Food and wine

Join our tour and you’ll have a taste of all the fresh, seasonal and traditional food of Puglia!

Join our tour and you’ll have a taste of all the fresh, seasonal and traditional food of Puglia!

Wine maceration is a fascinating and complex process that plays a fundamental role in the production of quality wines. The choice of technique, duration, and temperature are all key factors that influence the style and characteristics of the final wine.

Maceration is a crucial phase in the winemaking process that consists of prolonged contact between the grape skins and the must, the juice obtained from pressing. This encounter allows the extraction of color, tannins and aromas from the skins, giving the wine its unique and distinctive personality. It is during maceration that alcoholic fermentation is activated, but it is important to specify that these are two distinct but overlapping processes: maceration extracts compounds and aromas present in the skins, while fermentation transforms the sugars present in the must into alcohol.

If we had to answer the question “what is the most obvious effect of maceration on wines?” on the spot, we would say without hesitation “the color!”. Let’s start with a fundamental notion that not everyone knows: the color is in the skins and not in the pulp. The must, or juice, is the result of pressing the grapes and is always light in color. Only contact with the skins during maceration gives the wine its color. This explains why there are white wines obtained from black grapes (for example Pinot Noir) and this explains the difference between red winemaking and white winemaking: in red winemaking maceration occurs, in white winemaking it does not. Rosé wines are generally wines obtained from black grapes that have undergone a short maceration. The traditional maceration method involves fermenting the must with the skins in steel or wooden vats. This technique allows for complete extraction of color, tannins and aromas, ideal for obtaining full-bodied, structured red wines that can evolve significantly over time.

The duration of the maceration is a determining factor for the final characteristics of the wine. In general, for red wines, maceration lasts from a few days to 10-12 days, depending on the type of wine and the desired result. For some particularly tannic wines such as Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo or Amarone, it can even exceed 20 days up to more than a month of contact between must and skins. For white wines, in particular cases, maceration can last a few hours, with the exception of Orange Wines which can macerate for several days. Finally, from a few hours to a day for rosé wines.

Visit Puglia with us and we’ll let you taste the high quality wines of our region.

The bouquet for gourmands is the one composed of the most famous edible flowers in the kitchen: courgette flowers. A very appreciated and decidedly beautiful ingredient, donated by the earth, or rather by pumpkins and courgettes. They can never be missing from the spring table: fried in batter, stuffed in the oven, on pizza or with pasta, they are a temptation for the palate, and a pleasure for the eyes.

From the trusted greengrocer or at the supermarket, courgette flowers are purchased only if freshly picked: the petals must not be withered, have dark spots or wrinkles. Like any self-respecting cut flower (even if it is probably even more delicate), courgette flowers are easily perishable and can be kept for a short time. You behave just like with the bouquet of roses: after having purchased them, you put them in a vase with the stem in water. They must be cooked on the same day, or at most within two days, the time limit for them to keep the petals firm. You could also freeze them, but once thawed they would be soft due to the frost, so it is not recommended.

It takes a lot of delicacy to clean them. Cut the stem, open the corolla, and with your hands or a small knife remove the internal pistil (it is edible, but has a particularly bitter taste, so it is better to remove it). Quickly pass them under cold water and then lay them out to dry on a dishcloth. Then you move on to using them for various recipes.
Battered and fried, Roman style, they are mouth-watering. The most famous recipe, which has courgette flowers as the main ingredient, is undoubtedly that of fried courgette flowers stuffed with mozzarella and anchovies with a crunchy batter. Those who do not prepare the batter can always do a triple pass in egg and flour: pass the flowers first in the flour, then in the beaten egg and then in the flour again, so they will be really super crispy. There is more than just finger food par excellence: courgette flowers can be eaten raw – in a salad or with a fish or meat carpaccio – or cooked, baked stuffed with cheese, vegetables, meat or tuna, or used in an omelette, to season pasta or in risotto. Another traditional dish? It comes from Naples: they are called sciurilli, and are zeppole with courgette flower dough (a cherry effect is guaranteed!)
Our spring flowers go well with everything in the kitchen: with eggs, in an omelette or in flans; with fish, not only anchovies in the filling of fried flowers, but also shrimp, grouper, sea bass, sole. They add a touch of color and a refined flavor to pasta. Any ideas? Try pasta with courgette flowers and bacon; or macaroni with bottarga and courgette flowers. They are a perfect (and colorful) ingredient for savory pies and mini cocotte, but also for the revisitation of a cornerstone of Italian cuisine: instead of aubergines comes the spring bouquet with courgette flower parmigiana. A delicate and perfect first course for a family lunch that will conquer everyone’s palate? Crepes with asparagus and courgette flowers or fried, baked, stuffed, in batter, as a condiment for spaghetti, macaroni or pizza. You can have fun with courgette flowers: here are 20 simple and tasty recipes to bring them to the table.

Join our tour and you’ll have a taste of all the fresh, seasonal and traditional food of Puglia!

Bread is an important element in a diet that includes all the nutritional principles and then it is delicious, especially when it is fresh and just baked. Apulian bread brings with it all the goodness of simple and genuine flavors that have made our Italian cuisine famous throughout the world. A few ingredients expertly mixed in a succession of ancient gestures that guard all the secrets of this timeless preparation.

In Puglia, Altamura bread is an unmissable product on the table. Crunchy, and at the same time soft. Crispy crust with an unmistakable hazelnut color and impeccable alveolation that makes the inside soft; a perfect contrast that determines its particularity.

Originally it was kneaded by women in their homes, and taken to bake in public ovens. A real choral ritual was created, in which public and private life intersected at the scent of bread. To prevent the loaves from getting mixed up, the baker would mark them with the initials of the owner or head of the family, printed on an iron stamp. Only then would he put them in the oven. A main characteristic of bread, still appreciated today, was its durability, essential to ensure the sustenance of farmers and shepherds during the weeks they spent away from home, working in the fields or in the pastures, on the Murgia hills. Even today, bakers follow the ancient recipe handed down from generation to generation by farmers and shepherds, since the Middle Ages. At the beginning of the 17th century, there were 26 fully operational ovens.

The first reference to the place of origin of the product can be found in book I, V of the “Satires” by the Latin poet Horace, who in the spring of 37 BC, while revisiting the landscape of his childhood, noted the existence of the “best bread in the world“, so much so that the diligent traveler takes a supply with him for the rest of his journey”. Another document dates back to 1420, which states the penalty for those who did not pay the bread tax for the clergy of Altamura. The traditional baking activity of Altamura is confirmed in “Gli Statuti Municipali della Città” written in 1527, whose articles relating to the oven tax were transcribed, edited by G. De Gemmis, in the Bollettino dell’Archivio-Biblioteca-Museo Civico, in the year 1954 (pages 5-49).
Today the quality of Altamura D.O.P. Bread is guaranteed by the Consortium for the Protection, invested with the functions of control, promotion and valorization of the DOP, as well as surveillance against any form of counterfeiting. By monitoring all the production phases, starting from the origin of the raw material, the Consortium guarantees the consumer the traceability of the product. It brings together farmers, millers and bakers.

The ingredients have remained unchanged over the centuries – durum wheat flour, sourdough, salt and water – as has the manufacturing process, divided into five phases: kneading, shaping, leavening, modelling, baking in a wood-fired oven. Altamura bread is perfect enjoyed on its own, with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil or with red cherry tomatoes and oregano. It is also perfect to accompany soups or fresh dairy products such as mozzarella.

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Spaghetti all’Assassina is the new hit of Bari cuisine. If before it was impossible to visit the Apulian capital without a taste of raw fish, today you cannot say you have been to Bari without having eaten this dish at least once. Born at the end of the 1960s, they immediately achieved great success, spreading throughout the city, but already in the 1980s they began to disappear.
Spaghetti all’Assassina have then gained almost international fame since 2013 thanks to the Rai fiction The investigations of Lolita Lobosco and the episode dedicated to Puglia of the Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy program by CNN.

The dish was born in 1967 in the kitchens of the Al Sorso Lavorato restaurant. According to an initial reconstruction, the owners of the restaurant found the recipe by acquiring the rooms adjacent to the first nucleus of the restaurant, a former rotisserie. On the wall of that kitchen they would have found a sheet of paper with this bizarre preparation. Remade by chef Sorso, the result was a dish so good that it was put on the menu. Due to the spiciness, the first customers called the chef “assassin“, a word from which the name of the dish later came.

Here are the ingredients and procedure to replicate at home, which includes, for 4 people, 320 g of vermicelli or spaghetti, 400 g of tomato puree, tomato paste, oil, garlic, sugar and chili pepper to taste. The original recipe recommends using pasta with little starch and avoiding bronze-drawn pasta. It starts with dry spaghetti, rehydrated through the risotto technique. However, to shorten the cooking time, there are also those who blanch the pasta. But tradition does not like shortcuts.
Bring a broth made with water, 300 grams of puree and plenty of tomato paste and salt to the boil. The sauce must have a bright red color and be tasty, while maintaining the consistency of a broth. Put 100 ml of oil, three cloves of garlic with the core removed and chili pepper to taste in the pan. The garlic is browned over a high flame, then a glass or less of tomato puree is poured (100 g). To correct the acidity of the tomato, a teaspoon of sugar is allowed. The tomato sauce is then distributed with a wooden spoon over the entire pan to reduce it. At this point the raw spaghetti is added, distributing it so that the pasta is in contact with the sauce. There is no need to rush to turn it: this is where the delicious crust is created. The spaghetti will begin to caramelize, but without carbonizing. At a certain point they will begin to stick to the bottom of the pan: this is the moment to start turning them, bringing up the ones that are already browned. Next, pour two medium-sized ladles of tomato “broth” into the pan. The liquid will sizzle and begin to boil, you need to let it consume, without turning the spaghetti. The cooking time will be indicated by the sound. In fact, when you hear the spaghetti sizzling, you need to cook for about ten seconds, allowing the “burning” process to continue.

Only at this point should the most burnt spaghetti be brought up, adding more tomato liquid. Each addition must correspond to the time necessary to make the preparation sizzle and then repeat by wetting the pasta with the sauce. From rigid, the spaghetti will begin to bend, in total it will take about 9 minutes. From the procedure you can understand why another of the stories surrounding the name Assassina comes from its cooking method. In fact, just like a killer, the cook “must make the pasta suffer” in its broth. The final result is a first course of calloused spaghetti with a crunchy part, given by the burnt pasta. The balance between the parts is a choice of the chef. When the Assassina is ready, it is brought to the table directly in the pan.

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Strawberries in February and fennel in June? Nowadays, we can find almost any type of fruit and vegetables in supermarkets all year round. But even fruit and vegetables have their own calendar, that is, the natural period in which they grow, ripen and are picked and harvested.

Eating seasonal vegetables means eating healthily and being environmentally friendly: following seasonality is a sustainable gesture because the goods have not travelled thousands of kilometres, reducing CO2 emissions.

Seasonal vegetables provide the right amount of vitamins and mineral salts useful for the body, as the principles of the Mediterranean Diet remind us. In terms of seasonal vegetables, each period of the year means a different gastronomic journey for all 12 months of the year.

Courgettes and tomatoes in the summer, asparagus and peas in the spring, pumpkin and broccoli in the fall, turnip tops and cabbage in the winter. Nature responds abundantly to our nutritional needs: in the summer with juicy vegetables such as cucumbers, perfect for replenishing mineral salts; fennel in winter, which purifies the body and is rich in vitamins and water. Each season is different and is full of local specialties, therefore sustainable foods for the environment and also in economic terms. Local vegetables cost less, are tastier, healthier and, especially in Italy, are very easy to find.

In winter, green predominates, which is synonymous with vitamin C, essential for dealing with seasonal ailments. Very rich in vitamin E, beta-carotene, folic acid, iron, potassium, magnesium and calcium, seasonal winter vegetables are rich in all the nutrients that are essential for the health of our body and also of the mind.

In spring, the colors on the market stalls change. Alongside the late winter vegetables, many other delicious ones arrive, which are a mix of beneficial properties served on the plate. As if it knew, nature in this case responds with many purifying vegetables, which serve to eliminate all the toxins accumulated in the body during the winter, when we tend to eat more to fight the cold.

In summer, it is necessary to replenish the mineral salts eliminated through sweating through our diet. And what does nature do? It responds with vegetables rich in water like in no other season of the year. A true riot of colors, ranging from the red and yellow of tomatoes, through the green of courgettes and the purple of aubergines to end with the orange of carrots and the white of garlic and leeks. A mix of mineral salts and vitamins useful for dealing with the torrid summer days, with simple recipes such as the fragrant bread and tomato.

You say autumn vegetables and you immediately think of pumpkin, the symbol of the season. But there are many other good autumn vegetables. Going to the farmer who still grows as they once did can be a great way to delve into the topic. Furthermore, until the end of September, the pepper and aubergine plants that bear fruit remind us that summer is not too far away.

Join our tours to taste local and seasonal food of Puglia.

Caciocavallo di grotta is a stretched curd cheese among the oldest and most typical of Southern Italy, known since the times of Magna Graecia. It’s a stretched curd cheese matured for a long period in caves, as tradition dictates, where it remains naturally covered with noble molds throughout its maturation, giving it an intense, balanced and structured aromatic profile.

It has a spheroidal appearance, yellow in color, with a hard and thin crust. Inside the paste is straw-colored, semi-hard and homogeneous to the touch, with fine and sparse “eyes”. The most common size is about 2 kg but a form can weigh up to 10 kg. In the mouth it is savory and slightly spicy at the same time, with hints of cooked butter and with good persistence.

To produce the caciocavallo aged in the cave, they start with whole cow’s milk which, at a temperature of 36-38°, is inoculated with whey starter and then with rennet.
They then proceed to spinning, the most delicate moment of production. Spinning is done by stretching the dough in a manual artisanal process that is characteristic and includes the formation of the head of the caciocavallo, which is generally also a way in which each cheesemaker signs his creation. Finally, salting is carried out in a brine solution in which the forms float for a few days depending on their size.

After an initial drying of about 20 days, which can take place in traditional cool rooms, the forms are hung in pairs astride beams in the traditional tuff caves. Here they are aged for at least 45-60 days. Humidity varies between 80 and 90% while the almost constant temperature between the winter and summer periods, varies between 10 and 15 °C. If not aged for long, the caciocavallo aged in a cave has a delicate milky scent; as the maturation continues, the smell of grass and hay becomes more pronounced. When tasted, especially as the maturation continues, all the organoleptic characteristics come out: hints of cut grass, bitter flowers, vanilla and spices and sometimes slightly spicy.

Try it first of all on its own or with bread and vegetables, to best enjoy all the nuances of its aroma. It is also excellent for seasoning pasta, for flavouring the filling of savory pies but also to melt together with the hamburger in tasty sandwiches.

Take our week tour to visit a local cheese producer and taste the famous Caciocavallo.

Most everyone would say the best part of their trip to Italy was the food! Well, why not take a cooking class then and see whether that’s true? A cooking class in Italy is an amazing way to experience a huge part of Italian culture.

Food is such an important part of the local culture and so if you haven’t tried Italian cuisine, then you really haven’t experienced the country in all its glory. In other words travel around the area and learn a lot of the culture that is connected to the specific dishes that are being taught during the class. So make it a wonderful vacationing adventure, learning together and eating your way through Italy.

Traveling on over to this beautiful corner of Southern Italy, you’ll see a land flowing with delicious food and fresh wine. A perfect location then to learn the delicious art of making fresh pasta from scratch. Besides while you’re here, you might check out some boutique wineries producing Primitivo or Negroamaro.

After classes, don’t forget to spend time exploring the areas and finding different restaurants. Opening your pallet and trying new foods can only help make you a better cook. So try to taste each of the different flavors and bring something extra to your cooking experiences!

In a 4 day tour or week tour of Puglia, we offer a lovely cooking class. It’s set in a local farmhouse and the produce we use, comes from the vegetable garden at the “masseria“. Thanks to the fantastic local ingredients, you can rest assured the meals you’ll be making will not only be fresh but healthy, too.

After the preparation of the food, the group sit together on a terrace surrounded by the beautiful countryside, and just like a big Italian family, we take time to enjoy the meal. Anyway, it’s the passion of our cook that makes this class so unforgettable. When you get home, you’ll no doubt be keen to invite friends and family over for dinner, just to impress them with something from your new recepies.

Let’s plan therefore the perfect vacation in Italy cooking and wine tasting and truly treasure the memories that you’ll take home and keep forever.

The Apulian vineyard area is 87,000 hectares in total and guarantees a production of 4,900,000 hectoliters per year. Apulian red and rosé wines cover the majority of production (65%), while white wines only account for 35%.

One of the strong points of Puglia wines is the climate. In this region the sun shines and is present not only in the summer period but throughout the year. This means that the soil, as well as the fruit trees, can benefit from it, giving rise to juicy and very tasty products. The white and red grapes of Puglia, in fact, are known for being intense in color and very persistent in the mouth. Hence until the early 1990s, they primarily use them as a base for other less full-bodied national wines that needed greater intensity.

The native varieties still present in Puglia today such as Nero di Troia ( or Troy the mythological city ) and Negroamaro, trace the presence of the vine in Puglia already during the Greek colonization, in the 8th century BC. It was the Greeks themselves who also imported the cultivation method defined as “alberello” ( bush vine ), which is still widespread today throughout the regional territory. The real value of Apulian wine was highlighted around 1990, when the producers of Apulian wines realized the potential of their wines.

Among the most appreciated Apulian wines there is certainly Primitivo. With an orange-purple color, it is persistent on the palate and very consistent. Negroamaro, a more typical grape of Southern Puglia, is intense color, with violet reflections. It recalls aromas of ripe fruit such as plum, black cherry and cherry. Not to forget the characteristic Aleatico, a DOC red wine, more velvety than the previous two wines but much appreciated.

Join our tour and you’ll have a taste of delicious local wines and you’ll visit family-run wineries and more.