Food and Drink

Simple, home-made cuisine. Permeated with the ancient Greek culture and Arabian traditions. Then add Spanish nuances and French delicacies and you begin to experience the delights of Salentine cuisine.

Eating out, eating at home in your holiday villa whether you cook yourself or pre-order/collect lunch or dinner from a local restaurant, there is so much to enjoy. And why not try a cooking class with a local Italian housewife and learn even more about the tastes of Puglia?

Mediterranean aromas and flavours are characteristic of the Puglian table. From rosemary, basil, mint, sage, thyme, to hot peppers and more. The aromas wafting from restaurants as you stroll by, tempt the taste buds and excite the appetite. Local olive oil, rich and full of flavour, can only enhance the cuisine of Puglia. Don’t miss out on a trip to the local farmers’ markets, fresh fruit and vegetables, amazing cheeses and cold meats are sure to tempt you.

Puglia has been known for its abundance since the arrival of the Phoenicians and Greeks who found that the land was already populated with competent farmers. Recipes have been handed down for centuries from mother to daughter, “Cucina Povera”, the “poor” cuisine of the peasants’ but rich in creative intelligence, inspiration and authenticity. Making best use of seasonally available produce, whether it’s fish from the Adriatic, fresh flavours from the vegetable garden, newly made bread, pasta – whatever your taste you will be spoilt for choice.

Local cooking is based on seasonally, locally available produce. Every town has its own farmers’ market, people shop in local supermarkets and shops. Even the small towns like our nearest town, Torchiarolo, can support one or more supermarkets, independent butchers, fishmongers and fruit and vegetable shops. The day’s menu is based on what is available that morning. We try to do the same, loving the seasonality of the vegetables. Puglia, and in particular, Brindisi, is famous for artichokes. When it’s nearly time for them to be harvested you can see fields and fields of them just waiting to be picked and taken to market.

Try artichoke risotto, deep-fried artichokes, artichoke dip … just a few of my favourites.

Vegetables figure prominently in pasta dishes, soups and salads. So it’s not surprising for vegetarians to find a wide choice. Carciofi (artichokes), zucchini (courgettes), melanzane (aubergines), roasted peppers, fennel (finocchi), sedano (celery), rape (turnip greens), rucola (rocket) and the fava (broad bean), queen of beans, are used extensively. All imaginatively put together in a variety of dishes – you’ll be spoilt for choice.

Look out for bruschetta with anchovies and sharp ricotta, orecchiette (pasta ears) with tomato and rocket, or traditionally with rape. Great meat and regional fish dishes vie for your attention. And all can be accompanied with local wines, white, rose and red.

Most restaurants, from the humblest to the most up-market offer four courses: antipasti, primo piatto, secondo piatto and dolce. My appetite doesn’t; rise to the challenge, often we have a selection of antipasti followed by a dolce. Or antipasto and a primo piatto. Your personal choice will be accommodated.

On a typical menu you will find: for the primo piatto,  home-made pasta made of durum flour, in many different varieties.

• Orecchiette – small pieces of ear-shaped pasta (literally “little ears”, it is typical to Puglia)
• Maccheronicini – kneaded with a kind of knitting needle and turned with the palm of the hand
• Sagne Ncannulate – strips of pasta, skilfully twisted

Served in so many ways, with fresh-home made tomato sauce, with local cheeses …. how do you decide?

Many of our local restaurants specialise in fish and seafood, hardly surprising when you remember the Salento is surrounded on three sides by the sea. In the bigger towns, most restaurants offer a choice of menus for the second course, from the earth or from the sea. Try fresh fish from the Ionian and Adriatic seas: typically sea bream (orata) , sea-bass(spigola or branzino), sword-fish (peace spada) cooked in a variety of ways,  mullets from Porto Cesareo, baked in paper. The more adventurous can try sea urchins brought in by the fishermen, or cooked in the characteristic terra-cotta pot.

And to finish, spuma di cioccolato fondente, or panna-cotta, home-made of course, tiramisu or a fabulous gelato!