Cooking classes and vacations in Puglia Italy

Having lived in so many different countries, I am lucky enough to have local friends almost everywhere. Whenever I take holidays from my cooking classes in Puglia and I travel, I always make sure I go and visit them. So I am very spoiled, because I get to visit the world with local people who take me to the most authentic places and best restaurants and order for me the most local and delicious food.

Whenever, it happened to me not to have such help I always been a bit disappointed with the food I ordered.

Loving food and wine so much, I can never have enough. Even when I am on holiday I am always interested in trying different foods and wines. I believe cuisine and wine are such a wonderful way to learn about the local culture and traditions.

Because Puglia is still an undiscovered place and because not many people speak English in best local restaurants, I thought it would be good to give some little tips and insights on what to expect in restaurants in Puglia and on how to order a meal in Puglia. So that you don’t run the risk of missing any of the wonderful culinary experience Puglia has to offer.

1. First, you need to know about Puglia and Southern Italy is that once you book a table, nobody is going to rush you! You can enjoy your food as slowly as you like. You can stay at the table 2, 3, 4 hours. Nobody will complain.  This is because food in Puglia is more a social thing than a way to feed us. We stay at the table for many hours but we eat very slowly. After a 3-hour meal, it may look like we have been eating a lot; but the talking has certainly been much more than the eating. This is a land of slow eating!
2. Second, in Puglia we take the idea of “local” food very seriously. This is not a new trendy concept for us. It has been the same way for thousands of years. This means that we only eat what is locally produced. Locally means: within 5 miles. To give you an example: Lecce is 6 miles from the sea. So nobody would order seafood in a restaurant in Lecce. We would only go and eat seafood and fish in Gallipoli or Otranto (which are by the sea and where it would be impossible to find any meat!). In Lecce the cuisine is based on durum wheat pasta, lots of vegetables, cheese and meat, but very little seafood (may be calamari).
3. Third, Puglia is not a place of famous chefs or fancy restaurants. Puglia is a place where most of the cooking is done by women in homes. It’s hard to have the authentic cuisine unless you go to someone’s home for a meal.  All the local recipes have never been written down and handed down by mother to daughter for generation. You now find lots of traditional restaurants who have become famous and mentioned in all travel guide books. However, you will certainaly find lots of tourists and a few locals in these places. If you cannot get invited to someone’s home for a meal, then ask to the locals, at the market, at the fish shop, in the street. Even if local people don’t speak English everybody will try to help!
4. Fourth, Puglia is very famous for the house starters (antipasti della casa). 

   

   House starters in Puglia may include from 5 to 20 different dishes, mostly made with vegetables, cheese, focaccia. They are all small servings to be shared (so 1 house starter can be for 4 people) but they can be a lot! If you want only ONE small starter, may be prosciutto crudo and melon, then make sure you ask for it. Otherwise the waiter will arrive with the many different house starters. After the house starters, we would only have either one pasta course or one seafood/meat course. We would always end a meal with fruit or dessert.
5. Fifth, salad in Puglia is a side course to our main course (meat or seafood). A waiter would be very suprised if you order a salad as a starter or with your pasta course. Alternative side courses would be other vegetables (but different from the house starters) or potatoes.
6. Sixth, every meal ends with a coffee, after which we also have the famous “amaro“, which is a digestive liquor (same concept of the limoncello or grappa). You can order it plain, or with ice cubes…..or the best way would be to have it on top of the spumone ice cream, which is the local ice cream in Puglia.
7. Seventh, servings are small in Puglia. House starters would be very small because they are supposed to be shared. Also pasta courses or main courses can be smaller than what you find in restaurants abroad.
8. Eight, traditional pasta in Puglia is made with durum wheat or barley or emmer. The local pasta is not made with eggs (even tagliatelle are not made with eggs). All local pasta include: cavatelli, orecchiette, sagne incannulate. However, we also eat egg pasta, such as ravioli, tortellini, lasagne, gnocchi.
9. Ninth, Puglia is not a region of big steaks. If you like steaks you have to go to Tuscany or the North of Italy. In Puglia we do eat meat but it would be lamb, veal and a bit of beef. Meat is always accompanied by vegetables (for examples: eggplants stuffed with ground meat). Therefore meat is more a complement to vegetables than a main dish. Local people in general eat very little meat and more seafood and legumes.
10. Tenth, we come to paying the bill! In Puglia (and in Italy) service is included in your bill. So there is no obligation to tip. However if you are happy with your food, then it would be very nice to leave a little tip: from 3 euro to 10 euro, depending on how happy you are.

Please

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 and tours in Puglia 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!

If you like this recipe, you may also want to read our other recipes: orzo and lentils and durum wheat orecchiette with tomato sauce and durum wheat orecchiette with broccoli rabe.

Contact us for more information at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School newsletter.

Puglia is certainly one of the best places in Italy where to go to if you like eating super fresh seafood, crustaceans and shellfish.

Because in Puglia, we also think that food should be local and eaten where it is produced, you will eat the best seafood in places, such as Gallipoli, Otranto, Polignano a Mare, Torre a mare, which are beautiful sea side towns.

When you look for best seafood in Puglia, there is something you should definetely not miss and that you can only find in Gallipoli: the famous big red shrimps from Gallipoli (which look more like prawns)!

The best way to prepare them is to bake in sea salt crust, as if it was a sea bass or sea bream.

BIG RED SHRIMPS BAKED IN SEA SALT CRUST

INGREDIENTS

2 servings
1 lb 3 oz big red shrimps from Gallipoli
coarse rock salt (as necessary)

PREPARATION

If you like this recipe you may also want to read how to make a dorade (or se bream) in sea salt crust.

For more information about our cooking vacations and cookery lessons in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com or visit our Stile Mediterraneo Cooking classes calendar page.

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?

For more information about our cooking tours in Puglia Italy please check out our classes calendar or contact us at info.stile@gmail.com. 

Subscribe to our newsletter

Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School in Puglia is rated # Best Thing to do in Puglia on Tripadvisor!

In three days the World Cup starts and everybody in Puglia is getting ready for it with lots of good luck rituals!
You may know that in Southern Italy we are very superstitious.
I and Marika will make this simple and delicious recipe to support our Italian team, the Azzurri!
It is made with rice, potatoes, zucchini and tomatoes.
We chose this recipe because it has the Italian flag colours (white, green and red). We chose a blue plate like our Italian team’s t-shirt!

The deal is that if we win the first match (Italy vs Paraguay) on June 14th, I and Marika will be making and eating rice, zucchini and tomatoes on all the following matches …..until the final on July 11th!

RECIPE

4 servings

INGREDIENTS:

- 5 small potatoes (small size)
- 3 zucchini
- 7 oz rice
- 15 cherry tomatoes
- 1/2 white onion
- pinch of sea salt
- a few mint leaves
- pinch of black pepper
- 1 3/4 oz cacioricotta goat cheese
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (intense fruity)
- 1 carrot
- 1 small onion
- 1 celery stalk
- water for the vegetable broth (as necessary)

PREPARATION:
First, prepare the vegetable broth, by pouring water in a pan and adding the carrot, onion and celery. Bring to a boil.
In a baking pan place a layer of potatoes, very thing sliced.
Add a layer of sliced zucchini, the mint leaves and the half onion, very thin chopped.
Add a layer of rice, the black pepper and the sea salt.
Top the rice with the halved cherry tomatoes.
Cover everything with the vegetable broth.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350°F.
Once it is ready and still warm, add the grated cacioricotta goat cheese on top.
Serve adding the intense extra virgin olive oil on top.

If you like this recipe, you may also want to read our other posts on how to make risotto with artichokes and how to make orzo with lentils

And you, what recipes are you making for the World Cup?

For more information on our cooking classes in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to our newsletter.

Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School in Puglia is rated # Best Thing to do in Puglia on Tripadvisor!

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?

For more information about our cooking classes and cookery tours in Puglia please write at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to our newsletter.

Burrata is a cheese traditionally made in the North of Puglia (Bari and surroundings). For burrata lovers it has always been impossible to find a cheese artisan who could make Burrata in Lecce and in the South of Puglia. In Lecce the tradition is to eat the super delicious and juicy mozzarella, known as fior di latte.

Today I went to my favorite cheese artisans with the beautiful ladies attending my cheese artisan and market tour. You cannot immagine what a wonderful surprise when we found out they were going to make burrata in front of us!

The burrata was made with the same dough used to make the cow milk mozzarella. First, the dough was very well stretched and kneaded by hand (we don’t use any machine in Puglia).

Then, the dough was filled with lots of mozzarella strips and cream.

Finally, the burrata was closed with a string, immersed in water with salt and let it rest.

The cheese artisan told us that today he had the best weather condition to make the mozzarella.

We tasted the mozzarellas and we could not agree more.

What do you think of burrata?

For more information about our cooking classes , cheese and market tours in Puglia contact us at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Cooking School in Puglia Newsletter.

If you have ever had breakfast in Italy, you may already know that the typical Italian breakfast includes a cappuccino with something sweet: a croissant or a pastry or some biscuits. That’s a must in Italy, no matter where you go: from Milan to Rome, down to Puglia. Very rarely you will see an Italian person have breakfast with those fantastic scrumbled eggs that I used to enjoy when I was living in the US (so good!).

I and Marika love breakfast! It’s really our favorite moment of the day: we love waking up with our fantastic Italian espresso coffee and we like eating a big breakfast. However, we cannot have anything sweet right after we wake up (just give us a couple of hours and we’ll be ready for it!). We need something savory and lots of fruit of course.

So this is our favorite breakfast: pecorino sheep cheese and our home made jam, with some Pugliese bread.
The pecorino sheep cheese comes from a fantastic local cheese maker who has his own sheeps and goats and makes very limited production (just for the family and few loyal customers). I and Marika love supporting him!
For the jam, we hope our guests who attended our cooking classes in Puglia still remember what we are talking about!

Juts out of curiosity: 20 minutes after the above picture was taken, the pecorino cheese was almost gone!!

For more information about our cooking classes, market and cheese tours in Puglia contact us at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Cooking School in Puglia Newsletter.

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?

For more information about our cooking classes and market tours in Puglia contact us at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Cooking School in Puglia Newsletter.

There is one thing that you should certainly not miss when you come to Lecce in Puglia: the delicious Pasticciotto Leccese! There is no other place in Puglia or in Italy where you can have it! People from other places in Puglia come to Lecce on purpose to eat the pasticciotto.

Pasticciotto is a pasta frolla (sweet pastry) tart filled with lemon cream. Pasticciotto is the typical pastry that people in Lecce have for breakfast. If you want to do what the locals do in Lecce that’s what you should order, together with the espressino coffee, while enjoying the sun in the Santo Oronzo Square in Lecce.

In Lecce almost every coffee bar will serve the pasticciotto. However if you want to eat one of the best, you should go to Ascalone in Galatina (on the way South to Gallipoli).

I and Marika were recently interviewed by Sharon Sanders for a beautiful article she wrote about our Stile Mediterraneo Cooking School in Puglia and which was published in the Dream of Italy newsletter. In this article we share our secrets and travel recommendations for Puglia. We tell Sharon the story that when Cinzia lived in Milan, Ascalone refused to sell her a tray of pasticciotti to be taken back to the North with her. The baker wanted the pasticciotti to be enjoyed warm! Read the Dream of Italy Newsletter to find out more!

For more information about our cooking classes and gourmet tours in Puglia contact us at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Cooking School in Puglia Newsletter.

OR:

I and Marika don’t eat lots of sweets (apart from tons of the famous hazelnut ice cream from Lecce we already wrote about!).

Subscribe to the Stile Mediterraneo newsletter

One of the most typical fish from the Mediterranean sea is the Dorade.

INGREDIENTS
2 servings
1 lb 3 oz dorade
coarse rock salt (as necessary)