Private services at your Tuscan villa

A plate of mixed bruschettas, topped with fresh tomatoes, cheese and sausage, arucola and lemon juice or simply extra virgin olive oil. Bruschettas are very common appetizers in all Italy and in Tuscany they are commonly called crostini. You can top grilled bread with almost anything that comes to your mind and served varied and […]

The visit to the oil mill of Vicopisano ends with a unique lunch that includes all the organic specialties available on their farm. This ranges from a special jam of kiwi fruits with cheese to cold meats preserved in olive oil, bruschettas with sauces and even a very rare liquor!

Cantuccini biscuits in Tuscany are one of the most common desserts. They are made of sugar, butter and eggs and they are refined with almonds. In some versions they have other dry nuts or chocolate. Outside of Italy they are also called “biscotti”.

Focaccia is a typical flat bread which is like the base of a pizza with no topping. Usually it is added with olive oil and rosemary and it is served with cold meats and cheese.

A great Super Food from Tuscany: the Farro. The spelt salad is a delicious salad based on boiled farro (Italian for a grain called “spelt”, similar to barley) and dressed with seasonal fresh vegetables like tomatoes, pickled artichokes and carrots, olives and capers.

Pecorino cheese is the most famous cheese from Tuscany. It derives from sheep milk, from which the name comes: in Italian sheep is “pecora”. It can be fresh or long-aged and its taste can vary from mild to very sharp.

One of the most delicious fresh Summer salads of Tuscany, based on bread and fresh vegetables like cucumbers, onion, tomatoes and basil and dressed with extra virgin olive oil and Tuscan vinegar. Originally a way to reuse old bread, it has recently become one of the most iconic super-foods of Tuscany.

Fresh hand-made ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta, topped with butter and sage and finished with parmesan cheese and black pepper! A masterpiece of Tuscan cuisine with the simplest and yet so delicious ingredients.

Fresh egg-based tagliatelle are typically hand made during our cooking classes as one of the main dishes. They are made of simple durum wheat flour and fresh eggs, with a little pinch of salt. The most important component is the love of our chef’s hands…

A traditional tiramisu is based on spongy cookies alternated to mascarpone cream, topped with cocoa powder and added with chocolate bits. One of the most famous desserts of Italy! Imitated in the whole world, it must be fresh and prepared with the most fragrant ingredients.

The best extra virgin olive oil is made with fresh Tuscan olives immediately squeezed after the harvest at an oil mill. The most common olives for Tuscan olive oil are frantoio, leccino, frantoio and madremignola. EVOO is produced every year in October and November.

The Tuscan soil provides a wide variety of red wines, from easy-to-drink young table wines to full-body and robust riservas. Tuscan red wines are often based on Sangiovese, Canaiolo, Ciliegiolo or Colorino grapes and sometimes on international grapes like Merlot, Cabernet or Syrah. The most curious experiements are recently involving Alicante and Tempranillo!

Tuscan white wines are often based on a typical grape called Vermentino, which provides strong minerality and freshness to the wines made with it. The area of San Gimignano provides the one and only white wine DOCG in Tuscany: Vernaccia. Other very common grapes for white wines in Tuscany are Trebbiano and Malvasia.