Truffle Hunting in Piedmonte, Italy

Our Italian Culinary programs are designed to be added to your travel itinerary to introduce you to a world of tasty gastronomic riches and unique experiences. Observe at close hand, the work of wine and food producers that open their wineries and food shops to visitors. Savour the different flavours and satisfy your appetite by discovering something typical, traditional and unusual. 

These precious truffles are not made of chocolate.  
Despite the truffle’s reputation as a rare and expensive ingredient, they are used extensively in rustic Italian cooking to add a special touch to the simplest of dishes. On this Italian culinary add-on, arrive in Benevello, a town in the Piedmonte region of Italy, located between the Alps and the Barolo hills. Check into your 4-star historical villa situated on a ridge among lush woods and Langhe hazelnut groves. Begin your rural cooking class making traditional dishes with a local signora. Enjoy some time at leisure at your hotel which features a large garden and pool overlooking the countryside, followed by a delicious welcome dinner tonight. After breakfast, take some free time to explore the area or relax at your hotel; lunch on your own. In the afternoon, meet a ‘trifulao’, a truffle hunter and his dog, Bianca, to learn about the history of truffles and truffle hunting, and partake in actual ‘truffle picking’ together. Sample truffles accompanied by bread, salami, local wines, cheeses and specialties. A gourmet truffle dinner awaits you at a local tavern to conclude your day. After breakfast the next day, visit Barolo for a guided visit of a wine cellar and wine tasting of Piedmontese wines in an ‘enoteca’ with nearly 35,000 examples of Barolo wines, hosted in a castle.