What to eat Apulia? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Durum wheat, which requires little water and is resistant to heat, has acclimatized perfectly in the region and Puglia is often referred to as the granary of southern Italy. A wide variety of pasta is produced here: orechiette (ear-shaped), strascinate (large orechiette), capunti (elongatedorechiette ), cavatelli (a kind of elongated durum wheat gnocchi ) and troccoli (similar to spaghetti alla chitarra

, but square rather than round).

Bread is an important component of the meal and is essential in this rural area. The best known is the pane di Altamura, from the province of Bari in Puglia. This dense durum wheat bread has had a PDO since 2003. Still in Puglia, you will find the famous taralli

, small biscuits for aperitif, with olive oil and fennel seeds, while in Calabria the pitta is a flat bread in ring often filled with tomato, cheese, olives or anchovies.

Vegetables are also very popular: tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, zucchini, field chicory, artichokes, cardoon, fennel, kohlrabi (cime di rapa), etc. Other vegetables such as lampascioni are almost impossible to find in France. These small wild onions (muscaris bulbs) are bitter and are prepared like olives. The locals have a passion for chilli peppers and so we find the peperone crusco (sweet) in Basilicate or the peperoncino calabrese

, which is hotter. Puglia and Calabria are respectively the^1st and^2nd largest producers of olive oil in the country, and Puglia produces almost half of the olive oil in Italy, including many PDOs such as Olio extravergine di oliva Collina di Brindisi, Dauno, Terra D'Otranto or Alto Crotonese. Citrus fruits are also cultivated in abundance and in addition to lemons, mandarins and other blood oranges, bergamots are of course a highlight. Calabria controls no less than 95% of the world's production of this cross between a bitter orange and a lime, whose incredibly fragrant peel is used in countless perfumes, liqueurs and desserts, not to mention the famous Earl Grey tea.

If there was only one cheese in the region, it would be the burrata. This delicious cheese from Puglia was created in the 1930s in a cheese factory in the town of Andria. The recipe was created to preserve the unsold cream and mozzarella of the day, which was stuffed into a mozzarella pocket before being tied with a raffia band. Burrata di Andria has been protected by a PGI since 2015. Stracciatella di bufala is a melt-in-the-mouth preparation of string cheese and cream similar to the filling of burrata. Scamorza, similar to mozzarella, is often smoked (affumicata). It is common throughout southern Italy, as is caciocavallo, a pear-shaped string cheese with a PDO. Ricotta is widely available and highly prized in all three regions. On the other hand, there are mature cheeses such as several types of pecorino, such as pecorino di Filiano PDO in Basilicata or pecorino del Monte Poro PDO or pecorino Crotonese PDO in Calabria. The canestrato pugliese is a sheep's milk tomme, while the caprino della Limina - from Calabria - is made from goat's milk.

As far as cold cuts are concerned, let's mention the zampina di Sammichele (Puglia), a sausage to be cooked with sheep meat, flavoured with tomato, pecorino and basil. There is also soppressata, a finely spiced pork or beef sausage common throughout the region. Soppressata di Calabria has a PDO. Salsiccia calabrese has a similar seasoning but is presented as a sausage to be cooked. Lucanica di Picerno PGI, produced in Basilicata, is a U-shaped dry sausage made from pork seasoned with sweet chilli and fennel seeds.

A rather unusual product, 'nduja is a very spicy pork sausage with a fine, very soft texture. Thanks to its almost creamy consistency, it is used to spread on bread, to top pizzas or to season pasta. Capocollo di calabria PDO is a dried pork loin similar to coppa. Finally, prosciutto di Faeto is also produced in the province of Foggia in northern Puglia.

In this rather rural part of Italy, pasta is often seasoned with breadcrumbs fried in olive oil. This is the case with spaghetti con la mollica alla calabrese (garlic, chilli, crushed anchovies, breadcrumbs), pasta con i peperoni cruschi (orechiette with fried chilli and breadcrumbs) or tumacë me tulë (tagliatelle with tomato, garlic, parsley, anchovies, breadcrumbs and chopped walnuts) in Basilicata. In Puglia they prepare the very simple ciceri e tria

, pasta with chickpeas.

More elaborate sauces include ragù alla pugliese, which can be made with various meats: pork, veal, chicken, rabbit, lamb or even game, sometimes with pancetta and pork sausage, all seasoned with tomato, onion and garlic. Very similar is the ragù potentino or 'ndruppeche, from Basilicata, with diced salami pezzente

, flavoured with chilli and fennel.

On the vegetable side, the poor man's dish par excellence is fave e cicorie (mashed beans with chicory shoots sautéed in olive oil). There are also peperoni arrostiti alla calabrese (grilled peppers in a salad) and peperoni ripieni alla calabrese (peppers stuffed with meat and baked). Parmigiana di melanzane calabrese is an aubergine gratin filled with mozzarella, tomato sauce and diced ham or sausage meat, while melanzane ripiene are slices of aubergine stuffed with goat's cheese, breaded and fried. Pitta di patate

is a gratin of mashed potatoes with a layer of tomato sauce with black olives.

For a quick bite to eat, try panzerotti, fried pizza dough turnovers filled with tomato, cheese, meat, etc. In Puglia, you can also find rustico, a puff pastry turnover, usually filled with tomato and mozzarella. The focaccia barese, from Bari, is a soft bread decorated with tomatoes and olives. The more hearty murseddu, from Calabria, is a heavy pie of meat and 'nduja, while the u' pastizz 'rtunnar

is a turnover containing pork, goat cheese and egg, from Basilicata.

Here meat (pork, beef, lamb, rabbit, etc.) is less common than in the north of the country, but you can enjoy, for example, bombette pugliesi (small slices of veal stuffed with pancetta and caciocavallo), braciole alla barese (beef rolls with parmesan cheese in tomato sauce) or polpette alla mammolese (meatballs with goat's tomato sauce). Lamb is also popular, such asagnello alla lucana, roasted with vegetables. Offal is common and the more adventurous will try morzeddhu

, a mixture of offal simmered with tomato and spices, served in bread. On the sea side, let's mention the scapece gallipolina (fried anchovies marinated in saffron vinegar breadcrumbs), delicious as an antipasti, or the zuppa di pesce alla Gallipolina, a fish and seafood soup with tomato. Other dishes from Puglia include cozze alla tarantina , which is mussels in tomato sauce, and tiella barese, a gratin of rice, potatoes and mussels. Stocco alla mammolese is a cod, potato, tomato and olive stew from Calabria, while baccalà alla lucana is a speciality of cod confit with chilli, tomato and olives from Basilicata. And let's not forget the swordfish which is caught in abundance in the Strait of Messina, between Calabria and Sicily.

While the classics of Italian pastry are found in this region, the local dolci are quite simple, mainly in the form of biscuits or doughnuts, often associated with religious festivals.

In Calabria, ginetti calabresi, lemon-aniseed shortbread rings, are eaten at Easter, while pitta 'mpigliata (a crispy rolled biscuit with almonds, raisins, honey and spices) is eaten at Christmas. Petrali, filled with dried fig purée, almonds, spices, walnuts and orange peel, are also popular. Ice cream or gelati is one of Italy's favourite desserts and Calabria is no exception. A tartufo (truffle) di Pizzo, a scoop of hazelnut ice cream with a heart of flowing chocolate and covered with cocoa powder, is a tempting treat.

In Puglia, pasticciotto is a shortcrust pastry filled with custard, while bocconotto is a small almond pie filled with chocolate. The sospiro is a small cake filled with vanilla cream and topped with a white icing with a candied cherry. Sasanello gravinese is a biscuit with cocoa, spices and cooked wine, while cartellate - also common in Basilicata - is a biscuit meant to mimic a crown of thorns made of shortcrust pastry, topped with honey, almond and cinnamon. Common throughout southern Italy, zeppole are puffs filled with custard and decorated with chocolate or an amarena cherry. They are emblematic of the feast of san Giuseppe, on 19 March.

As in the rest of Italy, coffee plays a major role here and is often excellent. If we all know the espresso, the macchiato or the cappuccino, you can also order a caffè con panna topped with whipped cream, a caffè corretto with a dash of brandy (often grappa) or an affogato, a strong coffee topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Vines have been cultivated in the region for thousands of years and Puglia is the country's second largest wine-producing region after Veneto. If the reputation of Primitivo di Manturia, Salento, Castel di Monte or Brindici produced in Puglia is well known, the wines of Basilicata and Calabria are still too little known. In Basilicata, the vineyards are often at altitude and produce interesting wines. The star of the show is Aglianio del Vulture, a full-bodied and typical red. Also worth tasting are the wines of the Isernia region and the moscato. In Calabria, discover Cirò, Pollino, Savuto and Greco di Bianco, considered the best sweet wine of the region.

Beer is becoming more and more popular in Italy and local brands such as Peroni are sure to be found. But of course, nothing beats a glass of iced limoncello as a digestive to end a meal. Produced from Liguria to Puglia, it is very common in the region. You can also find bergamot liqueur in Calabria.