small group italy tours

A thin layer of snow covers the town. Bright lights of various shapes and colors illuminate the scene and wooden stalls decorated with pine branches, holly and multi-colored glass balls fill the town square. You can smell the mulling spices is in the air and you can hear a choir singing traditional songs. Welcome to the Christmas Markets!

This tradition originated in Germany in the Late Middle Age, but it is now very popular in Italy as well, especially in the villages and towns of Northern Italy. Bolzano, Trento, Verona, Bormio and Livigno, just to quote the most famous ones. But also in Southern Italy there is something unique: if you are around Naples at Christmas time, do not miss the chance to visit the workshops of Via San Gregorio Armeno. Skilful artisans make beautiful Nativity scenes. Everything is hand-made, but what makes this place so famous is that statues of politicians, actors and people from the news are part of the Nativity scene. Neapolitan creativity is marvelous!

December weekends are often spent hunting for an original and special present to give to friends and family. Christmas markets are a great occasion for buying very good quality and original items. You can find either decorative presents or useful ones, like great winter attire or clever tools that you can use for cooking. The stalls selling biscuits and cakes are very tempting. You cannot resist a friendly nonna (grandmother) offering you a smiling bear made of gingerbread.  You walk, you explore, you take notes on where you saw the perfect present for your sweetheart. When you’re cold, a glass of Vin Brulé (Glὔwein or mulled wine) will be a bliss warming your soul. Vin Brulé is red wine, served hot with mulling spices like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and star anise. Simply delicious.

You keep on walking through the stalls and you hear a loud familiar laugh: Santa Claus is in town! Have you ever wondered where the Santa’s myth comes from? There are several myths and legends, but the most likely story is the one of Saint Nicholas of Myra. He lived in the IV century and was the Christian bishop of Myra, a city of the Byzantine Empire, now Turkey. Nicholas was famous for his generous gifts to the poor. In particular, he gave the three poor daughters of an honest Christian man the dowry to get married, so that they would not have to become prostitutes. If you try to pronounce SAINT NICHOLAS it sounds quite like SANTA CLAUS.

Italian Christmas Markets are becoming a very popular winter destination, but Italy is a country enjoyable every month of the year. If an Italy authentic experience is on your travel list check our Group Tours to Italy. You’ll travel in a small group (10 people maximum), with a local leader that will be like a friend unveiling the true soul of Italy. You’ll make new friends, see Italy like a local and bring home amazing memories.

Imagine a land suspended between the sea and the mountains, where green and blue mingle together and where the landscape is dotted with colorful houses, vertical vineyards, and olive trees. This is Liguria, where today we’ll take your senses for a taste of traditional Italian cuisine: Liguria’s popular Pesto Genovese.

Pesto sauce, which is a mix of basil, garlic, and pine nuts, originated in the Ligurian city of Genova. The word pesto comes from the Italian verb pestare, which means “to crush”. In fact, according to traditions, the ingredients are crushed in a marble mortar with a wooden pestle. It can be hard work, but don’t worry— you can always use a blender if you’re short on time and are having friends for dinner.

Ready? Let’s start!

Ingredients for 500 g of Pasta

• 50 g of basil leaves [2 oz] (purists would suggest basil from Pra’, that is a basil with small leaves)
• 2 garlic cloves (the tradition says garlic from Vessalico, that is a quality with a milder taste)
• 15 g of pine nuts [3/4 oz]
• 70 g of Parmesan cheese, grated [2 ¾ oz]
• 30 g of Pecorino cheese, grated [1 oz]
• 100 ml [3 1/4 fl oz] of extra virgin olive oil (better the one from Liguria, milder than the one from Tuscany or Southern Italy]
• A pinch of salt

Preparation

1. If you use a blender, leave it in the fridge before making Pesto. Otherwise, when the blades warm up, the basil leaves become dark. Someone adds a very small piece of ice to the mix.
2. Gently rinse the basil leaves and wait until they are dry before starting.
3. Put in the blender (or in the mortar) in the following order the garlic cloves, the pine nuts, the basil leaves and the pinch of salt. In case you use the blender, it is easy, press on. In case you use the mortar, first crush with the pestle the mix, being careful that the garlic remains under the basil leaves. Then, when you think the garlic and the pine nuts are crushed enough, start squeezing the mix against the mortar walls using the pestle and with a circular movement.
4. When you’ve reached the desired density for your pesto, add the Parmesan, the Pecorino cheese, the extra virgin olive oil and stir.

Pesto is perfect with pasta, especially trofie, a traditional pasta from Liguria. It is very important that you do not warm up pesto when you add it to the pasta. When the pasta is ready, simply strain it, put it into a big mixing bowl, add Pesto and mix.

Want to learn making pesto from the locals? Join LocalWonders Travel for your once-in-a-lifetime Italy escape. We design small group tours to Italy offering top quality and authentic experiences. The Wonders of Northern Italy tour stops in Liguria, where you can explore Cinque Terre and learn how to make the traditional pesto.

Cantucci (o cantuccini) and vinsanto are one of the many reasons why you cannot help loving Tuscany. You can follow our easy Italian recipe to make cantucci yourself and enjoy a delicious taste of Italy.

It was a very popular tradition in the 16^th century and – lucky us – it is still now the most typical way of ending a meal in Tuscany.  Cantucci are delicious almond biscuits that you can dunk into the vinsanto, a straw wine made from Trebbiano or Malvasia grapes that have been dried on straw mats to concentrate their juice. This process gives the vinsanto an alcohol content of 15%-17%.

Do you know what vinsanto means? The translation in English is “Holy Wine” – so it must be very good!
There are many theories trying to explain why this wine is called Santo (Holy). The most likely one, is that a Tuscan friar, during the 14^th century, used the wine from the Mass to cure people affected by the plague. The wine gave them a temporary relief and the very few miraculous healings were associated with the holy power of the wine.

Are you ready? Wear an apron, play a relaxing music and, very important when cooking, put a smile upon your face. Cantucci will be much tastier!

Ingredients for approximately 50 biscuits

• 500 g of pastry flour [4¼  cups or 18 oz]
• 200 g of peeled raw almonds [7.5 oz]
• 300 g of sugar [1½ cup or  10.6 oz]
• 75 g of butter  [1/3 cup or 2.65 oz]
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon of grated orange zest
• ½ teaspoon of vanillin (vanilla powder) or 1 vanilla bean
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• a pinch of salt

Method

1. 1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C [356 °F]
   2. Place the almonds on a baking tray and toast them till they are fragrant and lightly golden [approx. 5 minutes]. Then set the almonds aside to cool down and chop them up.
   3. In a large bowl combine the flour, the sugar, the butter, the eggs, the orange zest, the vanilla, the baking powder and the pinch of salt. Add the almond and mix everything with your hands till you get a soft and homogeneous dough.
   4. Take a baking tray and grease it with butter and flour. Then roll on it the dough into 4-5 logs about 30 cm [12 inch] long and 5 cm [2 inch] wide.
   5. Bake the logs for 15 minutes at 180 °C [356 °F]. Then transfer the logs onto a surface to cool slightly for 5- 10 minutes. When still warm, cut the cantucci diagonally into 1 cm [6 inch] thick pieces.
   6. Lay the cantucci on the baking tray and bake at 150 °C [300 °F] till they become golden and crunchy – approximately 20-25 minutes. Then let the cantucci cool down at room temperature and enjoy them.

The perfect match for cantucci is vinsanto, but they are excellent also with coffee or tea. Cantucci are dry biscuits, so you can actually store them for several weeks. We’ve noticed though that they are too delicious to last more than a couple of days!

Did you enjoy this recipe? More authentic Italian recipes will come in the next weeks on the LocalWonders Travel blog.

Once you’ve tried your own cantucci, you might want to taste the cantucci of a local Italian pastry shop. Travel to Italy! Join our Wonders of Northern Italy tour for tasting the Tuscan cuisine or taking part in a great cooking class with the locals. We’ve got great Small Group Trips to Italy for you!