Apulia

Apulia is the exaltation of Mediterranean taste; bread, oil and wine are the undisputed protagonists of the table in the most varied declinations. The bread of Altamura, with its inimitable flavour and fragrance, made only with remilled durum wheat and harvested in the area of origin, cannot be missing among the foods to be tasted during a trip to this region. The same can be said of puccia salentina or tarantina, a tasty flour dough with olives that, replacing bread, is ideal with almost any type of condiment and is perfect accompanied by a good glass of Negroamaro or Primitivo di Manduria. On hot summer days between Lecce and Gallipoli, the legendary frise (or friselle, to be served moistened and seasoned with vegetables, capers and onions) are ideal for a fresh and absolutely tasty dinner. Staying still in Lecce and the surrounding area, street food has only one name: 'Rustico', a real street food delicacy, to be eaten hot to enjoy that magic steaming mixture of tomato, mozzarella and béchamel encased in a light puff pastry. Dessert lovers in Apulia will find full satisfaction for their senses. In Lecce, it is impossible not to taste pasticciotto: a sweet made of short pastry, filled with cream and sour cherries (in the traditional version) to be eaten fresh out of the oven. In Bari and Valle d'Itria, on the other hand, you cannot get up from the table without first tasting the 'sporcamussi' ('dirtying the mouth'). These puff pastry cakes filled with custard and covered with icing sugar are so called because eating them in one bite leaves visible traces of their deliciousness. To conclude (although the list could go on), we cannot fail to mention some of Apulia's wines, famous throughout Italy: indigenous grape varieties from Negroamaro, Primitivo, uva di Troia to Bombino bianco and nero and Malvasia, make these wines unique and not to be found elsewhere.