APULIAN COOKING: The 5 dishes you can’t miss!
When we talk about trips through Apulia, we can’t but talk of its cooking, too. And this is what I’m doing today, illustrating a short history of Apulian cooking and its tradition and proposing you the five dishes which, according to me, you can’t miss during your holidays in Apulia.
What is today recognized as traditional cooking is only the eating way Apulian people have been using also under the influence of the several peoples who followed one another on the territory. From the Greeks to the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs and the Spaniards, cooking has always utilized the plentiful offer this land is still giving.
Soil, sea and a particularly favourable climate give abundant, tasty fruits. Puglia as land of farmers, but of breeders and fishers, too, rich in wholesome products which, often elaborated with apparently different ingredients, were and are still today at the basis of the preparation of most of the traditional dishes.
After these preliminary remarks, let us examine which are the dishes of my special list. Obviously, being a good Apulian, the list could be much longer, most of all if I should add the typical products of our region, such as dairy products, bread, “focaccia” (sort of seasoned bread), “friselle” (another type of stale bread) and so on. But here I’ll list dishes prepared mixing various ingredients, reminding you that the difference is always made by the quality of the primary products our magnificent territory gives us.
ORECCHIETTE e CIME DI RAPA (TURNIP GREENS) – The first choice is unavoidable, because this is our symbol dish in Italy and all over the world. “Orecchiette”, strictly hand-made, are pasta made with hard wheat bran and water and have the shape of small ears. They are boiled in abundant salted water together with turnip greens and then, after straining them, they are seasoned with garlic and salted anchovies lightly fried in extra vergine olive oil. As turnip greens are seasonal vegetables, don’t despair if it’s not the right season: you can eat “orecchiette” with a simple fresh tomato sauce, basil, and “cacioricotta” (typical cheese of Puglia, made of milk of sheep).
RISO, PATATE E COZZE (Rice, potatoes and mussels) – This dish – typical of the territories of Bari and Taranto – is a real deliciousness. The simple base-ingredients with the addition of onion, pecorino cheese, parsley and extra vergine olive oil, though so seemingly different the one from the other, enhance thanks to the baking of the raw ingredients which mix perfectly with a fragrance and a taste you can experience only in Puglia!
FAVE E CICORIA (Fava beans and chicory) – This dish, fruit of rural tradition, is the best expression of Apulian plain cooking, which can be found almost all over the region. It arrives on the table with the bitterish taste of wild chicory ,which are simply boiled, and mashed dry broad beans. The acute taste of the local extra vergine olive oil enhances the fragrance of the dish mixing the ingredients.
BOMBETTE E GNUMMAREDDE - Now we’ll talk about meat. Let’s go to Valle d’Itria where, after visiting very nice towns such as Martina Franca, Locorotondo, Cisternino, it is unavoidable to stop at a so-called “fornello pronto” for a dinner rich in tastes. Therefore, sit down at one of the tables scattered along the alleys and then go towards the butcher’s counter; there, among many types of meat, specifying the quantity, taste “bombette” and “gnummaredde”. The former are, in the simplest form, roulades of pork, inside seasoned with salt, pepper and pecorino cheese ( but you can find also more tastes!); the latter are roulades made of lamb giblets and seasoned with salt and pepper. Wait for them to be barbecued and then enjoy their taste together with some good local red wine!
IMPEPATA DI COZZE NERE TARANTINE – Here is the last - but not for its tastiness – dish of my list, which is irresistible if prepared with Taranto black mussels, famous since the ancient times for their being particularly tasty, full and fragrant. All this thanks to the presence of fresh water springs in the sea which are favourable for a low saltiness ideal for the growth of mussels. It is sufficient to put well clean mussels, garlic, oil, chilli and parsley in a saucepan and to cook them on a high flame up to their opening: at table you will be wrapped and enraptured by their scent!
Then, you can’t but plan your next holidays in Puglia, letting you be enchanted not only by the beauty of the places or by the sympathy of local people, but also by the scent of our food!
Which of them would you choose??
Author: Paolo Casavola
