Holidays in Puglia? If you plan on exploring the heel of Italy’s boot, you should prepare yourself for an extraordinary gastronomic experience with a variety of the Mediterranean’s best products concentrated in one region. To make sure you don’t miss anything, here’s a guide to the 10 foods that you must try (and in some cases buy as a souvenir).
Bread
Let’s start with bread, one of Puglia’s culinary battle horses. The pane di Altamura (literally the bread from Altamura) is the most famous, even though the bread from Monte Sant’Angelo and pretty much all the durum wheat loaves prepared in Puglia are not to be frowned upon. Don’t be afraid to buy a lot. In one way or another you’ll consume it all, first because it is so good that you’ll devour it and second because it lasts up to a week and is still great even if it’s a little dry. It’s perfect for bruschetta and at its best when grilled, with a rub of garlic, then tomato, oil, salt and oregano.
Taralli
These small rings of crunchy dough are the perfect snack food. The dough is boiled slightly before going into the oven so they come out glazed. They can also be flavored with fennel seeds or chili pepper. The bigger ones are called scaldatelli. Similarly, frise and friselle are also noteworthy, most common in the Salento area. Here they are eaten a bit like a bruschetta, seasoned with tomato, salt, oil and oregano. In both cases fresh taralli and frise can be found in bakeries (but have a more limited shelf life), or they can be found prepackaged in supermarkets and are a perfect souvenir to take to friends and relatives.
Focaccia
Although good pizza can be found in Puglia, the focus is above all on focaccia. Thick and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The best one is the classic one with cherry tomatoes but obviously there are plenty of variations. Finding a bakery that makes a good focaccia is not difficult. In fact it is probably harder to find a bad one. Also, don’t miss out the pucce if you are in Salento, or the paposce if you are in the Gargano, which are loaves of pizza dough stuffed with all kinds of delicacies.
Caciocavallo cheese
A perfect accompaniment to bruschetta, caciocavallo cheese is famous for its shape, as well as for its mildly salty taste (unless it’s very aged, in which case it takes a well-trained palate to appreciate it). Try it grilled to appreciate its stringiness and rich flavor. In the Gargano make sure you try caciocavallo podolico, which comes from Rignano Garganico. It’s made with the milk of podoliche cows, which are not very generous in production and whose milk has a particularly concentrated flavor perfect for making caciocavallo cheese.
Burrata cheese
Mozzarella, burrata and stracciatella
Outstanding fresh cheeses are also produced in Puglia and they are certainly addictive. The burrata can now be found throughout Italy and has become a sort of must-have for chefs from all over the country. Taste it in Puglia, where it’s freshly made, and you will be blown away. For the record, stracciatella is the filling of the burrata before being enclosed in its case. As far as mozzarella is concerned, try nodini. They have a very particular texture that makes them crunch under your teeth. You can find these excellent dairy products throughout Puglia, but the choicest area is near Andria.
Orecchiette
Orecchiette with broccoli rabe is the most typical first course in Puglia. For those who go to Puglia in the summer, keep in mind that broccoli rabe is completely out of season, but you can buy preserved pesto-like sauces, or you can find some wise cooks who have stocked their freezers during the right season. In the alleys of the old city of Bari there are tireless ladies who prepare orecchiette right then and there. Watch them carefully and treasure their skill. You can also buy them freshly prepared in local pasta stores. Among the Pugliese pastas there are also troccoli, which are a long pasta typical of northern Puglia; cicatelli, which are also called strascinati in some areas, similar to orecchiette, but longer; cavatelli, which are in practice unopened orecchiette; in Salento you can find sagne ’ncannulate whose dough is the same as the orecchiette, though they almost look like a maltagliato.
Panzerotti
Fried and stuffed, panzerotti are delicious. The classic version has tomato and mozzarella in. One valid alternative is with ham and mozzarella. The important thing is that they have to be very hot, just extracted from the frying oil, so that as soon as they are opened the mozzarella will make strings and invariably leak out (make sure you have napkins). They can also be baked, but they lose at least 70% of their charm and flavor that way.
Panzerotti
Pettole
These, too, are fried and meant to be eaten very hot, as soon as they come out of the oil. They are fried dough balls with nothing but a pinch of salt or a spoonful of tomato sauce and some grated cheese. You can sometimes find a sweet version, with a sprinkling of sugar and sometimes with vincotto ( literally cooked wine, it is a sweet reduction of non-fermented grape must).
Pasticciotti
Unfortunately, these are found almost exclusively in the Lecce area. They are shortbread tarts filled with custard and, usually, a black cherry. They resemble the Lisbon pasteis. In Lecce they’ve reworked the recipe, proposing innovative fillings. They are even found in a savory version which is quite good.
Cartellate
This dessert comes from the Gargano tradition, though they can be found in all of Puglia and betray the Arabic influences that arrived on these coasts. It’s a typical Christmas dessert, but you can now get it throughout the year. Its crunchy fried dough in the shape of a rose is seasoned with honey or vincotto, sometimes both. There are those who add sprinkles to make them more fun, or chopped hazelnuts or almonds. They have a pretty long shelf life and are also a good souvenir.
Curious about how this incredible Italian traditional food look like? Browse the photo gallery!