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Enjoying coffee in Puglia Italy: espresso, espressino and nocciolino coffees 3

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: espresso coffee italian cappuccino italian coffee Italian traditions puglia lifestyle
Category Favorites, Puglia, cuisine, things to do in Puglia, travel tips

Living the Dolce Vita in Lecce…..yes life is too hard! 5

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!

Please contact us at: info@stilemediterraneo.it

Tags: espresso coffee Lecce pasticciotto Puglia rustico Santa Croce church Things to do in Puglia vespa motorbike
Category Favorites, Puglia, cuisine, lifestyle in Lecce, things to do in Puglia, traditions, travel tips