Local Cuisine
Homemade bread, fresh vegetables and fruit, genuine olive oil from local oil-mills, pasta made from the best durum wheat, tasty cheese, these are just a sample of the Puglia cuisine.
A traditional Puglia menu is dedicated to the lovers of simple but extremely creative food with an incredibly large choice of vegetarian dishes.
Food that is cooked daily using the freshest and healthiest ingredients purchased from the stalls of the local markets where the locals gather with their fresh products taken directly from the land.
Products such as aubergines which can be cooked as appetizers, flavoured with garlic, mint and olive oil; or courgettes and peppers cooked in the warm ashes of your own fireplace and then drizzled with olive oil; and wild chicory boiled and mixed with a broad bean puree and cooked in the traditional pignatta (an ancient clay pot); potatoes and artichokes gratin with black olives; the classic Bruschetta (pictured) prepared with durum wheat bread and seasoned with fresh garlic, olive oil and tomatoes or using the more traditional Frisella bread, made of barley cooked in a wooden oven.
And this is only a sample of what Puglia can offer from the kitchen stoves.
Other traditional dishes include:-
Ricchiteddhe, a local fresh pasta made mixing water to durum wheat flour and working the dough or massa using hands and the tip of a knife to give it the traditional ear shape.
Minchiareddhi, a similar dish as ricchiteddhe but prepared with the local version of the maccheroni pasta rolled using a thin iron stick.
Sagne ‘ ncannulate, long braids of fresh pasta.
The different shapes of pasta can all be served with a simple fresh tomato sauce, topped with grated cacioricotta, (a local seasonal hard cheese) or with very strong sour ricotta forte.
Parmigiana, an aubergine dish.
Ciceri e tria, a pasta with chickpeas.
Ricchitedde cu le cime de rate, a pasta dish served with a turnip tops and anchovy sauce.
Pasticciotto leccese (pictured), a delight of short crust pastry and custard.
Crostate, a short crust pastry and fresh seasonal fruits baked at home.
Almond paste fish, made of a mix of grated almonds and sugar and filled with pear jam and cream royal.
Grandmothers cakes filled with a black grape jam.
Mustazzoli, the local version of a soft chocolate brownie.