Like, a lot.
I noticed no mentions of Puglia here so figured I’ll start the conversation. We went last summer/early spring and I can comfortably say it ranks quite up there with Sicily, Piedmont, Tuscany as far as food/culture/attractions combination. Caribbean-like beaches to boot. Prices generally in the south seem much more reasonable, and this was no exception. Fresh seafood galore, along with fantastic cheeses and produce, especially tomatoes. The tomatoes impressed us more than the more famous cheeses but that could be a testament to the poor quality back at home. Capocollo di Martina Franca reigns supreme, and can be found on many menus including on pizza. We found plenty of quality pizza as well especially in Lecce
Besides Martina Franca it seems like almost every other town is famous for something. Bread in Matera (not puglia but close and often paired with) and more famously Altamura. The Bombette (pork rolls stuffed with cheese, and other stuff) of Cisternino, and its famous BBQ butchers. You walk in, choose your meat, get a table and get served. The Orecchiette nonnas of Bari, like rock stars. And then you have Ceglie Messapica. They say its impossible to eat badly in Ceglie, but its also very hard to skip its crown jewel Cibus, the first restaurant in Puglia to get the Slow Food snail. Pastas were generally strong, but other than plenty of exceptions, not as memorable as what came before and after.
What separates Puglia from the rest is the the Antipasto della Casa. Just about every place we visited offered it, and it seems like everyone competes with the next guy on who got the best spread. Its usually offered for two people minimum but the amount of food can feed 3-4 easily. Usually involves a selection of 6-12 dishes that could include various cheeses, Capocollo of course, eggplant, fried goodies, salads, mushrooms, spreads, street food snacks, and seafood. It was so plentiful and delicious that it created ordering challenges for much of the trip since we would often be full from just the antipasti. One of our hosts told us ordering only house antipasti is not out of the norm for locals.
Anywho, stay tuned for more…
