Oil in Puglia is history since the cultivation of olive trees seems to date back to the beginnings of the Neolithic. With over 50 million olive trees grown over 360,000 hectares, 255,000 companies, Puglia provides the 44% of the Italian olive oil production and the 12% of the global one. The D.O.P brand has been acknowledged to four types of oil: the Dauno nel Foggiano, the Terra di Bari, the Colline di Brindisi and the Terra d’Otranto in the province of Lecce. Several D.O.P oils mean that one is faced by a deeply rooted tradition: the numerous villages spanned by downright “Oil Routes” testify to this, oil mills scattered a bit everywhere in old and new manor farms or in the agritourisms.
THE FRISELLA
It is a toasted round bread with a hole in the centre (like a doughnut), lightly soaked with water and flavoured with tomatoes, olive oil, oregano and salt.
The Friselle of Putignano are appreciated both in Italy and abroad.
THE COZZA (MUSSEL)
It is a mollusc that lives on the rocks in a big colony; to understand each other: it is a shellfish like oysters.
Very famous and tasty are the black mussels of Taranto.
MOZZARELLE AND BURRATE
The dairy products of Puglia are really delicious!
The mozzarella is a kind of cheese made with “pasta filata” (that is a mixture of curd with heated whey, followed by stretching and kneading to produce a delicate consistency). The most famous mozzarella of Italy is that produced in Gioia del Colle and Martina Franca.
Among the specialities there is the Burrata, a cheese made in Andria from mozzarella and cream. The outer shell is solid mozzarella while the inside contains both mozzarella and cream, giving it a unique soft texture. It is knotted on the top and it is really delicious!
Just for curiosity: in the Park of the Gargano you can find a typical limited and precious production: that is the Podalic Caciocavallo, which has an aging time of five or six months and is produced only in a certain period of the year.
BREAD
“Water is the most common thing, here you can buy it; but bread is so good that the shrewd traveler usually buys it for his journey”.
This is a passage taken from the Satires of Orazio dated 37 B.C., where the bread of Altamura was first mentioned.
This yellow bread with a soft crumb and a crunchy crust keeps its aroma for many days. It is the sole baked product with the D.O.P. mark in Europe. The original bread is made with grinded hard wheat semolina produced in Altamura, Gravina in Puglia, Poggiorsini, Spinazzola and Minervino Murge.
Then there is the bread made in Monte Sant’Angelo, a town located in the hinterland of the Gargano. It is a round loaf made with hard wheat semolina, which has a one-half meter diameter and a weight of 5-6 kilos.
Bakeries are in the habit of hanging bread outside their shops in order to make it cold.
THE ORECCHIETTE
It is a typical kind of Apulian pasta, whose name means “little ears”, due to its shape.
Their size is about ¾ of a thumb, and are like a little white dome whit a rough surface, whose rim is a bit thicker than the depressed centre.
There is also another kind of orecchiette, best known as “Strascinate”, which doesn’t have the shape of a dome. All kind of orecchiette are made with hard wheat flour, water and salt. The typical recipe of the region is “orecchiette con le cime di rapa” (orecchiette with turnip tops).
THE GNIMMERED SUFFUCHETE
Lamb stomach (tripe) tied with intestine and cooked with broth, parsley, carrots and onion; it is served hot and covered with grated pecorino cheese.
They are called Suffuchete because the stomachs are cooked on a low flame in a an earthenware pot and covered with water.
Taste them in Locorotondo.
THE SPORCAMUSSI
Little puff pastry filled with warm cream and covered with icing sugar…it’s a mouthwatering pastry!THE CARTEDDATE
They are Christmas crisp pastry spirals, fried and drizzled with honey or “vincotto” (cooked wine, made with grape must or juice). Their name comes from “curve”, in fact the Apulian name “carteddate” means curved.THE PUCCIA
It is a typical baked product of the Salento: a roll made with hard wheat semolina and black olives. You can fill them with everything you want.
THE FOCACCIA
It is a flat bread especially made in the provinces of Bari, Brindisi and Taranto. The characteristics of the focaccia are that it’s softer than pizza, it’s made with olive oil, it’s round and thick (1-2 cm; the homemade focaccia is usually thicker).
It is flavoured with olive oil, coarse salt and rosemary (“focaccia bianca”), or cooked (not only dressed) with potatoes, tomatoes and “olive baresane”. According to the tradition, this is the typical focaccia of this areas.
You can find it in every bakery of the area (the best focaccia is baked in the wood-burning oven) and to completely taste its aroma, you have to eat it when it’s hot .
THE SGAGLIOZZE
They are rectangular fried and salty slices of “polenta” (thick maize porridge).
Walking along the alleys of the historic centre of Bari, you will certainly run into a local woman when she is frying some of them.
