Cuisine | Italy cooking Courses

Traditional Italian Sunday lunch 1

Posted on October 25, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

There is no Sunday lunch in Puglia and in Lecce without the most beautiful and delicious pastries which include: babà with rum, cannoli with ricotta, bignè with lemon pastry cream.

Pastry shops start making fresh cannoli and pasticciotti very early in the morning and you can smell the savory lemon cream and pasticciotto from the street.

All the pastry shops get very busy around 12am, just before lunch, when everybody rushes to get the best pastries.

Even if you may choose among tons of different pastries, you have always the impression you are missing the best. Therefore all trays (in Italian “guantiera”) end up being very big.

The Sunday pastries are something not to be missed if you come to Puglia. Make sure you order yours before 12am.

For more information about Stile Mediterraneo cooking classes and wine tours in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: pastries traditional dishes
Category cuisine

Best espresso coffees in Puglia Italy 2

Posted on September 24, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

One of the things you should not miss when you come to Puglia is certainly trying all the different kinds of “coffee” we have.

In Puglia and in Lecce we have so many types of coffee:

-espresso with moka (made at home with Moka machine)

-espresso (made at the bar with the special machine)

-espresso ristretto (very short espresso)

-espresso macchiato (with a little bit of foam milk)

-espressino (typical from Lecce)

-cappuccino

-nocciolino

-granita caffè

-espressino estivo (summer espressino)

-espresso corretto (espresso with liquor)

-and many more…..

Every moment of the day requires a different coffee (i.e. Italians never have a cappuccino after lunch or in the afternoon).

Every time we meet someone we have a coffee: we may have 4, 5 coffees per day….sometimes even more. You would say, it’s a lots of caffein. However, the key is to have just one shot espresso each time. Very rarely we would have a “caffè doppio” (two shots of espresso coffee).

The first thing Pugliese people do in the morning, very soon after they wake up, is to have a coffee made with a Moka machine.

The smell of the coffee made with a moka machine and the sound of the coffee coming up are rituals that take place every morning in all Pugliese houses.
Everybody has a moka machine at home, which is supposed to make the best espresso coffee.

Then, we go to a bar for the typical breakfast in Lecce: espressino and pasticciotto.
Espressino is served in a small glass coffee cup. It is made of one shot of espresso, with a bit of foam milk, and cocoa powder both on top and in between the coffee and milk. When the barman is inspired, you get a little heart or flower drawing in your espressino!!

Before lunch, it’s time for the nocciolino, wich is made of one shot of warm espresso with a small ball of hazelnut icecream. The combination of warm coffee and cold icecream is fantastic.
After lunch, it is time for an espresso or for an espresso macchiato (with a little bit of foam milk on top).
For more information about Puglia cuisine, our cooking classes and wine tours in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: food tours italian coffee
Category Puglia, cuisine

What’s special at the fruit market in Puglia in September 2

Posted on September 12, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

What we really love about the fruit and vegetable markets of Puglia is that only what’s in season is sold. All fruit and vegetable change according to the season, and so the colors are totally different.

If you have a chance to go to a market in September, don’t miss the delicious and sweet prickly pears.

They grow on a cactus plant. They are green when they are not ripe. Then they turn red, orange or yellow. Our favorite are the red!

In Puglia they ripe in September and so when you go to the countryside you see these beautiful cactus plants with the red and orange fruit.

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

If you store them in a cool environment they last for about three months. In Puglia we usually serve them as a special fruit at Christmas time.

For more information about Puglia cuisine, our cooking classes and wine tours in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: farmer market Italy
Category Food markets, Puglia, cuisine

Cheese from Puglia 2

Posted on September 01, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

Puglia is not just the land of cow milk mozzarella. Puglia is also a big producer of pecorino (or sheep cheese) and caciocavallo cheese.

Pecorino is for Puglia, what Parmigiano Reggiano is for the Parma region. In Puglia we use pecorino for everything: when aged we grate it on top of pasta or we accompany with pear jams; when fresh (from 1 week to 2 months) we use it in salads or to make fantastic panini – sandwiches or to cook pasta in the oven.

Caciocavallo literally means “Horse Cheese”. However, it has nothing to do with the horse milk. It is called like this because, to age, it is left hanging on a wooden stick…..as if it was riding a horse.

The best Caciocavallo is the Podolico one, made of a very special milk produced by the rare Podolica cow. The Caciocavallo Podolico is of the most important Slow Food presidia.

This cheese was at risk of disappearing. Because the Podolica cow produces very small quantity of milk and only in certain months, it was not very profitable for the small local producers to produce milk from this cow.
The Slow Food presidium promotes the production of of this special milk and cheese, which is very tasty and full of grass flavors. The Podolico caciocavallo cheese is of very high quality!

For more information about Puglia cuisine, our cooking classes and wine tours in Puglia Italy please write at info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: cheese Slow Food
Category Cheese & Mozzarella, cuisine

Altamura durum wheat bread from Puglia 4

Posted on August 19, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

Puglia is becoming more and more famous around the world for the Altamura bread. This bread has been the first, in the bakery category, to receive the DOP seal (Denomination of Protected Origin) in Europe. The DOP recognition is equivalent to the DOC one for wines.

Its unique taste is the result of the handmade method (a procedure which has been passed on generation after generation) but it is also the result of the specific climatic conditions.
This bread has a typical shape, similar to a hat and a unique yellow color. The crust is very crunchy, the breadcrumb is very soft and the bread can last for many days!

Its production has to follow a specific procedure: it can be made with the durum wheat semolina varieties: “Appulo”, “Arcangelo” which are produced in the Alta Murgia area, in Puglia.

The durum wheat grains can only be milled at the mills in the Altamura area.

The bread must be produced with mother yeast. The only other ingredients are sea salt and water. Water needs to be verified and certified every year, to make sure it answers specific criteria.

Kneading must last 20 minutes, after which the dough rests for about 2 hours in total.

The dough can only be baked in an oak wood oven at 250°C.

For more information about Puglia cuisine and our cooking classes in Puglia please write at info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: Altamura bread
Category Focaccia & Bread, cuisine

Aperitif time in Puglia: raw sea urchins 2

Posted on June 28, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

One of the things I and Marika love about the summer in Puglia is the chance to enjoy our favorite aperitif, may be on the beach while watching a beautiful sunset!
There are many things that Pugliese people have during the aperitif.
What I and Marika love the most are the sea urchins. Both accompanied by a good glass of Italian Prosecco wine, the Valdobbiadene Doc is one of our favorites.
Aperitif is a very special moment of the day in Puglia. It can take place at around 12…after breakfast, before going to the beach; or at 8pm after a day spent on the beach before getting ready to have dinner. In Puglia we have a sort of Latin culture therefore dinner is never before 10.30pm, even in winter.
Many people say they will never try sea urchins ….never, never in their life! We have seen lots of people who started with just one….and who are now coming back to Puglia just to eat the sea urchins! Of course there are many ways to eat sea urchins: you can have them on top of the linguine, very simply cooked with just some parsley.
However, the most unforgettable way is to have them raw, by the sea while the fisherman opens them for you a few minutes after he cathes them!

Bread is allowed to get all the juice. Fishermen have their special or hidden places where they stop to open sea urchins. Usually you will find them in any village by the sea.

For more info please email at: info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: sea urchins seafood
Category Food markets, cuisine

Best things to do in Italy: living the dolce vita in Lecce 4

Posted on April 18, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

My friends traveling to Puglia to visit Lecce, often ask me what things they should see, which travel guide book they should buy, from where they should start visiting… and so on. My answer is always: non ti preoccupare (don’t worry!). You don’t need any planning….just come here soon (arriva presto)!

Southern Italians, we are famous for not planning enough! We say we enjoy life (non-Southern Italians say…we are lazy!). Of course I support the first interpretation…..

I think it’s great to take it easy when you come to Lecce and Puglia. Where else can you have such a wonderful opportunity to walk around an historical center which is just an outdoor museum?!

The historical center is just amazing with all his baroque style and architecture. You enter into a very narrow street, you think you are about to get lost……and suddenly you have this beautifully decorated Santa Croce Cathedral. You can only stare at it. You try to take pictures, but the street is too narrow, you just can’t take a full size picture!

You walk along the main Vittorio Emanuele street and you are just astonished by all the beautiful palaces with their handcrafted balconies, reproducing angels, lions, horses etc.

At night, you cross the main Sant’Oronzo square and suddenly you find a Roman amphitheatre (a much smaller version of the Colosseum in Rome!) where a dance ballet company is performing.

However, the best thing I usually suggest to my friends, is to mingle with the locals and live like the local Leccese people do……at least for one day! I promise you start with one day and then… you get addicted! (it’s worst than chocolate!). I have some friends who moved to Puglia from the US and the UK and are now so well accustomed to the Leccese way of life……!!

So how do people from Lecce spend their regular day?

The day starts at about 9:00am (in Lecce when we say 9, we actually mean 9:30). Of course we first need to read the news (i.e. weather forecast, horoscope, Lecce soccer team, night events). So we go to the bar in the main Santo Oronzo square for an “Espressino” and “Pasticciotto”: nobody who is a true Leccese would order anything different than this….I think it’s a breakfast written in our DNA. Espressino, which literally means little espresso, is actually a sort of espresso macchiato, served in a small glass coffee cup: 1 shot of coffee, with milk foam and bitter cocoa powder on top. Pasticciotto is a pastry filled with lemon cream that is one of the most typical pastries from Lecce (you don’t find it anywhere else in Puglia!).

Then, it’s time to work!! You ride your bike or vespa to the office, check you emails, Facebook and Twitter and then ….serious and hard work. After about two hours, the clock tower announces it’s already Mezzogiorno (Midday), time for the pre-lunch aperitif!
So you take your vespa or bike again and go to another bar (Raphael bar, near Mazzini Square) where you have an aperitif based on: rustico and crodino. Rustico is a salty pastry filled with mozzarella, béchamel and tomato sauce. You can only eat it in Lecce!
You meet your friends, check what they are doing at night and then back home for lunch with your family.

You may stop for some food shopping first or may be to buy some spring flowers at the beautiful market behind the big Castle.

Lunch time is from 1 to 4-5pm (it depends!), which of course includes the siesta. Yes, it depends because some shops open at 5.30 pm. Going back home for lunch and having a siesta is a religion which is respected more than anything else. If you walk in the streets at that time of the day you don’t find one single person. If you don’t know about the siesta, you may think Lecce is a desert town….but then at 5 (I mean ….at 5.30) life goes back again. People fill the streets, walking in a hurry to go back to work!

Well, in the afternoon a typical Leccese works until 8.30pm (yes, we do work long hours!)….then gym, shower and ready for the Leccese movida: pizza at 10.30pm and then a drink at the piazzetta behind the Duomo Cathedral. The night life goes on until 2am!….
I know life is too hard!

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Tags: lecce things to do
Category Favorites, Puglia, cuisine, things to do in Puglia