Italy Puglia cooking vacations and wine tours

We have been receiving lots of requests from our guests attending our cooking classes, culinary and wine tours in Puglia, about best places to visit while on vacation in Puglia and best things to do in each town.

We are happy to share an itinerary that could be helpful to travellers coming for a one week / 10-day vacation in Puglia.

First of all, please note that we think the most important reason why you should come to Puglia is its food, olive oil and wines. For sure you will love Puglia, if you love simple, fresh and delicious Italian food and wines. In addition to that, the beauty of Puglia is the fact that in one place you also find beautiful sandy beaches, cleanest sea water, relaxing countryside with millenary olive trees and vineyards, old historic towns with many influences from the Greek, Roman, to the Turkish and Spanish.

We chose our TOP 10 favorite places based on a combination of: local cuisine, wines, beauty of the place, location.

This itinerary may change according to the season you come.

Day 1: Our number one top location in Puglia is Lecce. We think you should make Lecce as your base for at least four days. Closest airport is Brindisi. Lecce has an elegant old town, with beautiful old palazzos and baroque churches. Please read our previous post about Best things to do in Lecce.

Because of the architecture, Lecce resembles Noto near Ragusa in Sicily. In Lecce, you should not miss all the gourmet shops, the market, the mozzarella makers and the very interesting papier machè artisans. The ice-cream in Lecce just off the main Saint’Oronzo square is the best you can get in Italy! We guarantee. You should count a whole day to visit Lecce.

Food in Lecce: restaurants in Lecce serve mainly freshly made pasta, vegetables, meat (little seafood as Lecce is not by the sea). Don’t miss the pasticciotto and rustico. Also the famous orecchiette with tomato sauce and cacioricotta cheese. 

Things to do near Lecce include: playing golf, scuba diving, sailing, shopping…enjoying the Dolce Vita!. Don’t forget about the siesta time in Lecce.

Day 2: Lecce is also a very good base if you want to visit and taste some of the best wines and extra virgin olive oils in Puglia. You should consider another whole day for the winery tours and olive oil tastings in the Salento area.

Lecce is an excellent base if you love white sandy beaches and seafood. From Lecce you can easily go to Gallipoli (our second Top favorite place in Puglia) and Otranto (our third Top favorite place in Puglia). If you do not want to run around Puglia, we recommend you just spend your holiday between Lecce, Otranto and Gallipoli. 

Day 3: In addition to its beautiful old town, Gallipoli has beautiful beaches and green water. If you love seafood, sea urchins, mussels, shirmps, octopus and any kind of fish, Gallipoli is definetely the place where to go.

The seafood market is small but you can find the freshest seafood sold by the fishermen.

If you arrive in Gallipoli early in the morning you can also see fishermen cleaning their fish nets.

Food in Gallipoli: includes freshly made pasta, vegetables, sea urchins and only seafood (it will be hard to find any meat). Don’t miss the red shrimps in sea salt crust. Also this is the place for sea urchins, which locals eat by the sea.

Gallipoli is the must see place if you love sunsets. Don’t miss an aperitif there. It’s one of the most romantic places if you come in a couple. You should consider spending at least one day in Gallipoli.

Things to do near Gallipoli include: swimming, watching the sunset, sailing and scuba diving…..relaxing on the beautiful beaches.

Day 4: Otranto (our fourth Top place) is another beautiful town, Unesco heritage, with a marvellous blue water. The white sandy beaches are also very nice but a little bit hidden. You need to know where to go. 

The old town is very special with the very interesting cathedral (don’t miss the mosaic) and the castle. What is really special about this area, is the coast going from Otranto all the way South. Driving along this coast will be an unforgettable experience.

Food in Otranto is mainly freshly made pasta, vegetables and seafood (no meat in Otranto). Don’t miss the sea bass in sea salt crust. You should consider spending at least one day in Otranto including the drive along its Southern coast.

Things to do near Otranto include: swimming, sailing, shopping.

Day 4/or 5: Our fourth top favorite place is Castro, another beautiful seaside town just south of Otranto and Lecce. There are no sandy beaches here, only rocks, but it is another beautiful and romantic place. If you are in hurry, you can visit Castro on the same day you visit Otranto, otherwise you should continue along the coast and visit the beautiful Santa Cesarea Terme, Novaglie (where there is out favorite restaurant in Puglia). Again food will be freshly made pasta, vegetables and seafood. Castro is considered a VIP place among locals.

Things to do near Castro include swimming, sailing and scuba diving…..admiring the beautiful sea view.

Day 6: Our fifth Top favorite place is Porto Selvaggio, another seaside place south of Gallipoli and Lecce. Porto Selvaggio is a WWF sea natural reserve. Before the sea water there is a wonderful forest easy to access.

The water has natural springs. We have lots of guests who say that hiking, riding a bike or just enjoying the water and sun in Porto Selvaggio was their best experience in Puglia. Because it is a natural reserve, you will have to bring your own food. Close by there is Nardò, where you can find fantastic bread and focaccia. You should consider spending at least one day in Porto Selvaggio.

Things to do in Porto Selvaggio include: hiking, biking, swimming.

Day 7 and 8: Moving up in the Northern part of Puglia, our sixth Top favorite places are Locorotondo and Cisternino. We suggest you use them as a base to visit the whole area (also known as Valle Itria).

You may spend two or three days in this area, where you find all the famous trulli houses. Locorotondo and Cisternino have beautiful old towns all whitewashed, with narrow streets and a very nice countryside.

They are certainly much more authentic and less touristy than Alberobello, where you find other trulli…..but be prepared for lots of tourists. Cisternino and Locorotondo are places to go to if you love meat (you don’t find Tuscan steaks though). 

Food in Cisternino and Locorotondo: don’t miss the famous bombette meat, the capocollo pancetta, the burrata cheese and the orecchiette with cime di rape (broccoli).

From Cisternino or Locorotondo you can easily visit in one day: Alberobello, Martina Franca, Polignano a Mare.

Day 9: From here you can visit our seventh Top favorite place in Puglia, Ostuni, also known as the white town, because of its whitewashed houses built on top of a hill. After you visit the very nice old town in Ostuni, you should go to have lunch or dinner in Ceglie Messapica, where you find very good restaurants and for sure less tourists.

Food in the Ostuni and Martina Franca area is based on freshly made pasta, vegetables, legumes, meat, cheese.

Things to do near Ostuni  and Fasano include: playing golf.

Depending on how much time you have left you should consider visiting either Matera or Trani (or both!).

Day 10: Matera is a very beautiful place. Even though it is in Basilicata it is very close to Puglia. Matera is famous for its stones and in fact it has often been used as a set for movies.

You should consider spending at least one day here and staying in a hotel or B&B in the caves. Especially at night it can be very romantic with all the lights from the caves.

Food in Matera and Altamura: in this area you should miss the freshly made pasta and also the famous bread, taralli and focaccia. Also this is the area of the excellent Aglianico wine.

Other less famous but still very beautiful places are Ginosa, Laterza and Mottola.

Day 10 or 11: Trani is our ninth Top favorite place. It is by the Adriatic sea and has a beautiful and elegant cathedral, all made with a white stone.

Food is based on lots of fresh pasta and all kinds of seafood. This area is famous for its fruity extra virgin olive oil from Andria and for the Nero di Troia wine. From Trani don’t miss Giovinazzo, less touristy but very nice. You should spend at least one day in Trani.

We left the Gargano area as our tenth Top favorite place. This is not because it is less beautiful than the other places we mentioned, but only because this area is so big and so far from the rest of the region, that if you decide to go there you should consider spending at least 5 or 6 days.

Closest airport is Bari. There are only small and slow roads in this area so don’t think of rushing to all places in one day. Our favorite places are: Peschici, Vieste, Mattinata. Here you find a combination of beautiful white sandy beaches, very nice sea nature and very good food, mainly from the sea.

I and Marika are very pleased to let you know that we decided to add Italian language classes to the Stile Mediterraneo School’s programs in Lecce Puglia.

Food and wine from Puglia and Southern Italy will always be our focus: during our programs our guests will have a chance to study the beautiful Italian language while learning about the Italian food and wines. Programs include: conversations, lots of practice with local people, visits to best markets, wineries and producers, a cooking class…and lots of eating! You will meet new friends, learn about Italian culture, food and wine.

We will have a special tour from June 25 to July 2 in a villa castle. For all other dates and more information contact us or visit the Italian Language tours page.

I and Marika wish you and your families a wonderful and …delicious…..Christmas season! We hope you will do lots of cooking and hopefully you will cook some of our recipes.

Please let us know if you do cook any of our Italian recipes for your friends by adding a comment to this post!
And do not forget to send us pictures!

A presto in Puglia and BUON NATALE!

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.

If you ever come to Puglia and Southern Italy you will certainly notice that there are many people and women in particular who live up to 100 years and in very healthy conditions.
Certainly the slow and relaxed Mediterranean lifestyle has a big influence on this: everybody goes back home for lunch, eats with the family and takes a little nap before going back to work at 5pm.

However, the Mediterranean diet is one of the main reasons why women and people in general, live so long. One of the most important features of the Mediterranean diet and cuisine is that people eat a combination of carbs, proteins, and fats at every meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner). What is extremely important is that, everything is eaten in moderation and that focus is on GOOD carbs, proteins and fats.

In Puglia extra virgin olive oil is used almost for everything, even for sweets. Lots of vegetables are eaten at every meal. Proteins come from seafood and most of all from legumes which are eaten at least twice per week. Very little meat is used, sometimes once a week and always in small servings.

Lots of students attending our cookery courses are always impressed with the fact that we eat pasta almost every day and keep asking Marika, as a cardiologist, whether this is a healthy thing to do! Don’t we eat too many carbs?

It is true that in Puglia and Southern Italy we eat lots of carbohydrates. However we mainly eat those with a low glycemic index. Pasta in Puglia is made with no eggs, but just with semolina durum wheat and water. Also, we eat lots of grains such as barley, farro and rye and lots of fruit.

A recent study led by the National Institute of Cancer in Milan, shows that there is an increased risk of heart attack caused not by a diet high in carbohydrates, but by a diet rich in rapidly absorbed carbohydrates. 

This is a very simple and delicious recipe made with farro, a very good carbohydrate (which in English should translate into emmer). 

FARRO WITH MUSSELS, TOMATOES AND EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL

INGREDIENTS

1 lb farro
2 lb black mussels
1 garlic clove
15 cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup parsley
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
pinch black pepper

PREPARATION

Cook the farro in water for about 25 minutes. Remove it al dente.

On the side pour in a sauce pan a few drops of extra virgin olive oil with the garlic clove and chilly pepper. After one minute add the black mussels and cherry tomatoes and everything cook.

Once the mussels are open, add the farro and finish cooking everything together.

Switch off the flame and add freshly chopped parsley, extra virgin olive oil and black pepper.

Eat right away!

Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School Puglia celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2010!

Because of such an important event, we are hosting special PIZZA, FOCACCIA and BREAD cooking classes at our cooking school in Puglia.

On these days, cooking classes will focus on the preparation of traditional Italian pizza, bread and focaccia from Puglia.

Classes will be at a very special price! Contact us at info.stile@gmail.com to book a place.

Dates:

June 19, 2010

July 9, 2010

September 19, 2010.

Hope you will join us!

If you are interested in our Pasta days click here!

Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School Puglia celebrates its fifth anniversary in 2010!

Because of such an important event, we are hosting special PASTA cooking classes at our cooking school in Puglia.

On these days, cooking courses will focus on the preparation of traditional Italian pasta from Puglia: from egg tagliatelle; to durum wheat semolina orecchiette; durum wheat semolina cavatelli; stuffed ravioli and gnocchi.

Classes will be at a very special price!  Contact us at info.stile@gmail.com to book a place.

Dates:

June 13 and June 26, 2010

July 2, 2010

September 12, 2010.

Hope you will join us!

If you are interested in our pizza, focaccia and bread days click here!

 

The beauty of the cuisine of Puglia is that you can prepare very delicious dishes without spending too much time in the kitchen. As always, the key is to use fresh and very high quality ingredients. So basically if you want to save time in the kitchen, you should spend a little extra time looking for the right ingredients.

Today I and Marika want to share this recipe which we guarantee will impress your guests on a dinner party! We love this recipe, first because it is very tasty and second because you can serve it cold, so you can prepare it in advance and enjoy your dinner with your guests!

As always we got inspired by what’s in season now in Puglia and Italy: the fresh green peas!

You also need very small calamari. Please note that it is very important the calamari are fresh and not frozen.

RECIPE

4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

- 500 grams fresh green peas (small size)
- very small onion
- 8 small calamari (fresh and small)
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (medium fruity)
- 2 slices of artisan durum wheat bread
- 1 tsp sea salt
- pinch black pepper

PREPARATION:

In a pan, soften the onion with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil. Clean the green peas and cook them at very low flame and with the lid. Add the sea salt. After 20-30 minutes, remove them from the flame and let them cool down before reducing into a purea with the food processor.

On the side, wash the calamari and cut them in small strips, lengthwise.  Sautée the calamari just for a few minutes at very low flame.

Cut the artisan bread in small strips and bake in the oven for a few minutes, until it gets crunchy. Once it is ready, drizzle with a few drops of extra virgin olive oil on top.

Pour the green peas purea on a plate. Place the calamari strips on top and drizzle with a little more extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle a pinch of black pepper on top. Serve with toasted bread.

Enjoy!

What’s your favorite recipe with fresh geen peas?

Read more information about the Cooking and wine tour at the castle or write at info.stile@gmail.com

We wish  a very Happy Easter and Pasquetta day to all our readers!

What are your plans for the Pasquetta day? Weather forecast in Lecce and Puglia predicts we are going to have a very beautiful and warm Easter Monday. So very likely we will have our traditional picnic on the beach this year!

For those of you who don’t know about it, the “Pasquetta” Day is one the most exciting days in Southern Italy. Pasquetta is the Easter Monday and literally means the “little Easter”  ….basically it’s another excuse to keep eating, drinking and meeting friends!