24/02/2016
WHY PUGLIA IS OUR FAVOURITE PLACE TO EAT IN ITALY?
Puglia has many excellent cheeses that will often turn up on an antipasti plate.
Burrata is the most famous cheese from Puglia and it’s a foodie highlight. It’s a fresh cheese similar to mozzarella but with a gooey, creamy inside that oozes out when you cut into it. It’s rich and milky and needs nothing but some local bread and perhaps a drizzle of olive oil to accompany it.
It’s taken even further with stracciatella, the shredded buttery inside of the burrata without the ball container.
A rival for burrata for my favourite Puglian cheese is caciocavallo, especially the podolico variety made with flavourful milk from special cows that eat lots of herbs.
Another common fresh cheese is cacioricotta, a mix of ricotta and cheese, and primo sale, which is the first cheese that comes before ricotta.
Pasta in Puglia is made with durum wheat semolina, no eggs, and is usually handmade. The most common type is orecchiette or “little ears” which feature on every restaurant menu.
Another typical Puglian pasta is sagne ‘ncannulate, long twisted strands.
We ate orecchiette pasta with various sauces including tomato but the most typical pairing is with cime di rapa or turnip tops/ broccoli rabe, a leafy green vegetable with a slightly bitter flavour.
You can also find dark orecchiette made with black durum wheat. We ate it with tomato sauce and caciocavallo cheese.
Also look out for frisella Salentina, a crunchy dry bread, a bruschetta base and made into a panzanella type salad with cucumber, tomato and basil.
Another very typical dish is a comforting bowl of fava bean puree paired wonderfully with cicoria or bitter greens. Cicoria is translated as chicory but is actually closer to endive than to chicory.
Wherever you travel you’re guaranteed to eat well.
Come on here, and Buon Appetito!
www.villaboschetto.it
