Truffle experience in Tuscany

Anghiari, a jewel case between the Tevere and Arno rivers. Anghiari is a wonderful middle-age town overlooking the green valley of the northern Tevere river.

Anghiari is a wonderful middle-age town overlooking the green valley of the northern Tevere river. Has been an inviolable bastion for its XIII Century town walls and was very important during the Middle-age for its strategic position.

Became allied and witness of Florence after the battle on the June 29th 1440, "the battle of Anghiari", that Leonardo da Vinci has celebrated on his disappeared masterpiece, still now object of historical researches.

The mystery breeze and the magic atmosphere across it's medieval alleys that takes you in the times of swords.

This special day will end only after a delicious dinner with an unforgettable Truffle Menu that you'll enjoy in a typical Truffle Trattoria where you'll have the pleasure to taste: Cheese maker's toast with black truffle Bean's and tomato's soup with truffle Pappardelle with truffle and Parmesan cheese Tagliata beef with truffle Seasonal fruit tart.

 The truffle is a fruit of the land, known from the oldest times. We have testimonies of it from Sumeri and from Jacob times around 1700 b.C. Greeks named it "hydnon", from where comes idnologia, the science of truffles, or "Idra", Latins named it "tuber" from the verb tumere (swelling), Arabs named it "ramech alchamech tufus" or tomer and kemas, Spanish "turma de tierra", French "truffe" ( with the meaning of fraud, from the performance "Tartufe" of Molière - 1664), English "truffle" and Germans "truffel". Plutarco asserted that the truffle was born from the water, hot and thunderbolts combined effects. The origin of the truffle was not determined so science and popular beliefs covered truffles with mystery so long that no one knows if it should be an animal or a plant. During the XVIII Century all the Courts considered the truffle as one of the most precious things. The truffle picking was a great entertainment for the Court guests. From here probably start the truffle hunt with elegant animals like dogs. Gioacchino Rossini named it " the Mozart of mushrooms" , Lord Byron was use to have a truffle on his writing-desk so that it's aroma should give him creativeness and Alexandre Dumas named it Sancta Sanctorum of the table. In 1949 Italians gave it as present, for the first time, to Rita Haywort, and then to the President of U.S.A. Harry Truman, Sir Winston Churchill, Marilyn Monroe etc.

 The truffle is formed by a high quantity of water and mineral salts absorbed from the soil through the roots of the tree with whom it leaves in symbiosis. It rises and grows principally near poplars, lime-trees, oaks and willow-trees. The characteristic colours, flavours and aromas of truffles will be determinate by the type of tree. For example the truffles that grows near oaks will have a more pregnant while those near lime-trees will be more light and aromatic. Their form, on the contrary, will depend from the soil: if it will be soft the truffle will be more smooth, if the soil will be more solid the truffle will be knotty and pimply. Tuscany is one of the most important regions in Italy for truffle production. It is mainly the white truffle which is harvested (Tuber magnatum Pico), the most prized. There are also other varieties distributed in varying amounts across the region such as the Whitish truffle (Tuber borchii Vitt.) the summer black truffle (Tuber aestivum Vitt.) the black truffle (Tuber uncinatum Chatin) the precious black truffle (Tuber melanosporum Vitt.) the winter black truffle (Tuber brumale Vitt.).

Tuber aestivum		Tuber melanosporum		Tuber mgnatum pico

 This is the most valuable variety with the largest diffusion in Tuscany. It boasts a picking tradition which is not inferior to that of the more renowned regions. It is found in certain areas of the north-eastern Appenines (the areas of Mugello, Casentino and the Val Tiberina) and in a fairly large central hilly area which extends from the lower Valdarno up to the border with Lazio (San Casciano dei Bagni). This area includes the lower Valdarno, the Valdera, the Volterrano, the Chianti hills, the Valdelsa, the Val d'Arbia, Crete Senesi, part of the Val di Chiana and the Val di Paglia. XVI Century Tuscany map The areas where truffles are found coincide with very special environments, with characteristics able to guarantee this valuable fungus the presence of symbiotic plants and damp, soft, clayey, earth. For example, the precious white truffle may be found in woods at the bottom of a valley, in woods close to rivers and streams, on poplars, willows, hazelnuts, or on oak trees close to cultivated areas or at the edges of meadows.

Program: Walk through the woods with an expert truffle guide and his dog finding truffles and ending with a special truffle menu dinner.

More info on request info@lalimonaia.net