Cheese-lovers are spoiled for choice in Puglia. The region produces lots of fresh and aged cheeses, but a real highlight is burrata from Andria. This soft white cheese consists of bulbs of pasta filata stuffed with shreds of mozzarella soaked in cream. It’s sold in delis and caseifici (dairies) across town, but be warned: it’s almost impossible to eat without spilling at least some of the cream. For more cheesy thrills head to Gioia del Colle for a taste of its gorgeous mozzarella.
Grain has been grown in Puglia since the dawn of time so it’s no surprise that the region produces some of Italy’s finest bread. The best loaves are baked in wood- or straw-burning stoves, such as the one in Orsara di Puglia which has been working continuously since 1526. Other top bread towns include UNESCO-listed Monte Sant’Angelo in the Gargano and Laterza in Taranto’s canyon country. But for the region’s most celebrated bread, head to Altamura in the Alta Murgia. The pane di Altamura, which has carried the DOP protected origin designation since 2003, is produced in the city’s historic bakeries and comes with a thick crust and a dense yellow-hued crumb.
Olive oil is revered in Puglia. The region is Italy’s largest producer and its landscape is clad in more than 60 million olive trees. Five of Puglia’s extra-virgin olive oils carry the prestigious DOP rating. To learn more about this green gold, visit a masseria (farmstead) or frantoio (mill), many of which produce oils as well as serving as community mills for locals to cold-press their own olives. Alternatively, you could book a tour of trappeti (cave presses) in the Salento. For further information, check out the website of the Movimento Turismo dell’Olio Puglia (www.mtopuglia.it) which lists producers across the region.
One of Puglia’s most iconic snacks, panzerotti are fried (or sometimes baked) calzone-like pasties stuffed with mozzarella and tomato and seasoned with black pepper and salty pecorino cheese. They’re best eaten straight from the takeaway, but mind you don’t burn your tongue on the molten filling.
Go underground in the cellars that honeycomb the foundations of San Severo. These labyrinthine grottoes have been utilised by local winemakers for centuries and still today producers use them to store their wares. Chief among these are bottles of the town’s prized spumante, made from the indigenous Bombino Bianco grape, and robust, full-bodied reds made from the Nero di Troia vine.
In the province of Taranto, Manduria is the capital of Puglia’s Primitivo production. Primitivo wines tend to be darkly-coloured, high in tannin and strong in both alcohol and flavour. Most are dry but there is a sweet variant, the Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale, one of only four Pugliese wines to carry the DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) designation. To taste for yourself, and learn about the role wine-making has played in local life over the years, visit the Museo della Civiltà del Vino Primitivo.
Puglia is best known for its strong, dry reds but the region’s wine producers also cater to the sweet-toothed. Alongside the Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale, the Moscato di Trani is a well-known sweet wine. Made from the white Moscato Bianco grape, it comes in two forms: Dolce Naturale, a naturally sweet table wine, and Liquoroso, a fortified liqueur wine. To get the best out of their sweet notes, try them with a plate of almond pastries or dried figs stuffed with almonds.
For a typical Salento pairing, take a dark Negroamaro wine, perhaps a Salice Salentino, and add a bowl of freshly-baked taralli (crispy, ring-shaped snacks made from flour, white wine and extra-virgin olive oil, and seasoned with fennel seeds or chili pepper). Taralli are served in bars and cafes across the region.
One of Puglia’s least known grape varietals is the Susumaniello. This native vine is used to make red and rosé wines, as well as sparkling rosés. It’s often blended with Negroamaro grapes to produce intense, dark wines with aromas of cherry and raspberries. To taste for yourself, book a cellar tour at a Susumaniello vineyard in the province of Brindisi or Lecce.
Bari’s vivacious streets are a paradise for street food fans. Wherever you go you’re always within easy striking distance of a bakers’ shop, a takeaway, or even a street seller, offering tasty local snacks. For a typical local bite order a slice of the city’s celebrated focaccia. This comes with a thick, soft base topped with olives, sweet tomatoes, oregano and extra-virgin olive oil. Then there are sgagliozze, squares of salted fried polenta, and popizze, sweet balls of fried dough, sold in the streets of Bari Vecchia. Not forgetting, of course, the delicious local panzerotti.
To accompany the city’s baroque architecture, Lecce boasts some fine snacks. For something savoury, try a rustico, a pocket of puff pastry wrapped around a rich mix of tomato, mozzarella and béchamel sauce. You could also order a puccia, a flat bread typical of the Salento that makes great sandwiches. For something sweet, you can’t beat a pasticciotto, a case of crumbly shortcrust pastry filled with yellow, yolky pastry cream.
To ward off hunger in the Gargano, the answer is a paposcia. Served in pizzerias in Vieste and across the area, this is a ciabatta-like sandwich made with focaccia-bread which has been baked in a wood-oven. Typical fillers include sweet, plump tomatoes, caciocavallo cheese, and turnip tops, known regionally as cime di rapa, but you’ll find plenty of other options to choose from.
As well as its mythical trulli houses, the Itria Valley is famous for its fornelli (butchers’ shops where meat is sold, grilled, and served straight away). They’re casual affairs but hugely popular with visitors, particularly in Cisternino where they’re a veritable institution. Local specialities to try include gnumareddi (small rolls of lamb entrails) and bombette (balls of capocollo salami, ideally from Martina Franca, stuffed with cheese).
There are more ways to enjoy raw fish than sushi and sashimi. The fishing folk of Bari have long enjoyed their snacks straight from the sea and it’s a quintessential city experience to swallow down some fleshy sea urchins (ricci di mare) at the fish market on the Molo San Nicola. For a more relaxed vibe, head to the Salento where the beautiful cove of Porto Badisco is another top spot to sample delicious sea urchins.
Mussels (cozze) are a staple of menus across Puglia. But the region’s finest come from Taranto where they have been cultivated since time immemorial. They thrive in the waters of the Mar Piccolo thanks to the sea’s temperature and particular salt levels. These are conditioned by the presence of 35 natural submarine springs, known locally as citri, which pump millions of litres of freshwater into the sea every day. The resulting mussels are prized for their delicate flavour and typically served in a tomato sauce with tubettini (mini-tubes of pasta).
Have a break from the usual round of pizza, panzerotti and focaccia and treat yourself to one of Bari’s least-known street foods, a panino with polpo (octopus). There are variations on the theme but the traditional version, known in city dialect as u’ panin cu pulp arsteut, comes with grilled octopus seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and perhaps a splash of freshly-squeezed lemon juice. To wash it down, the usual accompaniment is a jug of local craft ales.
A feature of the Gargano’s seascapes are the traditional fishing platforms that pepper the coastline between Vieste and Peschici. Known as trabucchi, these ancient contraptions are anchored to the rocks and with their complex system of beams, ropes and pulleys were used to haul up catches of mullet, seabream, redfish, and mackerel. Nowadays, they form an atmospheric backdrop for sunset aperitifs and seafood dinners on the Peschici waterfront.
Few drinks are better suited to combatting the heat of a Salento summer than Lecce’s signature iced coffee. A silky combination of coffee, ice, and sweet almond milk, the caffè leccese, or caffè salentino as it’s sometimes called, has earned renown across Italy since it was first mixed around 70 years ago. For the full Lecce experience, pair it with a rich, creamy pasticciotto.
The pasta ladies of Bari Vecchia are as much a part of the local cityscape as the nearby Basilica of San Nicola. Sitting on the skinny lanes of the old town, they expertly hand-roll thousands of orecchiette (ear-like pasta shells) a day. As tradition dictates they use only durum wheat flour and water to make the dough, and nothing more high-tech than a knife to shape the pasta shells.
Stopping off at a bar for a quick coffee is one of the great rituals of Italian life. Normally the coffee would be a short espresso or, in the morning, a cappuccino, but there are regional variations. One such is Polignano a Mare’s caffè speciale (special coffee). First created by a local bar-keeper, this is made by adding lemon zest, sugar, whipped cream and a drop of Amaretto liqueur to a regular espresso. The result is a lovely, creamy caffè with just a hint of the hard stuff. And while you’re in Polignano, make sure to sample some of its fantastic artisanal gelato (ice cream).
As Pugliese as trulli and taralli are the bunches of tomatoes you’ll often see hanging in trattorias and white farmhouses. The art of plaiting these bunches, known locally as ramasole or ‘nzerte, dates from the time when cotton was grown in the region and used to make thread to tie the tomatoes. To see how it’s done, look out for courses and workshops run in masserie and agriturismi. To taste the tomatoes, you can’t top a classic plate of pasta e pomodoro (pasta and tomato), perhaps in Torre Canne, famous for Puglia’s prized regina tomatoes.
There’s no better way of tapping into Puglia’s culinary culture than by getting your hands into a pack of durum wheat flour. This is the prime ingredient of the region’s famous orecchiette pasta, made so skillfully by the old girls of Bari Vecchia. To learn how they do it and to get an insight into the secrets behind the region’s signature pastas, focaccias, and other specialities, don an apron and join a cooking class. Many masserie and agriturismi offer these or you sign up with a local cookery school.
A meal in a Pugliese home is a promise of good things to come. To get the most out of the experience you should prepare yourself for a long, convivial affair. You’ll also need to pace yourself to get through the never-ending stream of dishes: antipasti (starters), primo (a pasta or rice dish), secondo (meat or fish), and dolce (dessert). Coffee and a digestivo (liqueur) round things off. And note, if you’re ever invited to break bread in a Pugliese home, it’s polite to take a tray of sweets from a local pasticceria.
For a memorable Pugliese shopping experience head to a local produce market. These noisy, vibrant affairs are a regular feature of regional life. Their bumper stalls provide a multi-coloured showcase for fruit and vegetables, all local and all strictly in season, as well as cheeses and cured meats. You might also come across counters of glistening, silver-skinned fish and large buckets of mollusks and writhing octopuses.
Work your way through Puglia’s wine list on this head to heel tour of the region. Start with some spumante in San Severo, ideally after visiting the town’s underground cellars. Then head down to Lucera to sample some ruby red Cacc’e Mmitte, produced mainly from the local Nero di Troia vines blended with Montepulciano and Sangiovese. Further south, Trani offers a sweet break in the form of its Moscato dessert wine. Inland, Nero di Troia, Bombino Nero and Aglianico vines thrive alongside white grapes such as Bombino Bianco, Greco, and Malvasia Bianca in the Murge. Three wines produced in this area carry the prestigious DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita) rating: Castel del Monte Bombino Nero, Castel del Monte Nero di Troia and Castel del Monte Rosso Riserva. Enjoy these and views over Castel del Monte in the area’s vineyards. Descending further, make for Manduria in the Province of Taranto. This is the capital of Primitivo, a dark-skinned grape that produces strong, intense wines such as the Primitivo di Manduria and the sweet DOCG-rated Primitivo di Manduria Dolce Naturale. South of here, you can try deep-red Negroamaro wines such as Salice Salentino in the sun-scorched Salento.
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