Testimonials

If I had to summarize our vacation in only one word, that word would be: UNBELIEVABLE!! I am sure you hear that quite often, but we had such a moving and life-altering experience in Tuscany that I cannot help but think that my husband and I are not entirely the same people we were when we left.  In the back of my mind I am trying to figure out how we can manage to move there - seriously! JJ Magliocco - Click here to read the full testimonial and more...

In This Issue:

Sagre -  Celebrate these with us!

During the spring and fall, you may participate to local “Sagre” – food festivals which take place in medieval villages and towns of southern Tuscany.

Feast Day of San Giuseppe (Saint Joseph, Mary's husband), March 19, is also known as Father's Day in Italy. The day, which used to be a national holiday, is traditionally celebrated with bonfires and sometimes pageants with scenes from the life of Saint Joseph. Children give gifts to their fathers on San Giuseppe Day. Zeppole (shown in the photo above) are traditionally eaten on Saint Joseph's Day.

Palio dei Somari, a donkey race between neighborhoods, takes place in Torrita di Siena (a medieval village near Siena in Tuscany), on Saint Joseph's Day, March 19. The festival also includes a colorful historic parade.

Festa della Primavera, a spring festival, is held many places in Italy on March 21. Often the festival is centered around a regional food. Spring festivals are sometimes held to coincide with Saint Joseph's Day on March 19, too.

Click here to find more general information and dates for festivals in Tuscany

“Wine is the passion of men and the nectar of women. Wine is our culture - past, present and future.”

Polenta Recipe

When the family used to eat together the warm polenta served on a marble table or a wooden surface.

Accompanied by several sauces, that was both a feast and a race to see who would be the first to reach the sausage placed in the middle of the polenta...

Polenta

Ingredients:

RAGU' Sauce:

300 gr. minced beef

300 gr. minced pork

pat of butter

1/2 cup olive oil

1 can (400 gr.) peeled tomatoes

1 onion

1 carrot

1 stalk celery

1 cup red wine

salt

black pepper

1 copper rosemary

2 cloves garlic

cooking wire or cotton string

Chop onion, carrot, and celery and add to butter and olive oil in a pan and saute' until the onion becomes transparent.

Add the minced meat and let cook for approximately 10 minutes.

Salt and pepper to taste.

Add red wine, cooking for several minutes for the wine to evaporate.

In a bowl, mash the tomatoes and add to the pot.

Tie together the cloves with cotton string or wire, leaving a long end for removing before serving.

Let all this cook for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

Before serving remove the cloves, and add the rosemary and garlic.

Gorgonzola Sauce:

200 gr. Gorgonzola or Blue Cheese

1 tablesppon butter

1/4 cup milk

nutmeg

In a pot, melt together the gorgonzola, butter and milk on a low flame and stir constantly.

Add nutmeg and continue cooking for approximately 3 minutes.

Serve warm.

Polenta:

Cook according to given or favorite instruction. Serve on granite/marble or large wooden surface - or on large personal plates.

TUSCANO ASHTANGA YOGA RETREAT

“FEED YOUR BODY MIND AND SOUL”

June 7-13, 2010 Monday - Sunday

at VILLA CASTELLETTI in Florence, ITALY

Workshops and Retreats with Bobbi

Join Bobbi from BeFit Yoga for a complete yoga and Tuscan experience. On this retreat you will be filled with the energy and good health that yoga provides and spend the rest of your days discovering the authentic side of Florence visiting areas most tourists don’t get the chance to see. Take a walk through the San Ambrogio quarter and the local growers market and learn about the locals’ delicacies and Tuscan Products.

Visit the Central Growers Market located in the St Lorenzo quarter and learn about Balsamic Vinegar and Extra Virgin Olive Oil and enjoy a fresh panino and a glass of local wine. Drive through the picturesque Carmignano wine region to the winery known as Fattoria di Bacchereto for a wine tasting and meet Alberto who treats his guests to oven toasted bread and Fettunta.

Eat at a typical trattorias, marvel at the towers in the truly medieval town of San Gimignano and stroll along the windy and magical streets packed with local artisans where you will find ceramics, leather and wooden crafts- and so much more. Click here to learn more.

Your Package Includes:

• 6 nights lodging in double apartments with Buffet breakfast at the Borgo of Villa Castelletti
• 2 buffet lunches
• 3 lunches off premises
• 5 days Yoga room at the Villa Castelletti from 8am -13:00pm
• 2 dinners at Tre Corone
• 1 visit to olive oil farm
• 1 visit to San Gimignano
• 3 dinners off premises Carmignano, Florence and San Gimignano
• Arrival and departure transfers from Florence Airport
• Single supplement 45€ extra per night
• Tours in comfortable 16 seat air-conditioned van or separate 8 seater with expert guide

Click here7-13 to learn all this tour has to offer and how to book this retreat for your total Tuscan Experience.

**SPRING SPECIALS AT VILLA GAIA**

Cooking & Wine Deluxe tour - enjoy a Deluxe wine tasting itinerary with evening cooking courses added in!

For April Dates contact: Gregorio@tuscanway.com

Villa Poggiarello Deluxe Wine & Cheese Tour

EXCURSIONS & ITINERARY:

During a week’s vacation, you will visit the fascinating towns of Massa Marittima located in the area of the Metalliferous hills of La Maremma region, the lovely fishing villages and seaside resorts of Castiglioni della Pescaia, Porto Santo Stefano and Talamone, enjoy wine tasings in the wine regions of Montalcino and Montepulciano and visit the famous Piazza del Campo and the striking Gothic Cathedral of Siena.

* We would like to emphasize that we are quite flexible with regard to the itinerary and the excursions. Federica & Romeo sometimes switch the days for different excursions and sometimes, based on local events and activities, new excursions (not mentioned above) can be added or even replace the normal schedule. The most important thing is to communicate your specific interests, which will be given priority if possible and in trest of the group.

Click for more information and to make your reservation today!

VACATION OPTIONS:

We created four exciting packages for you:

• 1 Week (6 Nights / 7 Days) Vacation
• 5 Nights / 6 Days Vacation
• 4 Nights / 5 Days Vacation
• 1/2 Week (3 Nights / 4 Days) Vacation

Upon request we can arrange your stay at Villa Poggiarello for fewer or more days with or without cooking courses.

Click for more information and to make your reservation today!

Polenta - History and Tradition

Polenta started out as one of the earliest and simplest foods made from grain. Polenta, in its many forms was and still is a staple of Tuscan cuisine. From early Roman times, polenta or as it was known then, plumentum, fueled the mighty Legions as either a porridge or as a hard cake made from wild grains, faro, millet, spelt or chickpeas. The grain of choice or availability was cooked with water to form a paste and then cooked on a hot stone for the cake version or poured on the center of a hardwood or stone table with various meat sauces added on top. Bread was available in ancient Italy however the Legions and the countryside peasants preferred polenta.

Later buckwheat was introduced into Italy by the Saracens. Known as grano saraceno, buckwheat is very nutritional and adds the distinctive flavor still popular in Tuscany for making polenta. Eventually, buckwheat would be replaced by the introduction of maize from the New World sometime between the 15th and 16th centuries. Maize or corn was a perfect crop for the climate in Northern Italy. Corn quickly became a cash crop and in turn forced the peasants to subsist on cornmeal and from then on most of the polenta was made from corn.

Polenta has been called “Italian grits” as it is compared to the popular Southern United States version of grits or hominy and associated as a food of poverty. However today, both “mush-like” foods have become distinctively traditional, well loved, and widely served dishes of choice for both Tuscans and those from the Southern states of the U.S. However, the way that these dishes are served is very different.

Truly traditional polenta in Tuscany is literally served from the pot to the table. However, some polenta dishes, after the introduction of ceramic plates, polenta alla spianatora also became popular but this is not the preferred way to serve or eat polenta by the purist. Today, there are a variety of ways to serve the polenta on the table. Some suggest wood boards, large stone slabs, or simply covering the center of the table with foil, where the polenta is poured onto the center and then garnished with a variety of sauces made from meats and vegetables, and eaten from the table in family style.

The best polenta is prepared by boiling salted water and adding a thin, steady stream of the cornmeal, while stirring constantly and vigorously for 40 to 45 minutes.

Recipe Wine Paring:

Chianti

One of Tuscany’s premier Chianti wineries is Brunello di Montalcino, from a fortress town south of Siena, where reds of legendary taste and vintages have commanded premium prices. Conceived by the Biondi Santi family a century ago, Brunello is now issued under some 200 labels, representing small farms, established estates and international operations.