Il Casalone
Located just 350 meters from the clear waters teeming with fish of the Marecchia River, the Casalone is the result of a careful conservation restoration of the ancient "Castrum Sancti Paterniani", documented since 1264. Here, you can immerse yourself in a unique "wild tourism" experience, discovering the forest and its unmatched flavors. Our facility offers a special gastronomy, with the presence of in-house truffle hunters, an arboretum, a library, and a rural museum. We organize guided tours in search of truffles and the identification of wild herbs. Upon reservation, you can participate in exciting excursions with our trained truffle-hunting dog. Additionally, we invite you to visit our arboretum, where you will find most of the herbs we use in our kitchen to prepare our dishes. Upon request, we will be delighted to prepare for you a delicious sliced steak or local grilled steak cooked over a wood fire.
We are delighted to offer you a delicious and unique forest cuisine, the result of twenty years of research and experimentation conducted by Dr. Augusto Verando Tocci (Director of the Experimental Institute for Forestry in Arezzo), together with his wife Luisa and their daughters Cristiana and Maria Teresa (the latter being the owner of the Agriturismo "Il Casalone"). Dr. Tocci, a pioneer in showcasing the use of forest by-products in cooking on the TV program "Linea Verde," has developed and published hundreds of recipes that we are finally able to offer you to taste.
These countless and highly original recipes all share some fundamental characteristics, which are extremely significant in fully understanding the uniqueness of our cuisine. These can be summarized as follows:
a) Authenticity: Coming from the organic crops of our farm and the forests we own, the products we use are free from fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides.
b) Locality: With the exception of oil and wines, strictly of Tuscan origin, all the products used in our cuisine are truly local and typically regional, meaning they come from our immediate surroundings. In fact, the extraordinary area of Badia Tedalda, where vines, olive trees, and chestnuts do not grow, is exceptionally rich in the most precious gastronomic treasures. This includes the production of fine white truffles (tuber magnatum pico), its "younger siblings" porcini mushrooms and prugnòli, as well as the renowned Chianina meat, which is even bred, slaughtered, and sold locally.
c) Seasonality: It is evident that forest cuisine must adapt to the seasonal cycle, characterizing the menus based on the periodic productions of the forest, undergrowth, and farm crops.
d) Revitalization of traditions: Our cuisine never overlooks, but rather rediscovers and enhances the ancient gastronomic traditions of Badia Tedalda and Alta Valmarecchia. We proudly offer typical handmade pasta (tagliatelle, gnocchi, and ravioli) and reintroduce traditional medieval dishes such as agliata, pancristiano, and migliaccio al latte.
e) Imagination and creativity: Based on a solid foundation of knowledge and experience, it is imagination and creativity that truly make our proposals unique. For example, a common flower like dandelion (known to us as "pisciacane") is transformed into a delicious sauce for crostini. Similarly, the fruits of our wild kiwi and sea buckthorn productions are alchemically combined into a tasty, natural, and highly energizing beverage.
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The farmhouse is located in the charming village of San Patrignano, surrounded by lush landscapes and a short distance from the Marecchia River, where swimming is also possible. Just 3 km away, guests can easily reach by car or on foot (along the old road that once led to the village) Badia Tedalda, where they will find a variety of shops, bars, restaurants, pizzerias, the pharmacy, the newsstand, the bank, the post office, the tourist office and the majestic church that houses three splendid glazed terracotta works, created by the Robbiana school. Within a short distance (between 30 and 70 kilometers), many other interesting places can be reached, such as Sansepolcro, Anghiari, La Verna, Arezzo, Perugia and Assisi or, on the other side, Rimini, Urbino, Pennabilli, San Leo and San Marino.
