Gastronomy: Cooking Course - Truffles

Meet “His Majesty”,the Truffle, in “Maistra’sGastro Experience School”

Cooking connoisseurs from around the world agree upon one thing: truffles are highly prized as food. In Istria, various types of truffles come into season at various times of the year, thus allowing truffle - lovers to enjoy freshly picked mushrooms or spices all year around. Take part in an exciting truffle hunt in the forests along the Mirna River in the company of true truffle hunters and tracking dogs, and after that enjoy the company of world-class gastronomes during the transformation of selected truffles into gastro compositions. From starters to desserts, only the king himself - the Istrian truffle, holds an honorary position! And do not forget that Istria is the leader: the 1999 Guinness World Record holder for the world’s largest truffle. Istria holds yet another record and we invite you to discover its truth: it possesses the world’s best tasting truffle.

Cooking Course - Truffles

Program

Day 1 - Friday

• Presentation of program and associated activities with accompanying welcome drink: traditional domestic strong alcoholic beverages: pelinkovac (herbal brandy), medica (mead), biska and ruda (both brandies).
• Introduction to cooking course leader, Viljam Cvek, and the Maistra gastro team, followed by a presentation of the key ingredient - the truffle. We will begin our cooking course with truffle cleaning techniques and preparation of meals featuring truffles.
• Group dinner. Meals prepared by course participants will be consumed, after being paired with fine wines representative of Istria’s viniculture.

Day 2 - Saturday

• A trip to the Istrian peninsula heartland will follow breakfast. Course participants, together with members of the Istrian Truffle Society and their tracking dogs, with break off into small groups and head into the Montovun forest (a native truffle habitat) in search of this supreme victual. After the truffle hunt, brunch will be served outdoors. Small morsels featuring truffles and other autochthonous food products will be available for sampling.
• This is followed by an opportunity to stroll through and sightsee in the small town of Motovun, a medieval town whose preserved ancient walls proudly stand on the hilltop just above the Mirna River. A gothic gate provides an entrance to the city, from where one may go to the square where St. Steven’s church stands. The top of the church’s bell tower provides an incredible view of the nearby Motovun Forest, the place where the most precious fruits of Istrian soils hide - the famous and esteemed Motovun truffles.
• We then return to our cooking school, where Viljam Cvek and Maistra’s gastro team will teach you more cooking skills, as well as the art of pairing dishes featuring truffles with wines that best compliment them, thus creating a fullness of flavor which is no less important than the act of cooking itself.
• Group dinner. Meals featuring truffles prepared during the course’s practical session will be served with a fine Istrian wine that best compliments it.

Day 3 - Sunday

• Breakfast will be followed by an opportunity to take a sightseeing tour of the city, including visits to several galleries and ateliers that are hidden in the narrow streets of Rovinj.
• Afterwards, a boat trip to the island of St. Andrew, not far from Rovinj, is planned.
• Back in ancient times, when Romans occupied these parts, the fullness of taste and the quality of olive oil made from olives that grew on Istrian soil were greatly praised. We invite you to discover this for yourselves at a professional presentation of Istria’s finest extra virgin olive oils where you may sample olive oils made by our top-rated producers.
• Diplomas for participants of Maistra’s “Gastro Experience” School, led by Viljam Cvek, will be handed out during lunch, which will be served in the authentic ambience of the once Benedictine monastery (now an elegant fish restaurant). Course participants will also receive a complimentary gift and a book of recipes used during the cooking course.

Maistra’s DMC department guarantees program realization. For further information and reservations, please contact:
DMC Department Maistra Ltd., Obala V. Nazora 6, 52210 Rovinj, Croatia
tel: +385 (0)52 800 217, +385 (0)52 800 209 fax: +385 (0)52 800 383
e-mail: dmc@maistra.hr
www.maistra.hr

“Maistra’s Gastro Experience school” is led by Viljam Cvek, a world class gastro expert whose company, along with the company of the selected Maistra cooking team, you will enjoy during food preparation. Viljam Cvek has mastered the culinary arts over the years in Croatia, and has been able to demonstrate his skills at many important projects and Croatian gastronomy presentations throughout the world. He is the author of several cookbooks - “101 MENUS from Kitchens of the Istria-Primorje Region”, “Meals for Holidays and Special Occasions”, “Creative Cooking with a Mediterranean Flavor”, “A Spoonful of Pleasure - Culinary Postcards” - and he was the winner of many acknowledgements, the most significant including: “Europe’s King of Chefs” in Hungary 1999, the Swiss “Cuoco d’oro internazionale” award in Lugano 2000, and the prestigious “Collegium Cocorum”, awarded by the Italian federation of gastronomists, in the year 2002.

Accommodation
Maistra Hotels & Resorts

Date

The program includes the following services:

• accommodation
• welcome drink
• buffet breakfast offering a wide selection every day
• two professionally led cooking sessions during your stay with top quality, fresh victuals and of course, truffles, to be used for food preparation
• two dinners (Friday and Saturday) and lunch (Sunday)
• distribution of materials containing recipes and cooking advice
• transportation services for all excursions foreseen in the program
• demonstration of truffle tracking and its extraction from the soil of its natural habitat with the help of professional truffle-trackers
• outdoor brunch including the sampling of small morsels featuring truffles and other autochthonous food products
• professionally led sampling of fine Istrian wines including personal participation in the pairing of Istrian
• professional presentation of Istria’s finest extra virgin olive oils wines with meals featuring truffles
• complimentary gift: autochthonous products and book with recipes used during the cooking course.