Truffle hunting experience with cooking class at Rita’s farm
Wine & Food Tours SO MANY EMOTIONS IN ONE DAY
Would you like to learn how to find truffles, cook with truffles and prepare your own truffle-based lunch in the heart of Tuscany? If the answer is yes, then this experience is perfect for you!
We will organize for you a special day that combines nature, tradition, and taste: a truffle hunting experience followed by a pleasant and engaging cooking class. During this tour, you will discover how truffles are found and learn simple and authentic ways to use them in your cooking.
The charming setting of Rita's farm in Tuscany
Our truffle hunting experience and cooking class take place at Rita's farm, a beautiful countryside property located in the Valdera area, not far from Pisa. This peaceful place is surrounded by rolling hills, olive trees, and open landscapes typical of Tuscany.
On the farm you will meet free-running chickens, a friendly donkey, and other farm animals, as well as pets such as cats and dogs, creating a relaxed and authentic rural atmosphere. From here you can also enjoy a breathtaking view over the Tuscan hills, with a wonderful panorama of the charming town of Peccioli in the distance.
Rita's farm is also home to the cooking school "My Tuscan Kitchen", an ideal place to learn how to prepare traditional Tuscan recipes. Here you can breathe fresh country air and enjoy a familiar, warm, and bucolic environment. This experience is also highly recommended for families with young children, who will love the open spaces and farm animals and pets.
Discover the world of truffles: hunting in the woods
At Rita's farm you will meet your guide and storyteller, who will introduce you to the fascinating world of truffles. You will learn how truffle hunting works, how the dogs are trained, and about the strong relationship between the hunter and his dog. You will also discover the different varieties of truffles that can be found in our area, from the summer black truffle to the precious and famous white truffle of the winter season.
After this introduction, we will move to a nearby woodland area, where you will join a local truffle hunter and his trained dog for a fun and educational truffle search. Walking in nature, you will see the dog in action and, if we are lucky, you will even have the chance to collect some fresh truffles directly from the soil.
A cooking class dedicated to truffles
After the truffle hunt, we will return to the kitchen and meet a local cook who will guide you step by step. Together, you will prepare a complete truffle-based meal, learning the secrets of traditional Tuscan cuisine in a relaxed and quiet atmosphere.
We will use both fresh truffles and selected truffle-based products, focusing on simple recipes that enhance their natural flavors. The cooking class is hands-on, fun, and educational, and suitable also for beginners.
At the end of the experience, a delicious truffle-based lunch or dinner will be served, accompanied by wines from the farm, so you can fully enjoy the flavors of Tuscany and celebrate this unforgettable day.
This is a list of specialties that you are likely to sample as part of the program of this tour. Please, note that the specialties of the tasting session and/or lunch may vary according to the season and the availability of the products in the day of the tour.
In our tour we like showing you places off the beaten track and introducing you to Tuscan people with their personal stories, careers and characters.
You will have one of our guides with your party during the whole tour. Please, see below all the guides who can be with you.
During this experience you can also meet some of the Tuscan friends involved in the events. Please, see below which friends you are likely to encounter.
The total rate for this activity varies according to the number of people in your party.
Check rates in the table below.
TRUFFLE EXPERIENCE WITH TRUFFLE HUNTING WALK,
|
|
|---|---|
NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN YOUR PARTY |
TOTAL RATE |
| 2 persons | € 760 |
| 3 persons | € 870 |
| 4 persons | € 980 |
| 5 persons | € 1090 |
| 6 persons | € 1200 |
| 7 persons | € 1310 |
| 8 persons | € 1420 |
| Extra Adult | € 110 |
| Extra Teenager (12-17 yrs) | € 90 |
| Extra Child (4-11 yrs) | € 70 |
TRUFFLE EXPERIENCE WITH TRUFFLE HUNTING WALK,
|
|
|---|---|
NUMBER OF PEOPLE IN YOUR PARTY |
TOTAL RATE |
| 2 persons | € 920 |
| 3 persons | € 1070 |
| 4 persons | € 1220 |
| 5 persons | € 1370 |
| 6 persons | € 1520 |
| 7 persons | € 1670 |
| 8 persons | € 1820 |
| Extra Adult | € 150 |
| Extra Teenager (12-17 yrs) | € 120 |
| Extra Child (4-11 yrs) | € 90 |
Rates include
- A private English speaking guide/story teller for the whole tour. Also available in French, German, Spanish
- A guided walk in the woods with the hunter and his dog
- A private cooking class with the preparation of truffle dishes
- A complete truffle-based lunch or dinner with unlimited wines from the farm
- Kitchen apron as souvenir
- Booklet to take notes
- Taxes
Rates do NOT include
- Transportation
- Gratuites/tips to the staff: not included, not obligatoty but very much appreciated
Transportation is not included in the rates above. For more info on transportation, please see the box "Transportation options".
Here the message of Sheri, who took a few cooking experiences with us and much enjoyed our private truffle hunting tour with truffle focuses cooking class in October 2019:
Hi everyone,
Arianna just wanted to let you know we have arrived safely back to the United States, missing Italy already!
I just wanted to say thank you for the fabulous time we had on your tours that we took with you. The truffle hunt with pasta making class-along with the pizza making class where our favorites❣️ It was a pleasure meeting everyone.
I have a request – please send me the information on the farm we did the truffle hunt and pasta making class, Chelsea lost their card, and I wanted to order some wine, oil, and some other things from them. Thank you Also, if you would not mind sharing the tiramisu recipe- I would appreciate it!
I am planning on coming back next year for about three months, and I'm looking forward to some more classes/tours with you guys.
Again thank you for everything❣️❣️❣️
Much love and many blessings,
Sheri
Here the nice words of Liz and Charlie who booked a private tour with cooking class with focus on truffles as well as a private cooking lesson:
Dear Arianna & Friends,
We were in Italy & used your services at the end of May. You have a wonderful company with even more wonderful people. Luca was our guide for truffle hunting & cooking with Maria — an unforgettable experience! Veronica was our guide/ chef for a Tuscan Cooking class on 5/25/17. We had a most excellent time & have many wonderful memories — we told the other guests that we met back at the Hilton Borgo alle Vigne. We would like the recipes used during our cooking class with Veronica on 5/25/17, if possible. The menu included: Brochette Tricolore, Risotto porri e salsiccia, and Tiramisu traditional. Could you please send them to us? We are busy using our proper olive oil, truffle oil, & the mezza luna we returned with courtesy of Veronica & the truffle hunter, but we would love to have the recipes.
Thank You,
Liz & Charlie
P.S. We cannot wait to come back=
Here the pictures send to us by Tuanhai after one day truffle hunting and cooking with us. He took our tour as a special family shore excursion as his cruise ship was stopping in Livorno:
Here are some pictures. Please send to Alex and Arianna. If you want larger files let me know.
Arianna, Alessio, the truffle dog and our guests in line along the pathway in search of truffles
This is an email we received from Chuck, spending a week in our Alessio farm and doing a cooking class and a truffle hunting tour with Massimo:
Massimo:
Great to hear from you, we meant to write back earlier but got caught up with work and 2 days turned into 2 weeks before we knew it. We wanted to thanks you for a great time, and hope to see you when you come up this way, or next year if we get back to Tuscany. Thanks much for the pictures from the cooking class, it really helped our pasta skills.
Lucca was very nice, but we did have the worst Pizza in Italy there, however the town was really nice, and no problems parking outside the walls. Your plan for Florence was perfect, we had no problems using the train, and it let up out right near everything we wanted to see. We didn’t know that you had to stamp your ticket before you get in the train, but the conductor who checked our ticket was very nice and did not give us a fine.
I have included some pictures from the Truffle hunt, not the best but a good memory. Our visit to San Gimigano was also very nice, we bought an entire Pizza and had a picnic after walking through the town for several hours.
Again, thanks much for making our visit to Tuscany very enjoyable and we hope to see you again, either in Tuscany or here in Germany.
Chuck
This tour includes a walk through the woods on terrain that is not always flat and a few more challenging stretches. If you have any accessibility needs — whether mobility-related, sensory, cognitive, or any other requirements — please let us know in advance and we will do our best to adapt the itinerary for you.
LOCATION OF ATTRACTIONS:
This tour takes place in the woodland in the municipality of Peccioli, in the area of the Pisan Hills, near Volterra and San Gimignano.
MEET-UP LOCATION:
Unless differently specified, the tour guide meets you at a meeting point near Peccioli.
DURATION:
This program takes 5 hours. Time for transportation not included.
AVAILABILITY:
Available all year through. In the black truffle season availability from Mondays through Saturdays. In the white truffle season availability from Mondays through Fridays.
LANGUAGE:
This tour is available in English language. German, French, Spanish or Italian are also available with no surcharge.
DIFFICULTY LEVEL:
Medium
CHILD FRIENDLY:
Ideal for children
CLOTHING:
Comfortable shoes and clothes recommended.
FOOD RESTRICTIONS:
The foods served during this tour might contain gluten, lactose, nuts and alcohol. If you have any food restriction, please inform our personnel during the enquiry process.
TRANSPORTATION:
This program and its rates do not include transportation and are set on a self-driving base. For further information see the box "transportation options".
The destinations reached during this activity are in the Tuscan countryside, in areas off the beaten track that cannot be reached by public transport. We highly recommend renting a car or a scooter in order to reach them. As an alternative, we can offer a valued service by chauffeured car, van or minibus. Any cost of transportation is to be added to the rates displayed on the rate table of this page.
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