📝 Practical Info
Where: Lunigiana region, Tuscany (approx. 1 hr from La Spezia)
Duration: ~6.5 hours (8:30 AM – 3:00 PM)
Who is it for: Families, couples, cruise visitors, and solo travelers
🚌 Sample Itinerary
➡️ 8:30 AM – Pick-up from La Spezia
🍰 9:30 AM – Arrival in Pontremoli and tasting of Amor, the town’s iconic layered pastry
🔥 10:15 AM – Cooking demonstration with Nicoletta or Giuseppe using traditional testi cookware
🍷 12:30 PM – Farmhouse lunch with dishes like testaroli, wild herb pies, and more
🧭 +1 Optional Stop: Your choice — scenic viewpoint, small village visit, or local product tasting
↩️ 3:00 PM – Return to La Spezia
What’s included:
✅ Private transport
✅ Hands-on cooking class
✅ Amor pastry tasting
✅ Full lunch with wine
✅ English-speaking assistant or translator
How to book: Contact Emilia Delizia to reserve your spot with our trusted local hosts. The Experience is totally flexible and customisable.
Tuscany is known around the world for its rolling hills, historic villages, and world-class wine, but beyond its postcards and polished vineyards lies a rugged, flavorful tradition that few travelers experience: cooking with fire using testi, the cast-iron cookware of Lunigiana. From the nearby port of La Spezia, you can embark on a journey that’s more than culinary—it’s cultural, elemental, and profoundly human. This is the story of the Testi Experience, where food meets fire in one of Italy’s most authentic corners.
What is a Testo?
Before delving into the experience itself, it’s important to understand the tool at the heart of this tradition. A testo (plural testi) is a heavy, dome-shaped cast-iron lid, traditionally used to cook foods directly over an open fire or on a bed of coals. The term also refers to the flat pan or griddle that often accompanies it. This cooking method predates modern ovens and speaks of a time when rural Italian households relied on wood-burning hearths for warmth and sustenance.
In Lunigiana—an overlooked region in northern Tuscany that borders Liguria and Emilia-Romagna—testi are still used to make one of Italy’s oldest pasta forms: testaroli. But their use extends far beyond that, allowing locals to bake savory pies, roast meats, and prepare vegetables in a way that infuses every bite with smoke, heritage, and earth.
The Journey from La Spezia
If you’re arriving in La Spezia by cruise ship or staying nearby, you’re perfectly positioned for a half-day or full-day escape into the hills of Lunigiana. The drive takes just under an hour, winding through mountain passes and quiet villages untouched by mass tourism. What awaits you on the other end is not a commercial kitchen, but a rustic, often family-run stone farmhouse—usually with chickens clucking in the yard, herbs growing wild nearby, and firewood stacked high.
Booking the experience through a trusted provider like Emilia Delizia ensures transport, translation, and seamless logistics. But the magic? That’s provided by the fire—and your host.
Meet the Maestra
One of the most renowned practitioners of this art is Nicoletta, a passionate cook, writer, and teacher who has made it her mission to preserve Lunigiana’s culinary heritage. Dressed in her signature apron and working by the glowing hearth, Nicoletta welcomes guests with warmth and a sense of humor. Her kitchen, often blackened by smoke, is part theater, part classroom.
Even if Nicoletta isn’t your host that day, many locals in Pontremoli, Filattiera, or Licciana Nardi continue this tradition, and you’ll likely be welcomed into their home just like family.
The Experience Begins
You won’t find stainless steel or induction stoves here. Instead, you’ll be greeted by a roaring fire, with embers carefully managed to maintain just the right heat. The testi—both the flat griddle and the domed lid—are pre-heated directly in the flames. Once hot, they’ll be moved aside to cook your dish.
The first task is often preparing testaroli, a flat pancake-like dough made from flour, salt, and water. It’s poured onto the hot testo and covered with the dome. A few minutes later, it’s removed, cut into diamond-shaped pieces, and either grilled or blanched briefly in water before being tossed with freshly made pesto.
Depending on the season, you might also prepare:
- Torta d’erbi (a savory wild herb pie)
- Pattona (chestnut flour pancake served with ricotta)
- Lardo-roasted potatoes
- Wood-fired polenta
- Stuffed zucchini blossoms
Everything is done by hand—no mixers, no gadgets. You’ll knead, roll, chop, and stir with guidance from your host, always in rhythm with the fire’s tempo.
Fire as Teacher
One of the most profound aspects of this experience is the interaction with fire itself. Unlike the precision of gas or electric ovens, wood fire is alive. It demands attention, intuition, and respect. You’ll learn to “read” the fire: when it’s ready for baking, when it needs more wood, when it’s too hot for delicate dough.
There’s something primal about it—like being reconnected to a forgotten part of yourself. Guests often describe it not just as a cooking class, but as a meditative experience.
The Meal
After a few hours of preparation, it’s time to feast. The food is brought to a rustic wooden table, often outside under the shade of a pergola or fig tree. Wine from local vineyards is poured generously. The testaroli is served with bright green pesto, the herb pie cut into slices, the potatoes crispy and smoky.
You won’t find foam, microgreens, or fusion sauces here. What you will find is depth of flavor, authenticity, and a satisfying richness that only cooking with fire can provide.
And of course, there’s dessert—often chestnut-based in the autumn, or a simple fruit tart made with wild berries in the summer.
Why It’s Worth the Trip
Most visitors to Tuscany stick to Florence, Chianti, or Siena. They see postcard beauty, but they often miss the raw, soul-stirring side of Tuscan culture. The Testi Experience in Lunigiana offers something different: a connection to how people really lived, cooked, and gathered for centuries.
It’s especially meaningful for foodies, slow-travel enthusiasts, or anyone burnt out by tourist traps and long restaurant lines. There’s no Wi-Fi. There’s no hurry. Just the sound of fire, the smell of herbs, and the pleasure of good food earned by your own hands.
Practical Info
- Where: Lunigiana region, Tuscany (approx. 1/2 hr from La Spezia)
- What’s included: Hands-on cooking class, full meal, wine, translation (if needed), transportation (when booked via provider)
- Who is it for: Families, couples, cruise visitors, and solo travelers welcome
- How to book: Contact Emilia Delizia to organize your class with reliable hosts
Final Thoughts
Cooking with fire in Tuscany is not about gimmicks or gimmicky food—it’s about touching something elemental. You’ll leave not only full but transformed. The taste of smoky herb pie lingers. The sight of embers glowing stays with you. And the memory of standing beside a Tuscan cook, elbow-deep in flour and history, is something you’ll carry long after the cruise ship departs.
So next time you dock in La Spezia, don’t just photograph Cinque Terre. Feed your soul in Lunigiana.
🔗 Book your Testi Experience now
Discover more from Emilia Delizia
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.