Notes from…Puglia
Puglia! A beautiful region the South of Italy with views to rival the Amalfi Coast. It’s getting more and more popular for holiday-makers and tourists, but it’s always been a spot the Italians love! Myself included! And, it’s somewhere you could consider ‘the home of pasta’ since it is famed for durum wheat production in Italy. Of course, if team Pasta Grannies are in town we’ll be making sure we’re sampling the stuff!
So, where did we go?
Well, our itinerary had us fly in to Brindisi, before we headed to the smaller towns of
Strudà, Zollino and Surbo, where we crammed in SO much filming, and even more food!
Seriously, we left absolutely filled to the brim both in our bellies and our hearts.
The puglian nonnas, really show us how it’s done. I think they might be the fastest pasta
makers in all of Italy. I tried to make just one shape and it took me the same amount of time as they
had finished an entire batch!
And pasta tasting, of course!
We sampled so many different hand-made pasta and dough shapes from Trianata, a rustic baked dish
from Salento made with bread dough as a base, and decorated on top with thin ropes of semolina dough.
Then we tried pucce, a soft, round flatbread; and frise which were twice-baked ring-shaped breads.
Yet my personal favourite was Nonna Annita’s sagne torte with braciole al sugo. The sauce was just so special, really rich in flavour and the sagne was the perfect shape to absorb all that delicious goodness.
And, we stayed at the beautiful boutique hotel Palazzo Tafuri, in Nardó, which was a peaceful and idyllic place to rest our feet after long drives, and many hours filming. An addition to visiting the charming monatry-facing Palazzo Tafuri and admiring the gorgeous pool at Palazzo Guglielmo in Lecce.
I have been to Puglia many times before, but never to towns as small and places as local as this. Here, I felt really like I was able to absorb the true Puglian lifestyle and understand the Southern region’s traditions. We even cooked in a Trullo with Nonna Irene!
We lapped up the beautiful coastline views, as well as the food. It was such a magical expeirence. But the worst bit of the trip? Beautiful sunshine, and beaches not swarmed with tourists! So beautiful but we were too busy filming that I didn’t get to jump into the sea! Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to make another trip soon…
Have you been to Puglia? What did you eat? Where did you go? What beaches did you bathe at? Let us know (hello@pastagrannies.com).
