Television foodie favourite Gregg Wallace has teamed up with special interest travel company Authentic Adventures to launch an exciting range of food holidays, which will take small groups of guests to the great gastronomic regions of Italy (both world-famous and lesser-known) next year to meet local producers and taste the finest ingredients. Get 'hands-on' with cookery classes and enjoy gourmet experiences, from marzipan fruit-making with monks to hunting Piedmontese truffles. Most meals are included and run the full spectrum of Italian regional cuisine, from street food to multi Michelin-starred restaurants.

There are seven itineraries to choose from – spanning the regions of Sicily, Piedmont, Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany – with the first being a three-day spring 'taster' tour of Parma, priced at just £999 per person and departing in May 2019. The remainder of the holidays will depart in the autumn, and Gregg Wallace himself will join guests on three of them: Tastes of Parma – Parmigiano, Prosciutto & Porcini Mushrooms, Food Secrets of Tuscany, and Truffles, Cheese & Chocolate in Piedmont. 

Speaking about his new Italian food holidays, Gregg Wallace said: “I've been in love with Italy since my first visit 20 years ago and fortunate enough to return every year since, both personally and professionally. Without doubt, the food found in Italy is amongst the best in the world. I've partnered with Authentic Adventures, part of the UK's leading special interest holiday group, to craft seven expert-led itineraries showcasing the very best of Italian regional cuisine. My food holidays are not just about what the Italians eat, but also why and how – they tell the stories that underpin this glorious cuisine. I'll even be joining a few of them – not as the expert, but as an eager foodie ready to indulge.”

With Authentic Adventures' in-house expertise and Gregg's insatiable passion for Italy and its food, these comprehensive, immersive itineraries have been designed to offer guests the chance to enjoy personal encounters with the people behind the flavours. Spend time with a shepherdess and her prized sheep – the Zerasca breed, known for producing the finest lamb in all of Italy – in the bucolic Zeri region of Northern Tuscany. Head into the Apennines in the company of a seasoned mushroom hunter and forest guard to search for porcini. Be welcomed by the monks of San Francesco, who will demonstrate the art of making traditional Sicilian marzipan fruits, and accompany a tartufaio and his dog on a truffle hunt.

A host of memorable dining experiences await on these tours, from a special candlelit banquet in the Marsala wine cellars and a rooftop dinner with views over Mount Etna, to meals at Michelin-starred restaurants that are redefining the approach to modern Italian cuisine. However, it isn't all about gastronomy. These holidays showcase the real Italian food scene. This is Gregg Wallace's Italy – as much about the titans of industry that help local employment levels as the artisanal producers, who dedicate everything to preserving their craft. From gourmet meals to peasant dishes, these holidays put Italian food into its cultural context in the most enthralling ways. 

What prompted the creation of the sweet chocolate confection, gianduja? How have the historic invasions of Italy shaped its cuisine right through to the present day? Why won't you find spaghetti Bolognese on any menus in Bologna? These are all questions that Gregg's food holidays will answer. They will also restore Lambrusco's tainted reputation, highlight seasonal produce and regional recipes as well as generations-old techniques and tips, and take guests away from the typical tourist centres in favour of lesser-visited areas where authenticity, tradition and heritage shine.

The textures, flavours and dishes guests will experience on these tours extend way beyond the 'al dente' bite of perfectly cooked pasta, the richness of a slow-simmered ragù and the exquisite umami depth added to a dish by the simple shaving of truffles. Sample pure salt harvested directly from the Sicilian salt pans at Trapani, for example, or savour a taste of testaroli – an ancient peasant alternative to pasta, and indulge in chocolate still produced using centuries-old Aztec methods, which came to this part of Italy following the ancient invasion of Sicily by the Spanish. These seven unique sensory holidays are framed by cultural explorations and historic explanations, each offering a nuanced and all-encompassing discovery of not just Italian food, but what food truly means there – and why.

https://www.authenticadventures.com/food-holidays/ 

Itineraries

Parma in Springtime – A 3-day taster tour

• 3 days, £999 per person and a single supplement of £159
• 2nd – 4th May, 2019
• Highlights include a pasta cookery class and dinner at Commanderia del Gusto, visits to both a Parmigiano-Reggiano producer and family-run Parma ham producer, a winery visit and tasting experience, and meals at fantastic local restaurants

Tastes of Parma – Parmigiano, Prosciutto & Porcini Mushrooms

• 5 days, £2,499 per person and a single supplement of £329
• 10th – 14th September, 2019
• Gregg Wallace will join this tour for one day
• Highlights include a porcini mushroom hunt, visits to both a Parmigiano-Reggiano producer and family-run Parma ham producer, a boat ride along the River Po, a cookery class and meal at the exclusive Academia Barilla, and sublime dinners at Il Tribunale and La Filoma – considered to be two of the best restaurants in Parma 

Food Secrets of Tuscany

• 8 days, £2,749 per person and a single supplement of £159
• 30th September – 7th October, 2019
• Gregg Wallace will join this tour for one day
• Highlights include the chance to enjoy a picnic lunch with the locals in the chestnut woods of Regnano, a walk with a traditional shepherdess and her flock of prized Zerasca sheep, a cookery class at a mountain agriturismo hosted by local cooks, a visit to the Olio Moro olive grove where the group will watch oil being pressed and can participate in a tasting, watching traditional panigaccio bread being made using an age-old method, dinners at five of Lunigiana's finest restaurants, a tour of the marble quarries that supplied the stone for Michelangelo's David, and a visit to a family home to discover an ancient peasant alternative to pasta

Markets, Marsala & Marzipan – Flavours of Western Sicily

• 1st – 8th October, 2019
• 8 days, £2,999 per person and a single supplement of £499
• Highlights include an unforgettable candle-lit banquet in a Marsala wine cellar, a street food cookery class led by talented local cooks, the chance to join the monks of San Francesco to learn how to make Sicily's famous marzipan fruits, tours of the lively Palermo-area food markets, a visit to the ancient salt pans and salt-tasting experience, an olive oil tasting at a local farm, a visit to the Molini del Ponte flour mill to learn about an ancient grain that is cultivated only in this particular part of Western Sicily, a tour of the former Florio Tuna Factory on Favignana island to discover more about the history of tuna fishing and to see this fantastic example of industrial archaeology, a visit to the Azienda Cicchiara farm and dairy to taste a regional cheese called Vastedda Valle del Belice, and a Marsala wine tasting 

Almonds, Pistachios and Aztec Chocolate – The Best of Southeast Sicily

• 4th – 11th October, 2019
• 8 days, £2,999 per person and a single supplement of £329
• Highlights include a Cotumè cookery class on authentic Sicilian cuisine, the chance to experience the Bronte Pistachio Festival, a visit to one of the great Modica chocolatiers who still follow the Aztec methods of production, a dinner at the elegant Locanda Don Serafino where its two Michelin stars set the scene for an unforgettable meal, watching the highly prized Monti Iblei olives being pressed and follow this with a tasting, experience dinner at a rooftop restaurant with views over Mount Etna, visits to a traditional pasta maker and the Occhipinti Winery, the chance to taste prestigious almonds at a museum dedicated to them, and an indulgent visit to a gelateria in Noto – an area reportedly home to the world's best ice cream 

Truffles, Cheese & Chocolate in Piedmont

• 21st – 27th October, 2019
• 7 days, £3,249 per person and a single supplement of £399
• Gregg Wallace will join this tour for one day
• Highlights include a visit to one of the foremost Barolo cellars for a tasting and tour, a truffle-hunting experience with an expert tartufaio and his faithful dog, Michelin-starred dining at the fabulous Del Cambio restaurant in Turin, a trip up into the Alps to taste Castelmagno cheese that has been made the same way for over 1,000 years, visits to a family-run coffee business and one of Turin's great chocolate makers, a tour of the area's rice fields and cookery lesson, and a private tour of the historic FIAT test track at Lingotto 

Bologna – Gastronomic Capital of Italy

• 8 days, £2,799 per person and a single supplement of £449
• 4th – 11th November, 2019
• Highlights include a cookery class at the acclaimed Podere San Guilio restaurant, tours of Modena's food markets, visits to an artisanal Parmigiano-Reggiano producer and a balsamic vinegar producer, a tour of the vast rice fields, an ice cream workshop at the Carpigiano Gelato University, winery visits to discover the 'real' Lambrusco at Chiarli and the superb brandy produced at Villa Zarri, and the chance to experience a truffle hunt in the company of an expert tartufaio and his skilled dog

For further media information contact:

For further Authentic Adventures media information, contact Martha Whatley, Content Marketing and PR Executive, on:

martha@specialistjourneys.com

+44 (0) 1722 786545

NOTES TO EDITORS

For over 30 years now, Authentic Adventures has been offering innovative and immersive escapes to creative and adventurous travellers around the world. Even in this age of ever-progressing technology and overtourism, there are still wild and undiscovered places left – and you don't always have to go halfway around the globe to find them… The tours offered by Authentic Adventures fall into five categories: Bridge, food, painting, walking and singing. Its painting holidays are comprised of a magical mix of idyllic locations, professional and supportive tutors and small groups of fellow artists, which ensures that your painting goals are reached while enjoying a real holiday. Considered one of the most experienced singing holiday operators in the UK, Authentic Adventures has been organising acapella group tours since 2003 and its professional tutors firmly believe that everyone – no matter what their level of skill – can indulge in the thrill of singing in harmony. Then, there are walking tours, where expert guides help to make these holidays stand out from the crowd and guests are encouraged to off-the-beaten-track to places they would never discover on their own. Authentic Adventures also has a range of Bridge holidays, for those among us who can't get enough of this trick-taking card game. Finally, what's a holiday without delicious food? The flavours of a destination can tell as much of its story as the ground its building stands upon. Join us on a culinary adventure, sampling the very best of regional gastronomy while taking part in authentic cookery classes, truffle hunts and more.