Puglia

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January 18, 2010

Hotting up Puglia in January

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Places, Puglia, What's on
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We light the bonfire Festas are frequent in Puglia through the summer, and if you know where to look you can find them in the spring and autumn too; but until now we thought that the Italian street parties in January were limited to late presepe – the ever popular nativity representations.

This year though we discovered La Focara in Novolo, near Lecce.  Reputedly Italy’s largest bonfire party.

It was certainly a huge party, the entire town was decked with festa lights and lined with stalls selling food, goldfish, saucepans and other random articles, and the park had been turned over to a fun fair and hoards of burger vans.  And there was a huge stack of wood… I’m sure the largest in Italy… but sadly the fire was still not much more than a spark at the top while we were there.

The party goes on for three days, and I expect that the bonfire will last until the end.  Maybe next year we’ll go on day two!

 

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.

 

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.

 

September 9, 2009

Puglia in September

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Puglia, Seasons, Wine
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The madding crowds have gone, the sun’s heat is no longer frying, you can eat at a restaurant without a reservation and find peace on the beach.  August is over, and with it comes one of the loveliest times here in Puglia.  Grape sagras (abundance festivals!) replace the summer concerts, and soon the new season’s wines will be with us…

 

August 26, 2009

Puglia Navigator

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Places, Puglia, Trullo Solari
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Driving in Puglia is something to experience. There are some strange rules of the road to learn, such as randomly giving way to the right; and some rules that are unusually optional such as one way streets and stopping at red lights. Then there are the locals that you share the road with, from the contadino in his 3 wheel Ape to the budding Grand Prix driver that is so close to you he might disappear up your exhause pipe. Having said all of this, the overriding experience of driving here is that it’s a bit of a game, but no one gets upset and people demonstrate ten times more patience than you generally experience on roads in the UK.

Your next challenge is, of course, to find where you’re going. And this is where we can now help our guests. We’ve been spending the summer programming our new TomTom with all our favourite restaurants, shops and places to go. No more trying to explain how to find the Masseria to watch your mozzerella being made, the Trullo Solari TomTom will take you right there. Looking for that little fish restaurant right on the ocean, or the trattoria in the back street of Ostuni old town? Don’t worry, it’s all programmed for you! We want our guests of enjoy Puglia as much as we do, which is why we’ve made it easier to share some of our secrets…

Ape in Ostuni old town

An Ape in Ostuni old town

 

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.

 

August 4, 2009

Castellana Cool

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Places, Puglia
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The caves really are awesome - and cool!

The caves really are awesome - and cool!


We’ve had friends staying with us this week, which give us an excuse to rediscover some of Puglia’s highlights. And with three small children, we were conscious of the heat. So we headed to Castellana Grotte, about 40 minutes from Ceglie to join one of the guided tours. As we descended the steps into the cave we were hit, first by the beautifully cool 18 degrees, and then by the awesome size of the entrance cave. It is 100m long, 40m wide and 60m tall. There’s a large natural opening at the top of this cavern to the outside, which lets a huge shaft of sunlight enter.

Throughout the tour, the stalactites and stalagmites wow you with their elegance and strength, and then amuse as you are encouraged to determine which worldly object they represent. Everything including an owl, a ballerina’s leg and (naturally) the Madonna are to be found.

The kids (all of us) loved it, and appreciated a respite from the 35 degrees outside. We were only outside again for ten minutes before we needed another ice cream though.

 

July 18, 2009

“Human Kind Cannot bear very much reality “- T.S.Eliot

Posted by tobiaspfunk under Guests, Places, Puglia, Trullo Solari
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“Human Kind

Cannot bear very much reality “- T.S.Eliot

And so taking Mr. Eliot at his word we all need to find a place in which we can escape the dreaded reality that surrounds us. Trullo Solari is a good place to start! Rolling hills, ancient, gnarled and twisted olive trees, beating sun, shady corners, cooling water and most importantly when you travel in a group – a bathroom for all!! ;o)

Places to visit – Martina Franca with it’s chic feel, good food and shops. Cisternino for excellent eating (try Bella Italia). Locorotondo for a wander and lunch at Trattoria Centro Storico (otherwise known as da Giovanni). Torre Guaceto for a pretty beach. Alberobello if you really have to! You can see much prettier trulli around the above towns and you don’t have to suffer the tourist tat hell!! As you may have guessed it didn’t leave much of an impression! If you’re feeling adventurous and you want to see some seriously blue sea head south for 50 minutes to Punto Prosciutta near Porto Cesareo or to Lecce for some baroque splendour. However, there’s always the temptation to just hang out by the pool, drink cocktails, read books and practice your pizza making skills in the evening. The place is truly wonderful and the guys have done a fantastic job of renovating it in a sympathetic and very comfortable style with everything you could possibly need.

If you want to escape from your reality, eat fantastic food, laze around, get some culture, see the most fantastic light you could possibly hope to find and stay in a wonderful place then you could do much worse. We loved it. You will too.

Toby

 

July 16, 2009

AccuWeather.com – Ostuni, ITALY – 15 Day Weather Forecast – Local Weather Forecasts

Posted by cathyinpuglia under Environment, Puglia, Seasons
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It’s hot.  Even Accuweather.com has had to come up with a new symbol for the forecast on Saturday – a melting thermometer!  A shiny sun just wouldn’t cut it.  At least there is some breeze today, although it’s a bit like being blasted with a hairdryer.

Great weather for doing nothing.  Loving the siesta…

 

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