Italy Puglia cooking vacations and wine tours

In Puglia we don’t define ourserselves as vegetarian people, but we certainly eat lots of vegetables, legumes and dishes which would be perfect for vegetarians.

This may be due to the fact that in Puglia we produce lots of vegetables (in fact we are also known as the garden of Italy); or to the fact that, having a sunny and warm weather for most of the year, we prefer eating simple and fresh dishes, not rich in proteins and fats.

Lots of our dishes do not include any meat at all, but just cheese, eggs and vegetables: from eggplant balls (similar to meat balls, but made with eggplants instead of meat), to eggplant parmigiana, to fava broad beans and chicories.

When we do have meat, we would never have a steak (Puglia is definetely not the region where to go to if you like steaks!). Meat will always be a sort of side dish to all the vegetables we have at any meal: from zucchini, to eggplants and bell peppers prepared in all the possible ways.

One of the most interesting things about the cuisine of Puglia, is that even at the end of a meal we would have a plate of vegetables. If the French end up their meal with a plate of that delicious cheese, in Puglia we finish our meal with a plate of crudité: from cucumbers, to carrots and fennels (when in season). These are all vegetables that facilitate digestion. However, I would say that the main reason why we do that is to spend more time at the table!

If you come to Puglia, you find cucumbers at any market from June to October. They are very sweet and very different from the more bitter cucumbers you may find in other regions.

They are very delicious, dressed with just a bit of fruity extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and black pepper. They are also very nice when added to a tomato salad.

June is one of the best months to visit a food market in Puglia. There are so many colours and flavours as all farmers start selling their delicious and sweet summer fruit and vegetables.

Being Puglia and Southern Italy, also known as the “garden of Italy”, we produce all kinds of seasonal fruit and vegetables, which are also distributed to Northen Italy.

A fruit that is really special in Puglia in June is the ”fiorone” (literally, big flowers), which is a type of fig.

Fig season in Puglia is from August to September, where you can find the most delicious and sweet figs.

Fiorone are sort of early figs and you can find them only in June (their production last for about 2 weeks). They are much bigger than figs you find in August.

Even though they are a little bit less sweet than those in August, it is such a joy to be able to eat figs in June.

They can be green or black. The best and sweetest are the black ones. You only find them at the market.

Summer has definetely arrived in Puglia and we have been experiencing unusual warm temperatures for the whole week.

This also means that we can also finally find all the super delicious summer fruit.

Marika has been making all sorts of fruit salads, which not only are very delicious, but also very refreshing and healthy.

Today she made a fruit salad with cantaloupe melon and pineapple.

She says this is the best fruit salad to have on a very hot day, like today!

Due to its water and mineral content, this juicy and fresh salad made of cantaloupe melon and pineapple can help rehydrate our body on such a warm day!

Pineapples and cantaloupe melons are perfect for salads, juices, fruit cocktails, snacks and also if you like decorating with fruit. We tried to make a swan using just  toothpick!

Cantaloupe melons have lots of other health benefits. They are a good source of potassium and are rich in anti-oxidants that can help prevent cancer and heart disease. They are very rich in Vitamin C, beta-carotene and Vitamin B complex.

Pineapples also have many other health benefits. They are a good source of Vitamin C (which acts a powerful anti-oxidant against free radicals) manganese, calcium, potassium, fiber and bromelain enzyme (which aids digestion and the immune system).

What is your favorite summer fruit salad? How do you make it?

It is obviously spring on our terrace, which is almost becoming as big as a garden. Marika planted even more herbs than last year (in addition to the many flowers, geranium and….the big lemon tree which already has one big lemon!). I think we now have them all.

Just name one and we have it: from bay laurel, sage, rosemary, parsley, LOTS of mint, to thyme and basil. At our parents’ garden we have: capers, chilly peppers, oregano, wild fennel and rucola (rocket).

Our guests who already attended our cooking classes in Puglia know how I and Marika love adding all the different herbs to our dishes…..even to cakes! This is something that we learned from our Nonna/Grandmother, who used to plant so many herbs and knew all the health benefits of each single herb: from treating a flu, a cold, to liver or stomach problems.

Cooking with herbs belongs to the Mediterranean culinary tradition: it is very common in all regions in Southern Italy. The first time I cooked for my friends in Milan (many years ago!) they were really impressed with all the spices and herbs I used: not just onion, celery and parsley; but also lots of oregano, sage, rosemary and wild fennel. All herbs that grow wild in our countryside.

Cooking with herbs is a very healthy way of preparing our food and eating. First of all, by using herbs and spices you add lots of flavors to your dishes, which allows you to reduce the amount of salt. This is something that Marika, as a Cardiologist, loves telling to our cooking students: adding herbs (and cutting salt!) helps lowering blood pressure and heart diseases.

Moreover, many herbs have lots of antioxidants, which are very good for our health but also to better preserve the food we are preparing.

A few days ago, I attended a very interesting dinner my Harvard Alumni Club organized in Milan. Umberto Veronesi was our dinner guest. He is the founder of the Veronesi Foundation, which carries on very important scientific research in order to fight cancer.

At the dinner he spoke about the scientific advances in genetics and their impact on hereditary diseases and predictive medicine. He told us that doctors and scientists strongly believe certain foods can be very powerful in order to prevent cancer. Still, there is not enough evidence; however, they are doing lots of research to demonstrate the importance of food.

Among the many food products he talked about, he said strawberries may be very powerful against cancer.

We already know about the many health benefits strawberries have. They are rich in phenols (anthocyanins) which make up the red colour and serve as potent antioxidants. Also a research from Harvard Medical School showed that strawberries may offer heart disease protection. 

In addition to that, strawberries are an important source of ellagic acid. Veronesi’s team are studying the ellagic acid’s possible benefits against cancer.

After listening to this speech, I and Marika have been eating strawberries every day, in many different ways: at breakfast with cereals, at lunch and dinner with salad.

Pietro, the farmer from whom we buy all the ingredients for our cooking classes, grows organic and super tasty strawberries.

We like making a salad with a few drops of red wine or the very old balsamic vinegar. This is to enhance the phenols (anthocyanins) benefits. Then we decorate with a few mint leaves or basil.

Good healthy strawberries!

It has been several months now since we started our “What’s special at the market in Puglia” section, where we write about seasonal and special products we find at the market in Puglia.

We have to admit that we were never happier to host our market section than today! This morning we finally found some fresh fava beans at the market and this means that the Spring has finally arrived!

The fava beans are still a bit small and so we have to wait a few days more, before we can make our delicious pasta with fresh fava beans, onions and mint.

However, when the fava beans are so small and tender they are perfect to be eaten raw in a salad, with the fresh pecorino sheep cheese, some Pugliese bread topped with good quality extra virgin olive oil!

It’s a fantastic starter!

What’s your favorite recipe with fresh fava beans?

We can certainly say Puglia is an artichoke lovers’ paradise!

If you come to Puglia at this time of the year you’ll see artichokes everywhere: at the markets and at every street corner the farmers sell their fresh artichokes. All the locals buy to eat them fresh or to preserve in extra virgin olive oil, mint and cloves (delicious!!)…to be eaten in the summer on top of our fantastic bread.

The artichokes have many important nutritional benefits. In addition to being full of fiber and iron, they contribute to lower the blood cholesterol. In fact, by promoting bile secretion in the liver, they help reducing the LDL cholesterol.

In the 1970′s, European scientists discovered that the bitter taste of the artichoke is due to a plant chemical called cynarin, which has the ability to reduce cholesterol.

In Puglia we prepare the artichokes in so many different ways and I and Marika have them at least 6 times per week at this time of the year. One of Marika’s favorite ways to prepare them is with carrots, rice and parmigiano….a sort of risotto but more Mediterranean because we make it with extra virgin olive oil instead of butter.

INGREDIENTS
3 artichokes 
1/2 lb rice
2 carrots
1/2 onion
vegetable broth (as necessary)
1/4 glass white wine
3 1/2 oz very good Parmigiano
2 tbsp very good extra virgin olive oil
sea salt to taste
black pepper

RECIPE
Clean the artichokes and the carrots and chop them in small pieces. Put them in a non-sticking pan at low flame adding a few tbsp of vegetable broth. Stir and add the onion, cut very fine.
Add the rice and stir very gently and not very frequently. Add the wine and after a few minute other broth, little by little when necessary.
Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
When the rice is cooked “al dente“, add the parmigiano. Serve and add the extra virgin olive oil.

The only issue we have with artichokes is pairing them with the right wine. What wine do you like having with artichokes?

To pick the prickly pears you need to wear gloves because of the spines.

In Puglia, to have fresh tomatoes when it is not the season we prepare the so called Pendola tomatoes. In the summer we pick the tomatoes with the vine. We hang the tomatoes with the vine on a rope and store them in a cool environment. The skin turns hard but the juice stays inside! Then in the winter, we simply roast them: the skin breaks down and the tomatoes release all the juice and the taste of the sun!

Do you have any other way to suggest to preserve vegetables and tomatoes?