Shall we put together a typical, lavish Puglian meal starting with antipasti, going through the main courses, and finishing with unmissable desserts? Here’s a selection of Puglia’s most important dishes. Try everything, according to your taste. You can’t go wrong.
Start with a delicious antipasto. It’s the perfect way to get your tastebuds going. As the phrase goes, appetite comes with eating…
If you want to throw yourself into making traditional Puglian dishes, you need to have a few basic ingredients. Why not pick some up when you’re next in Puglia so you’ll have the very best to hand!
The pride of all Puglian products! The local olive oil distinguishes itself with its delicious scent of freshly cut grass. What better to drizzle on some Altamura bread or a frisella?
Iodised salt comes from the Margherita di Savoia salt pans, a protected nature reserve in Puglia. The salt – also known as white gold – is carefully harvested and is essential in a Puglian kitchen, but is also used in cosmetics.
Puglia’s climate is ideal for growing aromatic herbs that are typically found in scrub brush. Rosemary, sage, basil, thyme, and marjoram are used to enhance the flavours of local cuisine.
Flour is the heart of Puglian food, which is so full of breads, pastas, and other baked goods. Puglian flour is one of the most prized in the world. It is rich in nutrients, as with other ancient grains and cereals.
Tomatoes from Puglia are one of the most important gastronomic products made in Italy and are grown in the area “Tavoliere delle Puglie”. Together with olive oil, a good tomato is the ingredient that makes even the simplest dish extraordinary.
Mozarella from Puglia is a DOP product, meaning it has a protected denomination of origin. This is mozzarella made with Gioa del Colle cows’ milk. Try it on its own in a sandwich with a drizzle of olive oil and experience simplicity elevated to true gastronomy.
Pasta is the heart of first courses in Puglia and it is an irreplaceable part of Italian gastronomy in general. The possibilities are endless. Here are a few of the best Made in Puglia pastas.
A real dive into the past! These proverbs show of local popular culture. Ancient wisdom is full of treasures, with food at the top of the list.
Bread and tomatoes give life and colour. An old saying from Martina Franca, in the trulli-filled Valle d’Itria.
Onion is the death of octopus. Or, eating octopus with onions is delicious. There’s nothing else to do but try it!
Collect water when it rains. Do things at the right time.
When olive trees blossom in April, barrels of olives will be harvested. In fact, olive oil is like gold in Puglia!
Everything good comes from the land: ancient wisdom is always correct!
Sickness will come to those who forget bread and coats. We can all agree about the coats, but in Puglia bread is so important at the table it is almost a protective food!
You’ll be bowled over by the quality of food in Puglia, but also by the variety. Second courses in Puglia have offerings from the sea and the land, with one ingredient in common: the fantastic flavour of all the recipes.
You’ll never stop talking about food in Puglia! Here are a few more curiosities about the gastronomic culture in Puglia.
This substantial and economic dish is made up of ingredients that are easy to find in Puglia. The most important ingredient is the bread which must have a crunchy crust and a compact crumb so it can last for days. It is combined with tomato, celery, cucumber and onion with olive oil and salt.
A surprising dish that you wouldn’t expect. A purée of the simple legume has a wonderful flavour and is traditionally served with boiled chicory with olive oil and salt. Another version has grapes, fried olives, and fresh onion. It is even more delicious the next day. It might not seem like much, but it really is fantastic!
Wild greens and herbs have always been used in traditional dishes. Now high-quality restaurants are re-discovering these greens and adding them to great effect to typical recipes.
There’s always time something sweet! Not only at the end of a meal, but also as a tasty treat at a bar with a good coffee or a cup of tea, surrounded by friends.