria and Tuscany;
- Km0 tastings: a picnic in the countryside with local products, in the vineyard or among the olive trees;
- Off-season outdoor: activities such as olive harvesting allow you to be in contact with nature, living the outdoors, even in the autumn season.
The Great Stays team has a deep knowledge of the area and a great set of skills in the tourism business, which lead us to seek excellence in every field. The experiences that you will find on this page are designed to give you unique moments, discovering superior quality products and services with attention to the smallest details.
Home Chef
Organize dinners and events with genuine dishes prepared by local cuisine experts in your property.
Have you decided to organize an event or dinner during your stay in the villa and want to impress your guests? Imagine being able to rely on a professional chef or a specialist in traditional local cuisine, for the entire stay or for a single event.
Together you can choose the menu and the wine that meets your wishes. The shopping list will be made up of genuine ingredients of the highest quality.
The home chef service can be personalized in every detail, ranging from gourmet experiences to more traditional home cooking, prepared by local cooks who can transform your event into a typical Italian, intimate and familiar experience.
To organize this kind of experience, a real gastronomic modernity, are our “family cooks“, trusted collaborators who make use of simple and genuine products and refer to the tradition of the Umbrian and Tuscan cuisine of the past, making us rediscover the roots of the truest Italian cuisine.
Cooking class
Learn tasty traditional recipes such as homemade pasta and pizza.
Did you know that since 5 February 2010 pizza has been officially recognized as a traditional specialty guaranteed (TSG) by the European Union and that the art of the pizza maker has been declared by UNESCO as an intangible heritage of humanity?
A pizza cooking class with quality ingredients can truly be a unique experience, to learn all the techniques and secrets of local chefs and be able to cook for your friends and family, showing off the art of real Italian pizza.
Even our cooking classes are organized in respect of true Italian traditions: you will learn how to knead, roll out and serve delicious first courses such as pici or tagliatelle under the expert guidance of a local lady who, in the same way, prepares fresh pasta at home every Sunday.
Truffle hunting
A truffle hunt with local experts in the beautiful woods between Umbria and Tuscany.
If you are a truffle lover and want to go truffle hunting in Umbria or Tuscany, our advice is to do it with the guidance of a local truffle hunter, who knows how to move in compliance with the law and the environment. The woods where the precious tubers can be found are often placed under protection and an expert truffle hunter is able to bring you to the safest areas and treat the products with respect of the rhythms of their natural growth.
Walking in the stunning natural environment of the Umbrian and Tuscan woods, discovering the ideal ecosystem for the growth of truffles, breathing the air that smells of underwoods, are moments that will remain etched in your memory and will also give you postcard shots.
The relationship between a truffle hunter and their dog is unique and special, only thanks to a well-trained sense of smell it is possible to find these hidden treasures, which you can finally take home and use for delicious dishes.
Km0 Tastings
A picnic in the countryside with local products, in the vineyard or among the olive trees.
The experience of a pic-nic en-plein-air, motivated by the desire to be in company and enjoy the mid season sun, finds in Umbria and Tuscany a perfect combination of landscape and products to be tasted. There are various options to customize your km0 tasting, but the goal is the same: enjoy good local food and wines in contact with nature.
The pic-nic is an excellent opportunity to taste unique products and spend a pleasant day in the open air, in direct contact with the territory of origin of the wine, oil and the most delicious vegetables. In fact, everyone likes a pic-nic and it guarantees fun for the whole family.
Among our contacts, you will find companies that organize outdoor experiences both in the vineyard and among the olive trees, also suitable for children.
Off-season outdoor
Activities such as olive harvesting to be in contact with nature, living the outdoors, even in Autumn.
There are experiences, also outdoors, that can be tried only at specific times of the year, because each product has its own season. What time of year are the olives harvested? In general, the olive harvest season of the year is Autumn, the right time to proceed can be between October and December. In these months, the nature of the Umbrian and Tuscan landscapes lights up with the warm colors of the Autumn foliage.
The air gets fresher, but the light on certain days is clear and intense. Activities such as manual olive picking keep the body active and in motion, allowing you to breathe deeply the clean air of the countryside. This method has been handed down for generations in Umbria and Tuscany, being the only harvesting technique that allows you to obtain clean and intact fruits.
The experience ends by immediately taking the olives to the mill, with the certainty that they will give a quality oil.
Immersing yourself in one of the most authentic traditions such as the olives harversting up to the pressing at the mill and then savoring the finished product on a warm and crunchy slice of local bread is certainly an unmissable and unique experience.
These are some of the top experiences selected by Great Stays to introduce you to Umbria and Tuscany food and wine.
We are waiting for you to choose the one that intrigues you the most!
