Food

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November 20, 2009

Extra fresh, extra virgin

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Food, Produce, Puglia
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How is it that you can take a truck full of purple olives to be pressed, and return with a container of green oil?  One of life’s wonderful mysteries.  And who ever imagined squashing the bitter, nasty fruit of the olive tree would produce anything so fabulous; delicious, health-giving and versatile.  Even more, that you could take the same fruit, drop it in caustic soda for a while, then soak in fresh water for a couple of weeks, salt it and store it for a month and – wow, a tasty olive.  If you’ve never tasted an olive fresh from the tree you may not appreciate the miracle metamorphis that takes place to achieve the olive on your table.  Trust me, if you’ve never tasted a fresh, uncured olive, you don’t want to.

Many years ago olive oil was used as lamp oil, and it is said that the olive oil industry was as important as the petrochemical industry is today.  Hard to imagine, but there are many example of old wealth here in Puglia that indicate a successful industry.  Sadly for the locals, most of the wealth was controlled by landowners who lived Up North, or the church.  Today the focus is on producing the freshest, most virgin (least acidic) oil, to be enjoyed as a culinary delight.  Happily many of the olive producting masserie are now locally owned by people passionate about the area and their oil.

Research shows that extra virgin olive oil is the most digestible of the edible fats.  Olive oil also helps the body to assimilate vitamins A, D and K.  Benefits of consuming olive oil include slowing down the aging process and helping liver, bile, and intestinal functions.  It is, of course, comprised of mono-saturates which are the healthy fats.  Cold pressed olive oil is a pressing process requiring no heat or chemicals, which destroy vital nutrients.

But none of this is that important when you collect your fresh oil from the press.  It is the wonder of how and why, and the utterly delicious taste.

 

November 11, 2009

Olive Harvest

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Food, Produce, Seasons
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Early November and it is the start of the olive harvest.  We like to pick our olives early; the result is a peppery, grassy, more virgin oil – and the weather is generally better!  This year our olive harvest has been pretty lean.  Olive trees tend to have a two year cycle of being rampant and then being lazy.  Factor into that the need to prune the trees every three years or so, which significantly reduces the harvest for the following year.  Needless to say we haven’t yet perfected the art of getting all these elements lined up!

olives at trullo solari

Olives waiting to be picked.

Still, we picked 160kg of olives over the last 3 days.  We hand pick the olives; spread a huge net under the trees then take it in turns to stand at the bottom and serenely pull the olives down onto the net, or stand on a ladder thrashing wildly at the upper olives with a big stick to whack them down.  Again, picking the olives produces a greener and better oil than letting them fall naturally.  The other important factor is to get them pressed as soon as possible.  Olives are like any fruit and start to deteriorate once they’re off the tree, or if they’re bruised or damaged, so you want your oil made immediately.  Luckily our preferred frantoio (oil press) was on schedule and our olives were pressed last night.  We’ll pick the oil up later this morning…

 

October 10, 2009

Fave – king of the comfort food

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Food, Puglia, Seasons
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Although the lovely weather is continuing here in Puglia, the evenings are cooler and providing a great excuse for some comfort food.  We even lit the fire the other night, but that really had more to do with somebody’s pyrotechnic tendencies rather than the cold.

With a diet rich in pasta and pulses, comfort food is not hard to come by here.  But a speciality of the area, and a favourite of nearly every visitor I know is Puree di Fave. Fave are broad beans and here you can buy them dried and shelled throughout the year.  If you can find them locally, they need to be without the brown coat and will probably therefore have split into their two halves; they are a very pale, creamy colour.

Making puree di fave is simple.  Soak the fave beans for at least 6 hours, then put the pan on the stove (you can use the top of your woodburner if it’s lit!) and simmer the beans with a sliced potato, for about an hour.  Don’t add salt at this stage.  Plan on about 100g of dried fave per person.  When the beans are soft and breaking up, and the water is almost gone, add about a tablespoon of olive oil per 100g of beans and starting beating with a wooden spoon.  This is when you need to get a friend with a strong arm to help!  Or if you’re not feeling tied to tradition, a handheld electric beater would probably be a good help too.  Also add a teaspoon or two of salt at this stage.

When the puree is smooth, serve with another drizzle of olive oil on top, with a green vegetable – usually chicory here, or grilled peppers.  Twists also include adding cooked prawns, fried croutons or chopped raw onion.

As with many customs in Puglia, the way Fave is served differs from town to town.  One evening a couple of years ago we were out with a group of friends who were discussing the different ways that people from Martina Franca and Ostuni served leftover Fave.  Keith and I looked at each other – What’s leftover fave?!  It doesn’t make it past the first meal in our house!

 

September 14, 2009

Puglia: the foodie guide | Italy – Times Online

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Food, Puglia
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This article from the Times is great, it sums up the essence of the cuisine here in Puglia.  There is so much that is wonderful about the food that it’s hard to know where to start – and even more, where to stop!  I’m always amazed at how many ways the locals can cook the same ingredients to produce dishes that are always interesting and varied.  Take the aubergine; for a start they grow the beautiful dark purple ones here which we are used to seeing, but also bright violet and white ones.  And when there is a glut of them through the summer the local housewives and chefs will pickle them, preserve them under oil, make pasta sauces, stuff them, all manners of antipasta dishes, Parmigiana of course (although this is really a Northern Italian dish) and aubergine polpette.  Polpette is the name used for meatballs, but being Puglia they are often made with just breadcrumbs, egg and seasoning and of course fried in olive oil.  Last weekend I was taught the following recipe by my good friend Paula.  Here you can’t just be given a recipe, you have to witness it being made.  I used to think that people were being obtuse when they couldn’t tell me how many grammes of this or that – but actually they really don’t know.  They just add enough so that it looks right, and looks like mamma used to make.


Polpette di melanzane

Put half a loaf of stale country bread in a bowl of water to soak.

Peel 1kg of aubergines and cut into 2″ pieces.  Boil in salted water, covering them with a plate to keep the aubergines under the water.  Drain and allow to cool.  Squeeze out the water from the aubergines by wringing handfuls between your palms.  (This is quite unattractive, and as Paula said, really something that you should do in private!)  When they are as dry as you can get them, chop the mush up so there are no big pieces.

Chop a handful of basil and add to the aubergine.  Squeeze out the water from the stale bread and crumble into pieces.  Mix the bread and aubergine together (about two thirds bread to aubergine).  Add salt, a handful of grated parmesan and an egg.  Mix all together and make into patties about 6 – 8 cm in diameter and 1 – 2 cm thick.  Coat in semola flour and fry in a pan 1cm deep of olive oil.

 

August 10, 2009

Mozzerella doesn’t come any fresher than this

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Environment, Food, Places, Produce, Puglia
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Stretching curds to make mozzerella

Stretching curds to make mozzerella

One of the great things about being in Puglia is that there really are minimal food miles on your plate. Local food is the norm. When we first arrived I thought that this may become tedious, but eating only what is in season and locally grown is so great that we just don’t get tired of it. The markets are bursting with fruit and veg that are grown within 20 kilometres, and of course there’s normally something to harvest from the trees on the land.
For a real treat though, how about going to the local masseria to pick up your cheese? Masseria are old farm estates, mostly specialising in olives or dairy. A couple of kilometres from Trullo Solari is Masseria Nisi where you can greet the cows on your way in, then watch your mozzerella be made, stretched and tied into knots. You can be eating it within minutes. And just to top it off, the first of the figs are ripe on the trees. Delicious.

 

July 13, 2009

History of Trulli

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Articles, Food, Places, Puglia
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Just read this great article from The Independent about Alberobello and the history of trulli.  It supports my favourite theory of trulli that they were built so that they could easily be taken down when the tax inspector was due to visit, but this article has much more detail than I’ve seen before.

Also, I can’t argue with their view on the “tourist tat” in Alberobello, it really is in a class of its own.  If you want a pink sparkling model trullo, this is the place to come.  However, there are some quality retailers there.  On a recent visit with friends we found Gino Minerva who owns a wonderful shop – Tholos -  full of local specialities, beautifully packaged.  Gino also has a traditional trullo over the road which is staged as a traditional family home, as well as arranging gastro tours and tastings.  One of his tours includes a demonstration of mozzerella making.  We’re looking forward to putting some special packages together for Trullo Solari guests with him.

 

July 10, 2009

Trullo Solari Arrival Menu

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Food, Trullo Solari
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We’re delighted with the response to our new Arrival Menu.  As most people arrive at Trullo Solari late on a Saturday, and shopping opportunities are limited on Sundays, we have always offered to buy food in for our guests’ first meals.  The only problem with that was that I would generally find myself wandering around the supermarket trying to work out what people would like to eat!

To make things easier on everyone, we have now devised a “menu” that you can choose from, some starters (such as prosciutto and melon or zucchini frittata) and main courses (including spaghetti con calamari or swordfish with fresh pesto)  that are quick and simple to cook when you arrive.  We also have recipe sheets for you, in case you need some help putting it all together!  There are also a couple of dishes that I can cook for you (roast vegetable lasagne) and will just need heating when you arrive.  Of course there are a couple of dolce to choose from too.

We’ve offered this service to our guests arriving in the next few weeks, and one has ordered the whole menu so that they have enough food to last until Monday!