In addition to beaches and trulli, Puglia, on the coast or inland, is full of flavors.
Puglia is one of the richest Italian regions in terms of gastronomy, one of the strengths of the tourist economy of the region. We are talking about one of the regions preferred by travel agencies and tourists looking for gastronomic tourism, masserie, agritourism and wineries. If you have chosen the heels of your boots for your next trip, find out what to eat in Puglia (Apulia, in Portuguese). From the coast to the hinterland, Pugliese cuisine offers many options for lovers of good food. For example, orecchiette with vegetables, pasta with mussels and bombette di carne. Depending on the place, the typical dishes and products change their name or recipe, but they do not lose their flavor. Bon appetit!
What to eat in Puglia? Pasta
cavatelli e orecchiette are the most representative pasta of the region. The orecchiette, like little ears, are a typical Bari pastry served mainly with turnips or with meat ragu. While cavatelli (or capunti), made with durum wheat grains, are prepared with broccoli or mushrooms. However, in Lecce, ciceri and tria It is a dish made with wheat semolina pasta, one part fried (tria, of Arab origin) and another part cooked with chickpeas.
What to eat in Puglia? Meat
Meats are served in various forms, for example, sausages(sausages) pork and veal. The bombines, typical of Cisternino and Valle d'Itria, are meat rolls stuffed with cheese, ham and bacon and cooked over charcoal. The gnúmero, rolls of tripe with parsley, are also made over the coals. O capocollo of Martina Franca (TA) is a cut of pork loin, considered one of the best in Italy. Fit, musky It is dried meat of sheep and goat cooked on the coals or served raw. Sunday is the day of brother through Puglia. Meat rolls stuffed with bacon, parsley, garlic and parmesan cheese cooked in tomato sauce.
What to eat in Puglia? cheeses
O cacioricota is a mixture of cheese and ricotta from fresh sheep's and goat's milk produced in Salento. For example, in Foggia and Bari the canestrato of Puglia, a typical pressed cheese made from sheep's milk. Or ball of gravina (in Puglia) is a semi-hard cow's milk cheese, consumed as an appetizer, like Provolone, scamorza e cheese. however, the strong ricotta is a cheese of intense flavor and smell. It is often used in sauces. try the stracciatella, a cheese made from cow's milk or buffalo, typical of the province of Foggia, made with strips of mozzarella and cream. however, the burrata, produced especially in Andria, is the next step, a bag of pasta stuffed with stracciatella.
What to eat in Puglia? Vegetables
Chicory and favorites It is a rustic and typical dish of the peasant cuisine. It mixes the sweet taste of fresh green bean puree with the bitterness of chicory. Eggplant Parmesan is a traditional dish that uses one of the most used vegetables in Pugliese cuisine: the eggplant. After frying, the eggplant is gratinized with tomato sauce and cheese in layers. while the lamparas are related to asparagus. They are prepared in frying pan, in tortilla or marinated in vinegar. Canned vegetables(in oil) with extra virgin olive oil are part of the region's tradition and are served as side dishes, sauces or with bread. Puglia is the Italian region with the largest number of olive trees, beyond PDO (protected designation of origin) oils from the areas of Daunia, Terra di Bari, Brindisi and Salento.
What to eat in Apulia: breads
Currently, Apulia is the largest producer of durum wheat in Italy, mainly in the provinces of Foggia, Bari and BAT. One of the attractions of the region, the cake is made with flour, water, salt and yeast. For example, it can be tall, thin, soft, crispy, with sauce or bits of tomato, olives, potatoes, or simply salt and rosemary. Or panzerotto It is a type of stuffed dough made with pizza dough. In my opinion, better fried than baked.
O pan d'Altamura is a DOP (protected designation of origin) product and has a very crispy crust and a soft, yellowish crumb. pan salentino, the puccia, sometimes comes with pieces of tomato, onion and olives.
As friselle are a kind of flour sponge cake that, after soaking in water, are seasoned with tomato, garlic, oil and salt, like bruschetta. Likewise, taralli are rings made of flour, water and oil baked in the oven, impossible to eat just one!
As sgagliozze are the polenta of Foggia and Bari made with corn flour and fried in olive oil. However, if yesterday's bread is left over, it is salted water. Stale bread soaked in water, onion, salt, tomato and oregano. A typical summer dish.
What to eat in Puglia? Fruits of the sea
The Pugliese coast is more than 800 km long, so fish, octopus, mussels have a guaranteed place on the county's menu, for example, blue fish, shellfish and, mainly, mussels. Typical of the Tarantino summer, the mussels with pepper, are mussels cooked with tomato, garlic, bell pepper and parsley. While the naked tiella or"rice potatoes and mussels" is a clay bowl with rice, potatoes and boiled mussels. While the marinated Octopus is a very common antipasto, but it is also served grilled over coals and as a filling for sandwiches.
Although fish and seafood soup, also called Ciambotto, is very common on the coasts of the region, Quatara is typical of Salento.
All along the coast, in Bari in particular, it is very common to find raw seafood on restaurant menus, for example mussels, oysters, shrimps, octopus and sea urchins.
Sweets
Finally, sweets. You empanadas are the typical Salento dumplings filled, for example, with cream, chocolate or jam and covered with egg yolk. Christmas is the time of cartelar, a crunchy dough flavored with honey or cooked wine.
Besides the beaches and the weather, Puglia is all about eating well. Finally, traveling in Puglia is also traveling through the flavors and aromas linked to the traditions of the region.
