Puglia Extra Virgin Olive Oil | Italy Puglia cooking classes and wine tours

Take a personality test with food! 0

Posted on January 26, 2010 by Stile Mediterraneo

Take the following test and we tell you what personality you have.

The test is free and will take only about 1 minute to complete.

Don’t spend too much time considering your answer, your first impression is what we need. Please be completely honest in your response.

QUESTION:

What is your favorite food at lunch on your work days?

A) a caprese salad with tomato, mozzarella cheese, basil, extra virgin olive oil….accompanied by two slices of bread?

OR:

B) a delicious sandwich, with a super yummy mozzarella…some juicy tomatoes with fresh basil and… that warm bread, crunchy outside and soft inside?

————————————–

RESULTS

If your answer is A):

You are a calm person and enjoy every moment of your life. Work is good…but that’s not the most important thing in your life! You are also very social and you enjoy taking a good break at lunch with colleagues and people you like.

You understand how important it is not just to eat well and healthy…..but also HOW you eat….(see below).

If your answer is B):

You are a very dynamic person and very successful at work. You are a multi-task person. Your typical day looks more or less like this:

-gym very early in the morning

-meetings at work in the morning

-shopping at lunch…while having a quick sandwich panino standing in the coffee bar

-meetings at work in the afternoon

-aperitif and then dinner with friends

————————————-

Many times already, you may have heard that we are WHAT we eat!

Lots of medical reaserch demonstrates that what we eat can have a huge impact on our health in the long run.

I and Marika believe that what we eat is really important….but that’s not enough! Also, HOW we eat can have a huge impact on our health and well being.

There is a BIG difference between a sandwich with tomato, mozzarella and basil; and a caprese salad with tomato, mozzarella, basil and bread…..even though they are made exactly with the same ingredients and quantities.

The difference is that the caprese salad is eaten at the table. May be you are chewing slowly and may be you are relaxing while talking to someone.

The sandwich is very likely eaten in a couple of minutes, standing in a coffee bar.

We strongly believe that the Mediterranean diet is good….but to be more powerful, it needs to be accompanied by a slower lifestyle.

What do you think? we would love to hear about your experience and thoughts.

Contact us for more information at info.stile@gmail.com or subscribe to the Cooking School in Puglia Newsletter.

Therefore we wish you have lots of Caprese slow moments with your friends….may be with a good glass of wine from Puglia!

Tags: bread Italy caprese salad focaccia mediterranean cuisine Mediterranean Healthy food Puglia Extra virgin olive oil tomatoes
Category Cheese & Mozzarella, Focaccia & Bread, Mediterranean Healthy food, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, cuisine

Puglia extra virgin olive oil 0

Posted on July 07, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

Since I became a professional extra virgin olive oil taster I had a chance to taste many olive oils from different producers. I am very pleased to find out that more and more producers are focusing on making very high quality extra virgin olive oils.

Puglia is the biggest producer of olives and olive oil in Italy. Out of the total Italian market, the region produces 37% of the whole olive production and almost 40% of the whole olive oil production (vs Tuscany which makes 2,9% of the whole olive production and about 3,2% of the whole olive oil production).
For years Pugliese olive oil producers have been focusing just on quantity selling their olives to Tuscany or other northern Italian regions.

Local producers are finally realizing that quality is more important than quantity, in a region that has been producing olive oil for centuries and that counts 40 millions olive trees, of which 40% are more than 1000 years old. This millenary history and important culture is testified by the many frantoi ipogei, underground and ancient olive oil presses that you find in Puglia.
The beauty of Pugliese olive oil is the fact that we have so many different varieties: Leccino, Coratina, Frantoio, Ogliarola, Peranzana, Rotondella, Garganica, Gentile…just to name a few.
The two varieties Bella di Cerignola and Termite di Bitetto are used as table olives.
All these olives have different colors and shape and result in olive oils with different flavors and taste.

In Puglia, we use extra virgin olive oil almost for everything, even to make homemade desserts and cakes. Very rarely we use butter at home…may be to make a cake for a guest or for very specific recipes.

What I find fascinating is how different and how better a dish can taste when we pair it with the right extra virgin olive oil (just as when you pair food and wine).
So many times, I go to a restaurant, order the best food and then I cannot enjoy it because the olive oil used is not extra virgin or it is not the right one for that dish. A bad olive oil can ruin your food. The right extra virgin olive oil can enhance the flavors and freshness of the ingredients.
Of course, I and Marika, we belong to the school that says that extra virgin olive oil should be used raw: when you cook it, you destroy all the flavors and healthy benefits.
For more information about our extra olive oil tastings and tours please write at info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: Italy cooking mediterranean cuisine Puglia cuisine Puglia Extra virgin olive oil
Category Mediterranean Healthy food, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, cuisine

How old can these olive trees be? 5

Posted on April 20, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

Yesterday, it was the WWF day in Italy and so also in Puglia all the beautiful WWF natural reserves were specially open to visitors…and children.
Marika was free from her work at the hospital and.…so this was the perfect occasion for a day outdoor, finally taking pictures of the beautiful flowers which have been coloring the countryside for the past months.
After a first stop at our favorite Natale ice cream artisan (of course Marika and I deserved some energy before the hard work!!) we took our bikes and headed to the nearby natural reserve.
It was sooo beautiful and relaxing: we were surrounded by kilometers and kilometers of brightly colored flowers: violet, yellow, white little flowers and purple poppies.
In the background thousands of olive trees that framed our lovely pictures……

We got so excited that bravely decided to take a secondary road …..

……. suddenly the most beautiful olive trees were around us!

Hundreds of years have passed and these olive trees are still here…..!! It’s just amazing how much more beautiful nature becomes with age and time!

200, 500, 800 years ..or may be more…I and Marika couldn’t agree about their age.

Please help! How old do you think they are?

To contact us please write at info.stile@gmail.com

Tags: countryside olive trees Puglia Puglia Extra virgin olive oil Things to do in Puglia WWF
Category Puglia, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, things to do in Puglia

Fava beans and chicory – Healthy and easy recipe! 6

Posted on April 17, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

If you ever get invited by a Pugliese family at their lunch or dinner, you can be sure they will offer you Fava beans with wild chicories and extra virgin olive oil (among the other one thousands dishes!!).

This is something that all families from Puglia eat at least once per week. I and my sister, at least twice per week!

This is a very simple but still super delicious dish.

It is perfect for everybdoy: for vegeterians, for people who work a lot and have no time to shop for food every day, for kids….for everybody!

It is a super healthy dish because this legume has LOTS of proteins.

Fava beans with chicories come from Puglia’s traditional paesant cuisine, based on very little meat (that only rich people could afford) and on what the local farmers produced – lots of vegetables, legumes, durum wheat pasta and bread.

Given the simplicity of this dish (as all food from Puglia), the quality of the ingredients you use is the key! Therefore, you need to serve the fava beans with very good extra virgin olive oil. And if you are having it with bread, you need to use the durum wheat bread!

This is the recipe:
5 servings
- 400 grams dried peeled fava beans,
- salt to taste
- 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 liter water
- 1 kg wild chicories
- 1 garlic clove
- spicy pepper
- durum wheat traditional bread

Soak the fava broad beans overnight (8-12 hours), before cooking. Rinse and place the fava broad beans in a big casserole with fresh water. Place over a slow flame. When the water starts boiling, remove with a spoon the white foam that the fava beans produce. Stir every 10-20 minutes and cook for about 2 hours at very slow flame, while the beans gradually dissolve. Add water from time to time if needed.
While you cook the fava beans, wash the wild chicories. Cook them for about 5-10 minutes in boiling and salted water. When they are “al dente”, drain the chicories.
In a large saucepan, pour some extra virgin olive oil (two tablespoons), add the garlic and spicy pepper and cook for about two minutes. Add the chicories, stir and cover. Cook at low flame for other 5-10 minutes.
When the fava beans are completely dissolved, switch off the flame and add 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil (or more if you like) while stirring with a wooden spoon.
Serve the fava beans with the chicory on the side in the same plate. The chicory and fava beans are meant to be eaten together!
You can also serve them with small pieces of traditional durum wheat bread. You can add other extra virgin olive oil.

Please share with us other healthy and simple recipes you know!

For more information, please contact us at: info@stilemediterraneo.it

Tags: durum wheat bread fava beans legumes mediterranean cuisine peasant cuisine Puglia cuisine Puglia Extra virgin olive oil Recipes vegetables wild chicory
Category Mediterranean Healthy food, Puglia, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, Recipes, Vegetables & Legumes, cuisine

How to cook a perfect “Stile Mediterraneo” meal: tip #2 2

Posted on March 29, 2009 by Stile Mediterraneo

What to cook and what NOT to cook!

The extra virgin olive oil is the key of the Mediterranean cuisine. The extra virgin olive oil (which by definition means it is fruity….otherwise it can’t be “extra” virgin!) adds its fruity taste to your dish, without covering the original taste of the ingredients.: eggplants will still taste like eggplants; fava beans will still taste like fava beans etc.

However, in order to keep the fruity taste of the extra virgin olive oil, it is very important that you add it raw at the end of the dish preparation.

Of course there are a few methods to reduce the amount of dressing while you are cooking (for example, to soften the onion etc), but we will cover then in the next posts.

Please, also consider that recent medical research found out that the extra virgin olive oil, when used raw, has important benefits for your cardiovascular system as well as for cancer prevention.

For more information, please contact us at: info@stilemediterraneo.it

Tags: Italy cooking mediterranean cuisine Mediterranean Healthy food Puglia cooking classes Puglia Extra virgin olive oil
Category Cooking tip, Mediterranean Healthy food, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil

Traditional rituals in Puglia – December 2007 0

Posted on November 30, 2007 by Stile Mediterraneo

The “Panare di Santa Vittoria” festival is a special event held every year in Spongano on the 22nd of December. This tradition is also part of the rituals used by farmers to wish a good harvest.

It is linked to olive growing that here is particularly productive. The oil mills make this special kind of big “panare” (local dialect expression that refers to baskets). The panare are filled with “sansa” (the residual product left over from olive grinding) and then decorated with garlands, flowers, fruit and palm branches.

All the people living in Spongano take part to the procession carrying the panare to a place where they are burned. After this, celebrations in the square begin with fireworks, display, music and dancing.

Tags: olive oil festival Puglia Puglia Extra virgin olive oil Puglia traditions Spongano
Category Puglia, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, things to do in Puglia, traditions

Olive harvest in Puglia, Southern Italy – November and December 2007 0

Posted on November 07, 2007 by Stile Mediterraneo

[View with PicLens]

Attend the olive harvest in Puglia which takes place from November to December every year. Walk through secular olive trees. Visit ancient olive mills. Taste delicious extra virgin olive oil.

Although the extra virgin olive oil produced in Puglia is not very famous yet, its quality is very high. So you might be surprised by just how good it is.

Just in the Lecce area there are more than 10 million olive trees and most of them are centuries old. Other important areas are those around Foggia, Brindisi and Bari. In the area around Ostuni and Fasano or Bisceglie there are many secular olive trees with more than 500 years.

The whole region is one of the most important olive oil production areas in the world and the quality of its golden oil s considered excellent!

It is healthy because the fewest possible plant treatments are carried out. Extra virgin olive oil is very good for your health because full of antioxidant substances and its taste is so light that does not cover tastes. There are many local varieties: from the sweet which tastes fruity to the stronger but more delicate.

While exploring the region, you will see signs of ancient olive mills. Most of these mills are underground ones and their machinery is quite rudimental and primitive. The heavy grinding millstone used to be pulled by animals in the mill. The presses were usually made with a long screw fixed at it base by a pit dug into the stone. When you walk into an old olive mill, you will have the feeling you have traveled back in time. However, these oil mills were used up to fifty years ago.

For more information contact: info@stilemediterraneo.it or visit the website STILE MEDITERRANEO

Tags: olive harvest olive oil tour olive picking Puglia Puglia Extra virgin olive oil
Category Puglia, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, things to do in Puglia

The authentic Mediterranean diet! 2

Posted on September 01, 2007 by Stile Mediterraneo

The Mediterranean diet: from Wikipedia.

The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional model inspired by the traditional dietary patterns of some of the countries of the Mediterranean basin, particularly Greece and Southern Italy.
Common to the diets of these regions are a high consumption of fruit and vegetables, bread, wheat and other cereals, olive oil, fish, and red wine. The diet is often cited as a beneficial one for that it is low in saturated fat and high inmonounsaturated fat and dietary fiber.
Although it was first publicized in 1945 by the American doctor Ancel Keys stationed in Salerno, Italy, the Mediterranean diet failed to gain widespread recognition until the 1990s. It is based on what from the point of view of mainstream nutrition is considered a paradox: that although the people living in Mediterranean countries tend to consume relatively high amounts of fat, they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in other countries, where similar levels of fat consumption are found.
One of the main explanations is thought to be the large amount of olive oil used in the Mediterranean diet. Unlike animal fats, olive oil lowers cholesterol levels in the blood. It is also known to lower blood sugar levels and blood pressure. In addition, the consumption of red wine is considered a possible factor, as it contains flavonoids with powerful antioxidantproperties.
Dietary factors may be only part of the reason for the health benefits enjoyed by these cultures. Genetics, lifestyle, and environment may also be involved.
Concerns remain whether the diet provides adequate amounts of all nutrients, particularly calcium and iron. Nonetheless,green vegetables, a good source of calcium and iron, are used in the Mediterranean diet as well as goat cheese, a good source of calcium.

Mediterranean cuisine is characterized by its flexibility, its range of ingredients and its many regional variations. The terrain has tended to favour the raising of goats and sheep.
Fish dishes are also common and seafood is prominent in many of the standard recipes.
Olive oil adds to the distinctive taste of the food. It is believed that ingredients in this kind of cooking, especially olive oil, are a major contributor to the longevity of the Mediterranean people.

Tags: Mediterranean diet Puglia cuisine Puglia Extra virgin olive oil
Category Mediterranean Healthy food, Puglia, Puglia Extra virgin olive oil, cuisine